In brief
The man born blind is a beggar blind from birth whom Jesus heals on a Sabbath, putting mud on his eyes and sending him to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:1-7). Questioned by the Pharisees, he stands firm: “though I was blind, now I see.” Driven out by the religious leaders, he is found by Jesus, believes in the Son of God and worships him. His story shows that Jesus, the light of the world, opens the eyes of the body and of the heart.
What does the name The Man Born Blind mean?
The Bible does not give his name. He is called the man born blind from John 9:1, which presents him as “a man blind from birth,” and the idea returns in his own mouth: “Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind” (John 9:32). His neighbors knew him as the one who sat and begged.
The story of The Man Born Blind
Who sinned? The disciples’ question
John 9:1-5As he passes by, Jesus sees a man blind from birth. His disciples look for someone to blame: the man or his parents? Jesus answers: “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.” He adds that he must work the works of him who sent him while it is day, for he is “the light of the world.”
The mud and the pool of Siloam
John 9:6-7Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud with the saliva and anoints the blind man’s eyes. Then he sends him: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” a name meaning Sent. The man obeys without argument: “he went away, washed, and came back seeing.” Healing comes through a gesture of Jesus and a simple act of obedience.
The neighbors no longer recognize him
John 9:8-12Those who knew him as a beggar hesitate: is it really him? He himself says: “I am he.” He tells the facts simply: the man called Jesus made mud, anointed his eyes and sent him to wash at Siloam. Asked where this man is, he answers, “I don’t know.” He does not yet know Jesus, but he knows what happened to him.
Before the Pharisees: “He is a prophet”
John 9:13-17He is brought to the Pharisees, because the healing took place on a Sabbath. Some say Jesus is not from God since he does not keep the Sabbath; others ask how a sinner can do such signs. There is division. Asked for his own opinion, the healed man answers plainly: “He is a prophet.”
His parents questioned, the fear of exclusion
John 9:18-23The Jews refuse to believe he had been blind and summon his parents. They confirm he is their son and was born blind, but will say no more: “He is of age. Ask him.” John explains their silence: they feared the Jews, who had agreed to put out of the synagogue anyone who confessed Jesus as Christ.
Though I was blind, now I see
John 9:24-34Called a second time, the man refuses to condemn Jesus: “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” Faced with their insults, he reasons: no one has ever opened the eyes of someone born blind, and if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. The Pharisees throw him out.
Do you believe in the Son of God?
John 9:35-41Jesus hears that they have thrown him out and finds him: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” The man asks who he is so that he may believe. Jesus reveals himself: “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” He answers, “Lord, I believe!” and worships him. Jesus concludes that he came so that those who don’t see may see.
Test your knowledge
What The Man Born Blind teaches us
- Your suffering is not necessarily the result of a sin: Jesus refuses that logic and sees an opportunity for the works of God.
- Faith often begins with simple obedience: the blind man went to wash before he even knew who Jesus was.
- You do not need to know everything to bear witness: say what Jesus did for you, “though I was blind, now I see.”
- Do not let the fear of being excluded silence you, like the parents who did not dare to speak.
- Jesus comes looking for the one who has been rejected because of him: put out of the synagogue, the man receives the revelation of the Son of God.
Key verses
Jesus dismisses the search for someone to blame: this man’s blindness is not the punishment for a sin but the occasion for the works of God to be revealed in him.
Before the Pharisees, the healed man sums up his testimony in one sentence: he does not know everything, but he knows he was blind and now sees. The simplest testimony cannot be refuted.
After his exclusion, Jesus comes to find him and reveals himself as the Son of God. The man believes and worships: his opened eyes lead to adoration.
Jesus explains the meaning of the sign: he came so that those who do not see may see, and that those who claim to see may be shown their blindness.
Bible verses to meditate on
Sermons about The Man Born Blind
- John 9: Jesus Sees the Blind Man No One Else NoticedÉric Lehrmann goes through the sixth sign of John’s Gospel: Jesus sees the one nobody was looking at and re-creates him with mud, as in Genesis 2, then the story becomes a trial that exposes three kinds of blindness: habit, fear and religion.
- Crossing the Desert: From Why to What ForNathan starts from John 9:1-12 to overturn the logic of karma: the disciples’ question, who sinned, locks people into guilt, while Jesus’ answer sets them free and moves them from asking why to asking for what purpose.
- The Light That Shows You God and Marks Out Your PathTo recognize Jesus as the light is first to recognize your own blindness, and to confess with the man born blind: “One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).
- The LORD Lifts Your Head in the Midst of Your DistressThe preacher opens with John 9: the disciples look for someone to blame, and Jesus answers with a purpose. Your situation is not there to break you, but so that the works of God may be revealed in you.
Frequently asked questions
Who was the man born blind in the Bible?
The man born blind is a beggar in Jerusalem, blind since birth, whom Jesus heals in John 9 by applying mud to his eyes and sending him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Questioned by the Pharisees, he testifies with courage, is thrown out, then meets Jesus, who reveals himself to him as the Son of God. The Bible does not give his name.
Why did Jesus put mud on his eyes?
The text does not explain it. John says only that Jesus made mud with saliva, applied it to the blind man’s eyes and sent him to wash in Siloam, a name that means Sent (John 9:7). Many readers connect the gesture to the creation of man from the dust (Genesis 2:7), but that is an interpretation, not a statement of the text.
Where is the story of the man born blind found in the Bible?
The whole story is in John 9, from verse 1 to verse 41: the disciples’ question, the healing at Siloam, the questioning by the neighbors and the Pharisees, the summoning of his parents, his exclusion and his final meeting with Jesus. It follows Jesus’ declaration in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.”