Cure of the man born blind.
This new miracle caused a fresh outburst of Jewish hatred against our Lord. Of the six miracles of blindness recorded in the Gospels, this only is a case of blindness from birth.
I. THE CURIOUS QUESTION OF THE DISCIPLES. "Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?"
1. Their conviction was that affliction was in all cases the consequence of sin.
II. OUR LORD'S ANSWER TO THEIR QUESTION. "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
1. Our Lord does not assert the sinlessness of the beggar or his parents.
2. But he denies any moral connection in this case between the individual and family sin and the blindness from birth. It is a warning that we should not be too ready to regard every affliction as a Divine judgment.
3. He deals with the case from the practical rather than from the speculative side, representing it as an occasion for the exercise and display of the Divine power and goodness.
4. Our Lord emphasizes the Divine necessity that engages him in this blessed work. "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."
(a) Therefore the true Light cannot but shine upon the world's darkness.
(b) And he is the only Agent to remove the physical and spiritual darkness that appealed to his compassion.
III. THE METHOD OF THE MIRACLE. "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." Why did our Lord act in this manner?
1. Partly to test the faith of the blind beggar.
2. In all the cases of miracle involving the loss of connection with the world of sense, Jesus takes care to have personal communication established, so as to assure the sufferer of his presence and supply a foundation for faith.
IV. THE SUCCESS OF THE MIRACLE. "He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."
1. His ready obedience was a sign of his faith.
2. His faith in Divine power at once opened up to him a new world. The eye establishes between us and the world a nearer and wider communication than any other organ of sense.
3. Christ puts honor upon the exercise of true faith and obedience to his commands.
V. THE CURIOSITY OF THE BEGGAR'S NEIGHBOURS RESPECTING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE MIRACLE. "Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he."
1. Some acknowledged his identity, but others tried to evade the fact of the miracle by affecting to doubt his identity.
2. They all alike laid stress upon the manner, not upon the fact, of the miracle. "How were thine eyes opened?"
3. The beggar's frank acknowledgment of all the facts. "The Man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight."
4. The effect of this declaration on his neighbors. "Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not."