Comments on John 9 Jesus' healing a blind man is similar to the OT prophets who act out their prophetic messages with public symbolic actions to dramatize and emphasize their message. Isaiah walked barefoot and stripped to the waist around Jerusalem in Isa. 20, Ezekiel used etched tiles and iron pans, and lay on each of his sides for 40 days to warn of the impending invasion of Babylon in Ezek. 4. Here, Jesus heals a physically blind man who can see spiritually, while the Pharisees who see with their eyes are spiritually blind. Jesus shows he is the light of the world (v. 4) by reversing a man's physical blindness. However, it is up to us to overcome our own spiritual blindness and see Christ for what he is. A number of rhetorical patterns are found within the text. A repetition of three is used twice, once for the blind man and once for the Pharisees. The blind man humbly confesses ignorance three time (v. 12, 25, 36) while the Pharisees arrogantly and confidently make inaccurate statements (v. 16, 24, 29). Another more dramatic pattern is that of the increasing faith of the blind man contrasted with the increasing hardness of the Pharisees as the dialogue goes on: Blind man Pharisees --------- --------- A man that is called Jesus (v. 11) He is a prophet (v. 17) Some say "This man is not of God" others say "How can a sinner... do such miracles?", division (v. 16) Whether he is a sinner I We know that this man is a sinner know not (v. 25) (v. 24) Thou are his disciple (v. 28) We know not from whence he is (v. 29) If this man were not of God Thou wast altogether born in sin he could do nothing (v. 33) (v. 34) Lord, I believe (v. 38) Are we blind also? (v. 40) Notice the adversity of the Pharisee's question steels the blind man's faith rather than cutting it down. He reasons through their arguments and exposes them as fraudulent. They respond with personal attacks and finally cast him out. The blind man in this chapter is also held up in contrast to the paralytic healed in ch. 5. Where the healed paralytic capitulates with the Pharisees when threatened, the blind man stands up to them and confounds them. v1-7 Jesus sees a blind man begging, apparently outside the Temple gate, (v. 1) and his disciples ask him whether the blindness was a result of sin or not (v. 2). Jesus indicates his blindness is not a result of sin, but that God's work should be manifest in him (v. 3). Jesus says he must do the works of his Father while he is in the world (v. 4) because he is the light of the world (v. 5). After explaining the spiritual significance of the miracle he is about to perform, he makes mud from his own saliva and dirt and places it on the eyes of the blind man and tells him to wash his eyes in the pool Siloam (v. 6). The blind man does so, and his sight is restored (v. 7). v1-2 Jesus must have stopped or in some overt way drawn attention to the blind man in v. 1 in order for the disciples to have taken advantage of the situation to question him on this point of doctrine in v. 2. We are left to wonder if Jesus somehow perceived the blind man's spiritual condition and deliberately stopped in order to instigate the subsequent events, or whether it was a chain of events that occurred auspiciously and therefore was included in the text. These two verses are the best proof-text for the pre-mortal existence of spirits in the Bible. Where many other passages the LDS use to support the doctrine can be argued with differing views of predestination and foreordination, this passage cannot. The disciples plainly believe that spirits pre-existed the birth as how else could the man sin before he was born such that he was born blind? v2 The doctrine that people were born handicapped as a result of either their sin or their parent's was apparently a widely held belief, and passages such as 2 Sam. 12:14 and 1 Ki. 14:12 seem to suggest such a thing. The disciples are asking him whether or not the doctrine was true. v3-4 Jesus indicates that his blindness was not a result of sin on anyone's part, but rather that the works of God may be made know (v. 3). Jesus then comments on his works (v. 4). These works are later discussed in v. 39-41. v3 Jesus' response on the doctrine is ambiguous. He replies that in this case the blindness was not a result of sin. However, Jesus does not completely contradict the doctrine. The position he forwards is that this case was not a result of sin, however that leaves room for there being times is may be a result of sin. We can all think of cases where the baby suffers physically as a result of a parent's sin: fetal alcohol syndrome and the like, physical abuse, malnutrition, venereal disease passed on from mother to baby [e.g. blindness in the baby as a result of the mother having syphilis], and so on. However, there are obviously cases where the physical condition has no relation whatsoever to the relative righteousness of the parents. v4-5 Jesus explains the spiritual meaning of the physical miracle he is about to perform. Jesus is the light of the world, in that he is the source of spiritual truth to mankind, cf. D&C 93:26-37. He can heal the physically blind, but he can also spiritually blind the wicked. v4 "while it is day: the night cometh", Jesus is speaking of the day of his mortal life and the night of post-mortality. This is made clear in the IV/JST: KJV IV --- -- I must work the works I must work the works of him that sent me, of him that sent me, while it is day: while I am with you; the night cometh, the time cometh when no man can work. when I shall have finished my work, then I go unto the Father. v5 On the light imagery, cp. 8:12, 11:9-10. v6-7 contain the miracle and it receives remarkably little attention in the text. This is because the matter of real importance is the ensuing interrogation. v6 "clay", the symbolism of Jesus' actions here is that he is the Creator. The Lord fashioned man from the dust in Genesis, so He may exercise His will over His creations. Jesus is that Lord, and so he may repair with the dust of the earth as easily as he formerly created man from the dust of the earth. v7 "Siloam...Sent", the pool of Siloam is the same as that water of Shiloah which is used in the Feast of Tabernacles to be poured out on the altar. The use of this pool in particular has messianic implications because of its connection to the Feast, but also because of the use of the name in Gen. 49:10 and Isa. 8:6. v8-12 The healed blind man is recognized by his neighbors and those who saw him begging and are rather surprised that he has his sight (v. 8), so much so that they question if it is the same man and he indicates it is (v. 9). They ask him how it happened (v. 10) and he relates the rather simple story to them (v. 11). They ask where Jesus is, and he says he doesn't know (v. 12). The people, his neighbors, have got to understand the gravity of the situation. Everyone knew who Jesus was per 7:12, and they knew the Pharisees were out to get him per 7:25, so they want nothing to do with it and pass the matter off to the Pharisees. v13-34 The people from v. 8-12 bring him to the Pharisees (v. 13). It was a Sabbath upon which Jesus did these things (v. 14), so we know the Pharisees will grasp hold of this to fault Jesus. The Pharisees ask him how it happened, he relates the story (v. 15). The Pharisees then debate and are divided among themselves concerning Jesus, wether he is a sinner or not for violating the Sabbath (v. 16). They then ask the healed man what he thinks of Jesus, and he says he is a prophet (v. 17). The Pharisees still don't believe the blind man really was blind so they call his parents (v. 18) and ask them concerning their son (v. 19), and do so out of the presence of their son. The parents respond that he is their son, that he was born blind (v. 20), but how he now sees they have no idea and since he is an adult they should be asking him and not his parents (v. 21). John informs us the parents act in this manner out of fear of the Pharisees because it was well known among the people that they would throw anyone who said that Jesus was messiah out of the synangogue (v. 22-23). They summon the healed man again and tell him to give God the praise, meaning they want him to attribute the miracle to God and not Jesus, because they know that Jesus is a sinner (v. 24). The healed man replies that if Jesus is a sinner he doesn't know, what he does know is he was blind and now he isn't (v. 25). They then ask him again how it was that Jesus opened his eyes (v. 26). The healed man recognizes their skepticism and that they are pressuring him to change his story to conform to the one they suggested. He says he has already told them what happened and they refused to listen, so why do they want to hear it again? Would they change and accept Jesus and become his disciples? (v. 27). The Pharisees are angered that he is standing up to them, and revile him, accusing him of collaborating with Jesus (v. 28). They say they are Moses' disciples because they know God spoke to Moses, as for Jesus they don't know where he came from (v. 29). The healed man reasons with them and says "How is it you don't know where he is from when he has opened my eyes? (v. 30) We know God doesn't hear sinners, but only those who worship Him. (v. 31). And since the beginning none have performed such a miracle except they had God with them (v. 32), so if he were not of God he could do nothing" (v. 33). The Pharisees cannot escape from his logic, and so they must resort to personal attacks and unrighteous dominion in order to silence him, so they throw him out calling him a sinner (v. 34). v14 "the sabbath day", is was a Sabbath because it was Simchat Torah, the last day of the Feast per 7:37. The Festivals were Sabbaths as well as Saturdays according to the Law. v16 "this man is not of God", the accusation here is more serious than what is superficially conveyed. The accusation is that Jesus is a false prophet and therefore must be disposed of, cf. Deut. 13:1-5. "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?", the underlying issue is that sinners can in fact do miracles, cf. Exod. 7:11, Matt. 7:22-23, and Matt. 24:24. But, they are saying that how can a sinner "do such miracles", or in other words "there is no way a sinner could do these miracles". v22 "they feared the Jews", cp. 7:13. v24 This verse is ironic on two counts. First, Jesus is the God of the OT, and so when they say he should give God the praise they know not that Jesus is God. Second, here the Pharisees acknowledge the miracle is genuine and tell the man to attribute it to God, but when the man fails to comply they turn on him and accuse him of colluding with Jesus as his disciple. v29 This verse is again ironic playing on the Pharisee's ignorance. John repeatedly draws parallels between Moses and Jesus, the "prophet like Moses" (cf. Deut. 18:15), cf. 1:17, 5:45-47, 7:19-23, 9:29. v30-39 presents similar rhetoric as that found in Jesus' interview with Nicodemus, cf. 3:5-12. This parallel portrays the Pharisees as willfully ignorant (cf. 3:10), and the blind man as one who perceives spiritual things and speaks of that which he knows yet his testimony is not received (cf. 3:11-12). v32 The IV/JST appends "except he be of God" to the end of the verse. v34 The Pharisees are trapped in the man's logic so they resort to ad hominem arguments to excuse themselves from him. Also note they directly contradict Jesus in v. 3 in this judgment upon him. v35-41 Jesus hears about what has happened between the Pharisees and the healed man, so he goes and finds him and asks him if he believes on the Son of God (v. 35). The healed man, not having seen Jesus previously, asks him who it is (v. 36). Jesus says it is himself (v. 37), and the healed man accepts Jesus and says he believes (v. 38). Jesus then reiterates the spiritual significance of the healing of the blind in that his mission is to heal the blind and to blind the seeing (v. 39). The Pharisees who are present hear Jesus' comments and catch what he is alluding to, so they taunt him and ask "Are we blind also?" (v. 40). To which Jesus replies, "Yes". Had they truly been blind they would be without sin, but because their pride motivates them to say "We see" their sin remains (v. 41). v35 Where the Pharisees cast him away, Jesus searches out and accepts him. v38-39 "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. And Jesus said", the Anchor Bible (AB) indicates this portion of text is missing from many of the most ancient manuscripts. v39 Compare 3:19-21, 12:40, Isa. 6:9-10, Matt. 23:16. Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.