Jesus' Power over Blindness

In an unprecedented act, Jesus healed a man who was born blind, which shocked the man's parents and neighbors, offended the religious leaders, and resulted in the man's sincere faith response.

Walking down the street one Sabbath, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His followers wanted to know who was to blame—his parents or the man himself—but Jesus simply wanted to show what God could do in the man’s life. He spit in the dust, made clay with the saliva, rubbed the clay on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go wash at Siloam Pool.” The man went and washed—and saw!

Everyone was talking about it—the man’s relatives, neighbors—all who had seen him begging for years. “Hey, isn’t this the blind beggar?” “It’s him all right!”

Some doubted. “It’s not the same man. It just looks like him.”

He said, “It's me. It’s really me!”

“How did your eyes get healed?”

“A man named Jesus made clay, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go wash in Siloam.’ I did, and now I see.”

“So where is He?”

“I don’t know.”

They marched the man off to the Pharisees. The Pharisees grilled him again about how he had come to see. He said, “He put clay on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.”

Others disagreed. “How can a bad man do miracles like this?” They were divided.

“So, man-born-blind, you were there. He healed you. What do you say about him?”

“He is a prophet.”

The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called his parents. “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? What happened that he sees now?”

The Jewish leaders had decided that anyone who declared Jesus to be the Messiah would be banned from the synagogue. So, his parents avoided responding directly to their question. “Oh, he’s our son, and he definitely was born blind. But how should we know who healed him? Ask him. He’s a grown man; he can speak for himself.”

The leaders called the man who was born blind back. “Be honest before God. We know this man is an impostor.”

“I don’t know about that. But one thing I know for sure: I was blind . . . now I can see.”

“What did He do to you? How did He heal you?”

“I told you before, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you eager to follow Him?”

Now, they were upset. “Maybe you follow Him, but we follow Moses. We know for sure that Moses was God’s spokesman, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

“This is amazing! If anyone is from God, it is the one who heals a man born blind—something no one has ever done. Yet you religious leaders say you don’t know anything about the one who healed me—a man blind from birth! Surely you see He is unique and not a common sinner.”

The leaders threw him out. “You are nobody! How dare you take that tone with us!”

Jesus heard the leaders had thrown him out and went to him. “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Show Him to me, sir, and I will believe.”

Jesus said, “You’re looking at Him. Don’t you recognize My voice?”

“Master, I believe,” the man said and worshiped Him.