The Gospel of John 9:1-7

It states,

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing."

John 9:1–7

It was only said that Jesus saw a blind man. It was not said, as we see in other stories where Christ healed someone, that the person cried out to Jesus for Him to heal them. This is perhaps stated like this to illuminate the idea that it was Christ who was taking the initiative in this healing. I say this as it states, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." What is more, is that I imagine that there must have been a sort of lull in the events of things for Christ to first see this man, and then, by Jesus taking note of this man, the Disciples inquire about him about whose sin it was. Perhaps Jesus said nothing. Or perhaps Christ said to His Disciples, "Here is a blind man," or something similar. We don't know because this isn't communicated.

The Disciples mistake sin as the cause of this man's blindness. They were looking for an immediate connection between blindness and sin. Jesus provides neither confirmation nor rejection of the idea. Instead he answers that the whole event happened, from birth to healing (to what proceeded later), so that "the works of God might be displayed in him."

Then, quite a notable and remarkable statement is made by Jesus when he says, "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day," I point this out because it is only the 9th chapter of John and we already see Christ as delegating duties to his Disciples as fellow workers. Now, this part points to two different realities. It first points to Jesus deity as he talks about "Him who sent me" which is often used in John to talk about who was sending Jesus, notably, the Father. When this comes up elsewhere, there are different opinions on where Jesus comes from. Sometimes it is said, "Who is this man and where does he come from," and other times it is said, "We know this man. Is he not Mary and Joseph's son?" But when it comes to how Jesus sees himself, it is clear that he speaks as someone who has been given authority from a higher source. So when Christ says something like, "My father sent me" he is clearly talking about His heavenly Father and not His earthly father.

The "Night" time that Christ talks about here is when he is arrested and taken to the religious and political leaders, including Pilot, when he is crucified. In this way, he is not immediately referring to when He departs from this world as if to say, "When I leave, people will no longer do signs and wonders," Rather he is talking about his crucifixion and giving Satan his "One hour" where darkness reigns. Still, it is through Christ's blood and death that is made a propitiation for our sins, and the sins of the whole world. Christ certainly came to redeem humanity. It is through the very work of Satan that God did His greatest decisive work against him.

When He says, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world," He is talking about his life's work and ministry on earth. Though too, it should be noticed that Christ is certainly not saying when he leaves the world no more works will be done. For indeed, that cannot be the case as Christ Himself says,

"“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”"

John 14:12–14

Not that we should think we as individuals will do greater works than Jesus. Rather, the way I see this is that collectively as the body of Christ, His Church, We will be a bride worthy of our Lord. That as Christ is the head of the body, so too the body does what the head tells it to do.

When it says, "He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud," this was considered breaking the Law of the Sabbath which the Pharisees held as one of their tenets. Now, this is interesting to see that Christ uses saliva and spit in the dirt, as if to say, "This is what I think of your heartless rule keeping you Pharisees." I think this was intentional. Now, according to the Pharisees at the time, kneading was considered breaking the Sabbath. Since Jesus did this, it means Christ was not truly breaking the Sabbath but instead breaking the man-made traditions that the Pharisees thought would save them.

Then when it says, "“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing," John may be saying this word "sent" as a means of saying it was by Jesus telling the blind man to go, that is that Christ "sent" him that the man was healed and was not due to washing in the pool of Siloam which was used for ceremonial cleansing. It puts the credit for the healing on Jesus and not the pool.

In the end, we can see that this miracle was done by Christ because he wanted to do the work of His Father in heaven. Jesus came to the world doing many miracles healing by His own power, yet he always did so by the direction of the Father. May we learn through Christ to do the will of the Father as well by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you! Until next time!