Single lesson
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
John 9:1–41
Jesus gives sight to a man born blind, but the story keeps going as different people react. Children can trace what happened, notice each person’s choices, and hear Jesus speak about both physical sight and spiritual sight.
Before you teach
In this passage, Jesus sees a man blind from birth. His disciples ask about sin, and Jesus answers by speaking about God’s works and calling himself the light of the world. After the healing, neighbours, Pharisees, parents and the healed man all respond before Jesus explains the deeper meaning at the end.
Students will be able to retell the main events of John 9:1–41 and name at least two different responses to Jesus from the passage.
Welcome: Seeing and telling
4 minAsk children to think about how important sight is for recognising people and finding the way. Explain that today’s Bible story begins with a man who was blind from birth, and Jesus says something important before healing him: “I am the light of the world.” Introduce the aim of sequencing the story and noticing people’s responses.
John 9:1, John 9:5
Read and explain: Jesus heals the man
7 minRead John 9:1–7 aloud. Point out that the disciples ask whether the blindness was caused by someone’s sin, but Jesus answers differently. He says the works of God might be revealed in the man, and calls himself the light of the world. Then Jesus makes mud, tells the man to wash in Siloam, and the man comes back seeing.
John 9:2, John 9:3, John 9:5, John 9:6, John 9:7
Discuss: What happened next and how did people react?
7 minBriefly retell the next parts in order and ask children to help place them in sequence: neighbours question the man, Pharisees question him, his parents are called, the man answers again, and he is thrown out. Highlight that the healed man keeps telling what happened, while others argue, do not believe, or fear speaking plainly.
John 9:8, John 9:11, John 9:13, John 9:16, John 9:18, John 9:20, John 9:21, John 9:22, John 9:25, John 9:34
Make and respond: Story sequence cards
8 minChildren make simple sequence cards showing key scenes from the passage. As they arrange them, ask them to match each scene with a choice or response, such as obeying Jesus, asking questions, fearing people, not believing, believing, or worshipping Jesus. Keep responses tied to what the passage actually says.
John 9:7, John 9:10, John 9:18, John 9:22, John 9:38
Closing: Seeing Jesus clearly
4 minFinish with the final conversation. Jesus finds the man after he has been thrown out and asks if he believes in the Son of God. The man believes and worships him. Then Jesus says he came so that those who do not see may see, and those who claim to see remain in sin. This chapter is about healed eyes and also about how people respond to Jesus.
John 9:35, John 9:37, John 9:38, John 9:39, John 9:41
Questions to explore
How does Jesus answer the disciples when they ask who sinned?
Look carefully at Jesus’ words in John 9:2–3. He does not agree with their idea, but points to the works of God being revealed in the man.
John 9:2, John 9:3
What does the healed man keep saying when people question him?
Notice his repeated simple testimony: Jesus made mud, he washed, and now he sees. Compare his answers in John 9:11, John 9:15 and John 9:25.
John 9:11, John 9:15, John 9:25
What is different about the healed man’s response to Jesus at the end of the chapter?
At first he speaks about “a man called Jesus”, later calls him “a prophet”, and finally says, “Lord, I believe!” and worships him in John 9:11, John 9:17 and John 9:38.
John 9:11, John 9:17, John 9:38
Make, think or respond
John 9 Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- Plain paper or card
- Pencils or crayons
- Scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Draw or write 6 key scenes from the passage on separate cards: Jesus sees the blind man, the washing at Siloam, neighbours ask questions, Pharisees ask questions, the man is thrown out, Jesus speaks with him again.
- Mix the cards and work individually or in pairs to place them in story order.
- Read the matching verses and check the order together.
- On each card, add one word for a response in that scene, such as obeyed, asked, feared, believed or worshipped.
This helps children follow the flow of John 9 and notice that the chapter shows both what Jesus did and how different people responded to him.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, use 4 large picture cards instead of 6 and retell the story with short repeated phrases such as “I was blind, now I see” from John 9:25.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to sort characters into groups by response to Jesus using words from the passage, such as questioned, feared, argued, believed and worshipped.
An optional closing prayer
“Lord Jesus, thank you for what you did for the man who was born blind. Please help us listen carefully to your words and respond to you with faith and honesty. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
John 9
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.
4 I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”
9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”
10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.
14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them.
17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,
19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”
28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him.
32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.