The Conflict Over the Healing of the Man Born Blind - John 9.1-41

As Jesus passes by they see a man born blind. His disciples ask, “Rabbi, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” Conceivably the parents could have sinned and through a generational curse their son be born blind. However, the second part of the question is one of not understanding how this man could be born blind first and sin be the cause.

New Agers use this passage to infer that 1^st Century Judaism believed in reincarnation--not true. This is a point of Pharisaic theology. The rabbinic belief was that when a child is conceived they have two inclinations--good and evil. This struggle continues throughout life. In this case the child is born blind because while in the womb the evil inclination took hold, the child kicked the mother’s womb, thereby dishonoring the mother--therefore born blind. In that event anyone born blind will never see until the Messiah comes--another Messianic miracle is needed.

Jesus says the man did not sin but was born blind for the glory of God to be revealed. Jesus spits on some mud and smears it on the blind man’s eyes. He tells the man to go to the crowded pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. This is an example of Jesus purposely violating Pharisaic Law. It is the Sabbath and Jesus knows it is forbidden by their law not to heal on the Sabbath--there is also a law that says how not to heal a blind man on the Sabbath! You cannot inject wine into their eyes or spit on mud and put it in their eyes! Jesus seems to be enjoying this!

The man washes at the pool and is geographically separated from Jesus--Jesus is not performing public miracles--and the healing creates quite a stir. The people need an answer and they take the man to the Pharisees for an explanation.

2. The First Interrogation - John 9.13-17Now the man is being questioned by the Pharisees and they are looking for a loophole in his story. None of his answers satisfy--maybe, they say, he wasn’t born blind. They call for the parents.

3. The Interrogation of Parents - John 9.18-22When the parents are interrogated they confirm he is their son and was born blind. They cannot say how their son has been healed--they are afraid of being excommunicated from the synagogue if they appear to believe in Jesus as Messiah. There were three forms of synagogue discipline in those days. A seven day suspension, a 7 to 30 day discipline or suspension, and finally excommunication. Anyone believing in Jesus was being excommunicated by the Pharisees.

4. The Second Interrogation - John 9.23-34The parents say the son can speak for himself. They call the man in and tell him to give God the glory, that he is a sinner. The man says all he knows is that he was blind and now I see. He is telling them that he has been taught by them his whole life that he will never see until the Messiah comes--and now he sees, and they are telling him this man is not the Messiah. They should be proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah--explain this to me, please?

They ask the man again and he asks them what they don’t understand--maybe they would like to become Jesus’ disciples. They reviled him. He tells them this is a marvel--nobody has ever heard of a man being born blind and then healed--yet here I am with sight! The Pharisees kick him out of the synagogue.

5. Spiritual Healing - John 9.35-41He never saw Jesus so he doesn’t know what Jesus looks like. Jesus finds him and asks him if he believes in the Son of God. The man asks who that would be so he can worship Him. Jesus tells him the one speaking to him is He. The man believes and worships Jesus. For a Jew to worship another Jew was an acceptance of Messiahship.

Jesus proclaims those who cannot see now see, and those who see are blind. The Pharisees ask if they are blind? Jesus tells them if they were blind they would have no sin--but because they say they can see their sin remains.

Notes from: The Life of Messiah from a Jewish Perspective by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum