When I was a child, I used to be afraid of my aunt. It wasn’t because she was mean. She was very nice. It was because she was born blind and could not look directly at me. However, she seemed to know my location in the room. How was she able to do that?—I wondered.

In John 9, the disciples of Jesus asked a question about a man born blind. Their question was more theologically complex than the childlike question I had asked about my aunt. They wanted to know, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (v. 2).

The disciples believed that a specific sin had to be directly associated with the man’s condition. Therefore, they wanted to know who sinned and when? Jesus rejected that premise by stating, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned” (v. 3). This man’s condition was not the result of something his parents did before he was born. Nor was it because of something this man did while he was in his mother’s womb.

This man was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him (v. 3). Then Jesus performed a miracle. He “spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” The man obeyed, washed his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, he was able to see (vv. 6–7). Jesus used this occasion to show everyone that He is the Light of the world (v. 5). The Pharisees resisted both the fact of the healing and the message of Jesus. To this the now-seeing man replied, “Now this is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes” (v. 30).

>> It is only by the work of Jesus Christ that we are given spiritual sight to see Jesus for Who He is, the Light of the world. Once we were blind, but now we see (v. 25). Let’s thank God for opening our spiritual eyes.

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