Chapter IX.
Second, the Son of God shows Himself to be the light and director by a miracle of power.
1. And Jesus, passing by, saw a man blind from birth. The Lord manifested in the two preceding chapters that He is the director by the word of wisdom; here He shows the same thing by a miracle of power. For by illuminating corporally He signifies that He illuminates spiritually, and this indeed He does in the present chapter. Now the present chapter is divided into three parts. For first is set forth the wondrous illumination of the blind man: second, the disputation of the Pharisees or their calumny, at the place: And they said to him: Where is he, etc.; third, occasioned by that disputation, the spiritual illumination of the blind man, at the place: Jesus heard, etc.
In the first part is set forth the wondrous illumination of the blind man.
In the first part, then, two things are described: first, the wondrous illumination of the blind man: second, its publication, at the place: Therefore the neighbors, etc.
The miracle of illumination, then, he describes in this order. First is noted the compassion of divine goodness, second, the dispensation of divine wisdom: third, the wondrous operation of divine power.
(Verse 1.). The compassion of divine kindness is touched upon in this, that the Lord looked upon the blind man with the eye of mercy; whence he says: Jesus, passing by, saw a man blind from birth: He saw him, I say, with the eye of mercy, according to that passage in Lamentations 1: "See, O Lord, for I am in tribulation." Or: He saw him, that is, "He looked attentively, so that He might give the disciples a sense of looking closely," as Chrysostom says; and on account of this the disciples asked.
2. (Verse 2.). And His disciples asked Him. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the dispensation of divine wisdom, which the disciples, wishing to know, asked Him about: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Supposing that divine wisdom does not inflict punishment without fault, they ask wherein the fault lay. This indeed they had learned from the healing of the paralytic, to whom it was said above in chapter five: "Behold, you are made whole; sin no more, lest something worse befall you." They knew that it was written in Exodus 20: "I am a mighty God, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." And because they intended well but asked poorly, the Lord in His response destroys the question, when He says:
3. (Verse 3.). Jesus answered: Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents; and yet He satisfies those who ask: But that the works of God might be made manifest in him: that is, for this reason he was born blind. The works of God are manifested when God is manifested in His works. These are miraculous works: above in chapter two: "He manifested His glory"; Ecclesiastes 3: "I have learned that the works which God has made endure forever," etc. Therefore for the sake of manifestation he was born blind, because the opportunity of manifesting presents itself; whence He says:
4. (Verse 4.). I must work the works of him who sent me. These are the miraculous works, which he attributes to the Father, because power is appropriated to him: below in the fourteenth chapter: "The Father abiding in me, he himself does the works"; above in the fifth chapter: "The works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works which I do, bear witness concerning me that the Father sent me." The opportunity for doing these works lasts while it is day; the night will come, when no one can work: for then the opportunity ceases: Revelation fourteen: "Henceforth now, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them"; and Ecclesiastes nine: "Whatever your hand is able to do, work earnestly, because neither work nor reason nor wisdom nor knowledge will be in the netherworld, to which you hasten." But what this day is, he explains here; whence he says:
5. (Verse 5.). As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Just as therefore the day is nothing other than the presence of light on the earth, so this day is nothing other than the presence of Christ in the world: Malachi, the last chapter: "The sun of justice shall rise for you who fear God." Therefore the Lord says below in the twelfth chapter: "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you."
6. (Verse 6.). When he had said these things. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the wondrous operation of divine power, in that by spittle and opaque mud he restores light by his command alone. Therefore he says: When he had said these things, namely those things which were said before; he spat on the ground and made clay from the spittle and anointed the clay upon his eyes: he made as it were an eye-salve for healing the eyes; Revelation three: "Anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that you may see."
7. (Verse 7.). And he said to him: Go and wash in the pool of Siloam. "Siloam is a spring at the foot of Mount Zion, which does not flow with continuous waters, but bubbles forth at certain hours through the hollows of the earth." And because this was commanded not without mystery, the Evangelist adds the interpretation of the name, saying: Which is interpreted "Sent." Chrysostom: "So that you may learn that there the power of the one who sends is at work." And the power is expressed in its effect; whence he adds: And he went away and washed and came back seeing: in which is noted the effect of the power and the obedience of the blind man. Whence Chrysostom: "See the mind of the blind man, obedient in all things: for he is not troubled in anything, asking, nor scandalized, saying: What need is there of clay? For what reason did you anoint me? For what reason did you command me to wash? But he considered none of these things, but being persuaded, he obeyed in all things."
8. According to the allegory: saliva or spittle, which proceeds from the mouth, which is also salty, signifies the wisdom of God, of which Ecclesiasticus 24: I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn, etc.
The earth signifies the flesh of the Virgin: the Psalm: Our earth shall yield its fruit.
Spittle is joined to earth when the Son of God is born from the Virgin, and clay is made, since the Word was made flesh, and this for our restoration, according to Augustine. "Just as God formed man from the slime of the earth, so through the same kind of clay He restored the human race."
With this clay our eyes are anointed, when those believing in Christ are illuminated by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, concerning which, First John 2: The anointing will teach you concerning all things.
And we are washed in the waters of Siloam, that is, of Sacred Scripture, which flow with silence, because they are not painted or colored by the clamor of the words of worldly philosophy, and they rest in the humble and descend from the mountains; Isaiah 8: The waters of Siloam, which flow with silence.
9. According to the moral sense: to spit is to declare outwardly the foulness of sin, lest perhaps it fester; the Psalm: My wounds have putrefied and festered because of my foolishness; and Proverbs 28: He who hides his crimes shall not prosper; but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy. To anoint the eyes with clay is to consider one's sins frequently; Jeremiah 31: Set up for yourself a watchtower, lay upon yourself bitternesses; Isaiah 38: I will recount to You all my years in the bitterness of my soul. To be washed, through tears: the Psalm: I will wash my bed every night; I will water my couch with my tears; and Isaiah 1: Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your thoughts from before My eyes; cease to act perversely.
10. Therefore the neighbors etc. The wondrous illumination has been set forth and described; here its manifestation is described, and in this order: first, doubt is introduced; second, the confirmation of those who doubt; third, the expression of the wondrous illumination.
(Verse 8.). First, then, the doubt of the neighbors is introduced, who out of wonder at the change in his sight are uncertain whether they recognize the illuminated man; therefore he says: Therefore the neighbors, and those who had seen him before, because he was a beggar, as the blind are accustomed to beg — such wretched and contemptible and poor persons the kind and humble Lord especially used to heal; whence, similarly, Luke 18: "A certain blind man sat by the wayside begging"; " standing still, Jesus" — it is said there that He illuminated him. Those, therefore, who were accustomed to seeing him said: Is not this he who sat and begged? They said this in doubt, and in this doubt they disagreed; whence he says: Some said: This is he, considering the figure of his body.
11. (Verse 9.). But others said: By no means, but he is like him, considering the change in his sight, they believe him to be another, but similar.
But he said. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the certification of the doubt, which is made through the blind man who knew himself with certainty: whence he says: But he said: I am he, namely the one who begged as a blind man. Augustine: "A grateful voice, lest the ungrateful one be condemned." The blind man was not ashamed to confess that he had been blind, for the glory of God; whence Ecclesiasticus 4: "There is a shame that brings death," which namely diminishes the glory of God on account of our own; "and there is a shame that brings glory and grace," and which diminishes our glory and manifests disgrace for the manifesting of divine glory.
12. (Verse 10.). They said therefore to him. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the expression of the wondrous illumination, and this in response to the inquiry of those who doubted: whence he says: They said therefore to him: How were your eyes opened ? since you are the one who was blind. And he indicates to them the author and the manner.
13. (Verse 11.). He answered: That man who is called Jesus, because he did not yet believe him to be God, made clay and anointed my eyes: behold, the operation; and he said to me: Go to the pool of Siloam and wash: behold, his command; and I went and washed and saw; behold, the fulfillment of the command and through it, illumination. For by fulfilling the commandment of Christ a man is illuminated, because, as is said in Proverbs 6, "the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light," which when observed illuminates: Psalm: "The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes."