John Chapter 9

vs 1

Was Jesus looking out for him? I mean, the guy might have been looking for Jesus, but it's hard when you're blind. However, it seems more like a chance encounter. Again, they wouldn't have known just off the tops of their heads that he was born blind - so Jesus probably was going around to the poor beggar people, talking to them. Which is as strange then as it is now.

vs 2

Now the disciples want to know about sin. It's really easy for us, just like them, to make the assumption that sin has direct consequences. Like you kill someone, so your next child is born blind. Or you commit adultery, so you catch herpes.

But in reality, everyone knows that sin isn't like that. Some people sin amazingly hugely all through their lives and nothing seems to happen to them. Other people seem to be godly and righteous, and get trampled under by the weight of maladies, disasters and problems that plague them.

vs 3

Is Jesus saying that this guy was struck blind at birth specifically so Jesus could now come and heal him? Or is he saying that all maladies are there so that those with them can display in a more obvious way the work of God in their life? Either way it's pretty harsh if you think of it as a direct action from God. But if you think of is as an allowance of God, then it doesn't seem so much like God blinded a baby to prove a point. More like these things happen, and God makes good come out of them.

vs 4

Jesus words aren't just for him - they are for all his disciples, and that includes us too. The poor, the disabled, the sick, the needy, they will always be around - partly because we create them, partly because sin will not go away on this world - and it is our job to help them out as much as it was Jesus' job. God doesn't put them there for us to help. They are there because of the terrible nature of sin which they inherit from Adam and they commit themselves.

There is a time coming when this won't be possible anymore. When night falls on the world - that is, when it ends - sick and poor people won't need help anymore. They'll be forced in front of the throne of judgement like everyone else. The main difference between them and everyone else, of course, being that if you'd gone to them with the message of the gospel, they were more likely to listen than rich people.

vs 5

But as long as Jesus is around, he can help them and also heal them. That won't last, so it seems, but in fact Jesus' light shines on this world until he returns. Then darkness will fall in a big way.

vs 6

What's the significance of this action? Jesus could heal people from suburbs away, so why rub some mud in his eyes? I've heard a few ideas. Some people think that Jesus needed to show a physical sign of what he was doing for some reason. Others think that the blind guy might not have had enough faith to be healed the normal way.

But here's another one for you from Carson's invaluable commentary. One scholar did some work with an anthropologist, and came up with the idea that body excreta (blood, and saliva as well as urine and fecal matter) are all seen as religiously "dirty". But when Jesus uses them, they make people well. There is an underlying understanding in the culture of the time that a person with appropriate power and authority can make these things religiously "clean", and this does extend to Jewish culture (what do they use on the altar? Blood!).

So the idea goes that Jesus, using spit to clean someone, shows his religious authority. And if you think about how much the Pharisees care about how Jesus went about healing this particular guy, then it kind of makes sense. For your consideration anyway.

vs 7

So the guy does what Jesus says, and lo and behold he is healed. I think I saw that one coming.

vs 8

Of course everybody local would know him, even if he is a beggar, because they would have seen him begging, if not known his parents. So it's pretty surprising when you see someone who has been blind his whole life suddenly able to see.

vs 9

Of course, some people couldn't believe it. They thought he was just a look alike, a blow in from out of town. But he himself pointed out that he was the same guy, and so testified to the miracle.

vs 10

And people wanted to know how it had happened. People saw the transformation, and wanted to know how it had come about.