John 9:11 He answered and said, A 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. (KJV)
John’s Purpose was to show Jesus as the Son of God. He did this by highlighting miracles with the teaching Jesus did. We have singled seven out of those John listed, but in my Plus One post, and Miracles ++++ post I tried to show others.
Festival Time – Yes, Jesus observed the festival. Chapter Seven starts the Feast of Tabernacles or Yom Kippur. John 7 to 21 is just several months; from the seventh month to the first month in the Hebrew Calendar. For much of this period He relocated to the east bank of the Jordan River across from Jericho, just like Joshua and Israel. (That crossing was also at Passover.) The teachings/statements that Jesus gave at this Day of Atonement Feast are quite bold. The opening of the eyes of a man born blind (Chapter 9) is as much of a challenge to the authorities as it was an act of mercy and a testimony for the power and greatness of God the Father.
What Was Not Said – I was going to have a long list of things not said, I had thought of many of them. The most important thing I settled on was the man did not ask for help. John, like the other Gospel writers, focused on Jesus and His actions and not all of the characters. The other question is how did they know that the man was blind since birth? Okay, this could keep going especially in the “trial” of the man.
The Pool of Siloam – Its history starts with Hezekiah in the 8th century BCE and his efforts to protect Jerusalem’s water from the Assyrians. He was the fourteenth king in Jerusalem and the fifteenth ruler over the City of David. There are various mentions of this system in the Old Testament (2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32). Nehemiah 3:15 mentions it in the rebuilding of the wall. Jesus references a tower in the area that fell and killed people, Luke 13:4. There is a fair amount of guessing about this tower and the people who died. (As part of the Gihon Spring’s protection there was a tower built over the spring that was part of the wall of Jerusalem. Just saying.) The name may have come from the water being “sent” to the pool. Siloam | The amazing name Siloam: meaning and etymology The Incredible Tunnel of King Hezekiah – Chabad.org Gihon Spring – Wikipedia
The Washing – In my myopic vision, I initially missed the water and the spring that allowed for the washing. (Thank you, Jesus for fixing it.) In the Jewish religion at that time there were many types of washings/baptisms, it was an important of their culture. If the man had not walked to the pool and washed there would have been no miracle.
Given the feast it happened at; the washing can represent the healed people of Israel walking through the Red Sea and being free of Egypt. The fresh start allowed them to see that God cared for them and was their God and Moses was His servant. I do not want to end the Exodus comparison there; that water flowed from a rock that had been “broken open” to supply water inside Jerusalem. Glory!
As always, I am thankful for the resource links, but ask God for wisdom as you read them.
Spitting – This topic has been covered in different ways by different people; my big add-in is there are two different words for spit. The one used most often is Strong’s Greek: 1716. ἐμπτύω (emptuó) — To spit upon Yes, this one is just disrespectful and is not used in John 9.
The word in this passage is used three times and they are connected to healing miracles. The other two references are in Mark 7:33 and 8:23. In Mark 7 Jesus has traveled from Tyre and Sidon to the Decapolis, both are not in Israel and Mark 8 is in Bethsaida. Both of these tell of Jesus taking the people out of town by themselves, where the miracle happened. John 9 seems to be done in plain sight of everyone. Strong’s Greek: 4429. πτύω (ptuó) — To spit Between my imagination and wanting to inject “science” into this I still have to say that I could not prove any of my ideas. I will point out the onomatopoeia of the Greek for the cartoon sound of spitting – ptoo.
Why the Mud – In Seven Miracles in John, I tried to find an Old Testament type for Jesus’ miracles. In the first writing I could not think or find any, but I have added several since working on this post. After musing on this for awhile and still wanting to add some “miraculous science”, I will offer this thought. The one miracle I thought of was God creating man from the earth. If the man was born blind, were all of the working parts in the eyes? So, Jesus added some raw material and His holy DNA to create what was lacking in the eyes, and finished the miracle with water that flowed from a rock. Now, part of that thinking is from the two miracles in Mark; were there “missing parts” in those people?
The complexity of the miracle – This man had used his other senses, but not sight. Imagine the rush of information into this man’s brain. I say this and then have to say that the God who created the earth could help this man through this shocking change in his life. See the link to the Name of Siloam. This amazing act of mercy is a forerunner of Acts 3 and the man crippled from birth. In verse 3:8 he is walking and jumping just minutes after the healing. (That is a complex motion.)
Jesus Not Claiming the Glory – He walked away. He did not follow the man. He did not wait for the man to return. The man’s trip to the pool was a faith/obedience walk. I am not sure what your personal image of Jesus is. The thought of Him not breaking a bruised reed or putting out a glowing candle is valid, when He was working with people in their faith. There were cultural aspects here that would have been at odds with Jesus “blowing His own horn”. He also had just had that conversation in Chapter 8. He did not shy away from confronting wrong thinking and, in John, there are plenty of times He “hide Himself” because He had gotten the crowd upset.
It was not yet His time. The next few months still had many things that needed to happen. Read from Matthew 13:53 and then again in Chapter 19 to Palm Sunday. Of course, when He did this miracle may have been part of why He walked away.
Sabbath – Please, the rest God wants us to enjoy started in Genesis not the middle of Exodus. The Father wants us taking time each week to rest and focus on Him, that is righteous fellowship.
To open blind eyes in the time period of Yom Kippur and living in the booths for seven days to remember the Exodus is a bold action. Just that much could be several sermons. So, was this a special Sabbath or the weekly one? I do not know, but it was a Sabbath (See Leviticus 23). Making mud/clay, putting it on the man, and healing were all “work”. I would think washing it off was also considered work. Then we can think about the uproar the man made when he could see. We are not told if the man knew where the mud came from, that would have added more charges to Jesus for spreading body fluids.
People Talking – More questions to ask, more assumptions to be made, and more commentaries to write about 9:8 and 9. Because of these verses, I will say the man lived in or very close to Jerusalem. The people’s reactions are what you would expect. How many of them were mad because they thought they were duped? Others knew something amazing had happened and they needed answers, so off to the church leaders they went. To be fair, the common person in Jerusalem may have heard of Jesus and what He was doing, but they probably never went to see Him.
The Holy Spirit, gently, reminded me that THESE PEOPLE are the reason Jesus did the miracle. These children of Abraham, the people Jesus would cry over, needed Light. Here are the various groups:
- The disciples, there were more than just the Twelve.
- The man.
- The people at the pool.
- The neighbors and those who had seen him begging.
- The Pharisees.
- His parents.
- The Jews.
The Light shone on all of them and there were different reactions to the miracle. If that miracle happened in your church today; what group would you be in? (Look at reactions and words, not titles.)
Jews – How many times can you read something and never see it? In verse 18, John referred to the Jews not believing; yes, I had to look. Please keep in mind that John’s Gospel may have been one of the last New Testament books written. If you do a word search, know you will find jewels first, so, see the link for some help. Strong’s Hebrew: 3064. יְהוּדִי (Yehudi) — Jew, Judean Acts (Luke) and Paul use Jew many times and you will find it in the Old Testament, mainly after the Babylon Exile (See Ezra, Nehemiah, and the last parts of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.) So, John using that term so often should not be a surprise, but it was. He did not use the term Sadducee at all but included “chief priest” frequently with Pharisee. He did use Pharisee about twenty times.
I will say that I found this surprising and I think it is a major paradigm shift in early Christian thinking. In 2 Corinthians 11:22 Paul does refer to himself as a Hebrew, and an Israelite, as well as a child of Abraham. Something new to study and ponder.
The Rulers and the Trial – If you have read the Gospels or seen any Jesus movies you know the Pharisees and Sadducees took Jesus as a threat to them and their continued leadership. This trial is no different. I call it a trial because they asked questions and called witnesses.
With this man is an added dimension. He actually participated in the miracle and he had a blind beggar’s cloak. Threats and insults are how “little leaders” react when they know they are losing or lost.
He should have had limited rights to participate in religious gatherings, he was not “perfect”. By his answers he knew a lot about God, and the Pharisees did not like that. Him being of age probably meant that he was old enough (12 or 13 years old) to read Torah, if he could have seen to do it. No, there is no indicator as to how old he was. He may have been thirty.
The Man – Recently I finished a post on Romans 9:11. The man in this story is an example of being called of God before birth. Jesus’ answer to the disciples in verse 3 not only addresses the miracle about to happen, but I believe speaks of his future.
Was he special? Yes, by the way he answered every challenge thrown at him, and his fearless replies to the Jews I know he was special. His eyes may not have worked, but he heard the Word and knew His God.
Who was he and what became of him? I believe the Holy Spirit kept the Gospel writers from include some of those details. Why? Because people are people and the focus and glory belongs on and to the Father and Jesus. So are there answers to any of the questions I am about to ask, no. The answers are but dreams of how “the work of God was displayed in his life”.
- Was he standing in the crowd when Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem and get a wave from the Master?
- Did he listen to the sermons in the Temple and on the Mount of Olives?
- Did Jesus wash his feet in the Upper Room?
- Was he praying in that room on Pentecost?
- Did he carry out and bury Ananias and Sapphira?
- Was he one of the seven deacons?
Mark's Bible Study 