Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind since birth. The disciples asked whether this happened because of the man’s sin or his parents’ sin. Jesus said it was not because either of them had sinned in that way. God’s works would be shown in him. Jesus also said that while he was in the world, he was the light of the world.

Jesus spat on the ground, made mud, and spread it on the man’s eyes. He told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man went, washed, and came back seeing. Neighbours and others who had seen him begging began asking if he was the same man. He said that he was, and explained that Jesus had told him to wash.

They brought the man to the Pharisees. It was the Sabbath when Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked how he had received sight, and he told them that mud had been put on his eyes, he washed, and now he could see. Some said Jesus could not be from God because he did not keep the Sabbath, but others asked how a sinner could do such signs. When they asked the man what he thought, he said Jesus was a prophet.

The authorities still did not believe he had been blind and now could see, so they called his parents. His parents confirmed that he was their son and that he had been born blind. But they would not say how he now saw, or who had opened his eyes. They were afraid because anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ could be put out of the synagogue, so they told the questioners to ask their son himself.

The man was called in again. They insisted that Jesus was a sinner, but he answered that he did not know about that. What he did know was simple: he had been blind, and now he could see. When they kept asking, he challenged them and then argued that if Jesus were not from God, he could do nothing. They insulted him and threw him out.

Jesus heard that the man had been thrown out and went to find him. He asked if he believed in the Son of God. When Jesus made it clear that he himself was the one speaking, the man believed and worshipped him. Then Jesus spoke about sight and blindness: some who know they cannot see may come to see, while those who claim they already see remain in their sin. Some Pharisees heard this and asked if Jesus meant them too.