The Man Born Blind –
John 9
The man born blind
has an important distinction in the bible.
Unlike Bartimaeus or Nicodemus, or others that we read of, he did not
come to the Lord Jesus or cry out for him, but the Lord Jesus came to him, and the man born blind was used by the Lord Jesus in a
mighty way. This healing is only in the
book of John, which is the gospel that proclaims the deity of the Lord Jesus.
One day, as Jesus
passed by with his disciples, he saw a man blind from his birth, and the
question arose from his disciples regarding who caused his blindness? V2 “And
his disciples asked him saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents,
that he was born blind?” An interesting
question, for how could one sin in the womb so that he would be born
blind? But Jesus answered them V3-5 "Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made
manifest in him. I must work the works
of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can
work. As long as I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.”
The bible says in
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
and all are in darkness, but the Lord Jesus is the light of the world - and we
are to come out of darkness and into the light by believing the gospel, and
receiving the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. Jesus chose to manifest his power over
this man's blindness on the sabbath day, the Jews holy day, showing that he was
Lord over the sabbath.
And thus speaking,
Jesus V6-7 "…….spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay” Bartimaeus called out to the Lord Jesus to
heal him, and Jesus only spoke the word and Bartimaeus could see. But in this case the blind man's eyes were
covered with clay made by the Lord Jesus and lovingly placed on his eyes. This was to require an act of obedience from
the man. He was told to "go, wash
in the pool of Siloam" he was to go
to a particular place for a particular action. The man born blind went, and
washed, and "came seeing". After this, the man born blind becomes a witness for Jesus.
