Chapter Nine
Jn. 9:1. And as He passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
The Lord departs from the temple in order to somewhat temper the wrath of the Jews. He proceeds to heal the blind man so that by this sign He might soften their hard-heartedness and obstinacy, although they did not profit from it, and at the same time to show them that it was not in vain or out of self-glorification that He said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (Jn. 8:58). It is fitting that He Himself approached the blind man, and not the blind man to Him.
Jn. 9:2. His disciples asked Him: Rabbi! Who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind?
The disciples, having noticed His attention to the blind man, ask: "Who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind?" This question seems strange. For how could he have sinned before his birth? The apostles probably did not share the pagan superstition that the soul, before its union with the body, lives in another world and descends into the body as a punishment for sin. Being fishermen, they could not have heard any such thing, for such ideas belonged to the philosophers.
So, the question seems unreasonable, but not to one who is attentive. For know this: the Apostles had heard Christ say to the paralytic, "Behold, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you" (Jn. 5:14). Now they see the blind man and are perplexed, and they speak as if to say, "Let us grant that the paralytic was afflicted for his sins, but what will You say about this man? Did he sin? But this cannot be said, because he has been blind from birth. Or did his parents sin? Neither can this be said, because a son is not punished for his father." So then, the Apostles in the present case are not so much asking as they are expressing perplexity.
Jn. 9:3. Jesus answered: neither he nor his parents sinned,
The Lord, in resolution of their perplexity, says: "Neither did he sin (for how could he have sinned before birth), nor his parents." However, He says this not to absolve them of sins. For He did not simply say that his parents did not sin, but added that "he was born blind." Although his parents did sin, it was not for that reason that this affliction befell him. To lay the sins of fathers upon children who are in no way guilty is unjust.
This is also what God conveys through Ezekiel: "Let this proverb no longer be used among you: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'" (Ezek. 18:1–2). And through Moses He established as law: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children" (Deut. 24:16).
"But how is it," you will say, "that it is written: 'Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation' (Exod. 34:7)?" To this one can say, first, that this is not a universal sentence, spoken not about all people, but only about those who came out of Egypt. Then look also at the meaning of the sentence. It does not say that children are punished for sins committed by the fathers, but that the punishments for the sins of the fathers pass also to the children when the children committed the same sins. Lest those who came out of Egypt should think that they would not be punished with the same punishment as their fathers, even though they sinned worse than them, He says to them: "No, not so. The sins of the fathers, that is, the punishments, will pass also to you, because you have not become better, but have committed the same sins, and even worse ones." If we see that not infrequently children also die as a punishment to the parents, we know that God takes them from this life out of His love for mankind, so that in life they would not become worse than their parents and would not live to the harm of their own soul or even of many others. But the abyss of God's judgments has hidden these cases within itself. And let us press on further.
Jn. 9:3. but this is so that the works of God might be revealed in him.
Here is yet another difficulty. Someone might ask: "How did He say this? For this would mean that a man, deprived of sight, was wronged so that the works of God might be revealed in him? Could they not have been revealed in some other way?"
What injury, tell me, O man, does he suffer? "This one," you will say, "that he was deprived of sight." And what harm is there in being deprived of sensible light? On the contrary, he was more greatly benefited. For together with bodily sight, he also saw clearly with the eyes of the soul. Blindness served him for good, since through his healing from it he came to know the true Sun of Righteousness. Therefore, this blind man was not injured, but benefited.
Furthermore, everyone who occupies himself with the word of God must know that the particles "in order that" are often used in Scripture to denote not the cause, but the event itself. For example, David says: "So that You are righteous in Your verdict" (Ps. 50:6). David did not sin in order that God might be justified. But as a consequence of David's sin, it came about that God was justified. For when God had bestowed upon David so many gifts of which he was unworthy, and he transgressed the commandment of God, committed murder and adultery, and used his royal power to offend God, what conclusion followed from this, if not that God, judging and reproving David, was justified and appeared as the victor over the condemned king, because he had transgressed the law of the One from whom he had received the kingdom, and transgressed precisely because he was king? Had he been an ordinary man, he could not so easily have committed two such great crimes. So you see, in the phrase "so that You are righteous" (the Slavonic "that You might be justified"), the particle denotes not the cause, but the consequence.
You will find many such turns of speech in the Apostle as well. For example, in the Epistle to the Romans: "What can be known about God is plain to the Gentiles, so that they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19–20). God gave the Gentiles knowledge not so that, by sinning, they would be without excuse, but so that they would not sin. But since they did sin, this knowledge consequently rendered them without excuse. And again: "The law came in besides," "that the trespass might abound" (Rom. 5:20). Although the law was not given so that sin would increase, but so that it would decrease, yet since those who received the law did not wish to diminish sin, the law served to increase their sin. For their sin became more serious and graver because they had the law and nevertheless sinned.
So also here, by the expression "that the works of God might be revealed" is indicated not the cause, but the consequence. For through the healing of the blind man, God was glorified.
Often a builder of a house will complete one part and leave another unfinished, so that to one who does not believe that he constructed the first part, he can prove through the completion of the unfinished portion that he is the same craftsman who built what came before. So too our God Jesus, healing damaged members and restoring them to their natural (normal) condition, shows that He is also the Creator of the other members.
"That the glory of God might be revealed," He says this about Himself, not about the Father. For the glory of the Father was already manifest, but the glory of Jesus needed to be revealed, namely that He who made man in the beginning is He. And in this, without doubt, there is no small glory, when it is disclosed that He who has now appeared as Man, in the beginning as God created man. That He speaks about Himself, listen to what follows.
Jn. 9:4. I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
He adds: "I must do the works of Him who sent Me." "I," He says, "must reveal Myself and perform works that can show that I accomplish the same things that the Father does." Notice, He did not say that I must do works such as the Father does, but the very same ones that the Father does. "I," He says, "must do the very same works that He who sent Me does."
I must do them "while it is day," while the present life lasts and people can believe in Me. Then "the night comes, when no one can work," that is, believe, for He calls faith a work. Thus, in the age to come no one can believe.
The present life is a day, because during it, as in the daytime, we are able to act; although the Apostle Paul also calls it night, partly because here those who practice virtue or vice are unknown, and partly in comparison with the Light that will illumine the righteous. The age to come is a night, because there no one can act; although the Apostle Paul also calls it day, because the righteous will appear in light and the deeds of each will be revealed. Thus, in the age to come there is no faith, but all will submit, willing and unwilling.
Jn. 9:5. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world," for by teaching and the manifestation of miracles I enlighten souls. Therefore now too I must enlighten the souls of many through the healing of the blind man and the illumination of the pupils of his eyes. As the light, I must enlighten both physically and spiritually.
Jn. 9:6. Having said this, He spat on the ground, made clay from the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,