AM April 22nd John 9

April 22^nd            John 9               Sign 6 The Lord & Blind. (Light)

1: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2: And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3: Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6: When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7: And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8: The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9: Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. 10: Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11: He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. 12: Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

This miracle is a Messianic sign, because the Jews understood that only the Messiah himself would be able to give sight to one who had never seen. In the Jewish mind sickness and disease were linked to a person’s spiritual state by covenant. The Covenant was very clear that if Israel kept the Law then they would be free from ill health. However this case confused them because this man had been blind from birth. Had he sinned as an unborn baby or was this blindness the result of his parent’s sin. They could not work it out in their minds. Christ does not give a general rule he just states that in this particular case this man is innocent but that he has been born like this so that the work of God might be demonstrated in his life. Then he goes on to describe himself as the one who does the works of God. Then Jesus cured him but he did it in a way that to us would appear to be more likely to blind a man. He made a paste of dirt and dust and applied it to his eyes. And then he told him to go to the pool of Siloam. When he washed he found he could see. Spittle in the east was symbolic of a person’s most essential nature. Christ by touching him with his spittle was associating himself with the man at the most basic human level. Those who had previously known the man were amazed at his transformation but others doubted that he was the same man. They asked him what had happened to him and he gave his simple testimony.