Having said this, Jesus did not stop at words alone, but joined action to them as well. "He spat on the ground, made clay from the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay," showing through the clay that it was He who also formed Adam's body from clay. Words alone — that it was I who created Adam — might have seemed scandalous to the hearers, but when words are confirmed by deed, there remained no further cause for scandal. He fashions eyes from clay, employing the same mode of creation by which He also created Adam. He not only fashioned the eyes and opened them, but endowed them with sight, and this showed that He also breathed the soul into Adam. For without the activity of the soul, the eye would never see, even if it were properly formed. He also used spittle for the bestowal of sight. Since He intended to send the blind man to Siloam, lest they attribute the miracle to the water of the pool, but rather recognize that it was the power proceeding from His mouth that formed the blind man's eyes and opened them — for this reason He spat on the ground and from the spittle of His mouth made clay. Then, lest you think that the miracle depended on the earth, He commands him to wash, so that the clay might come off entirely. However, some say that the clay did not come off at all, but was transformed into eyes.
Jn. 9:7. And He said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means: Sent. He went and washed, and came back seeing.
He commands the blind man to go to Siloam partly so that the degree of his faith and obedience might be revealed, for he did not reason that there was no need to go to Siloam or to wash if the clay and spittle could make him fully sighted, but obeyed the One who commanded; partly so as to stop the mouths of the foolish Jews, for naturally many watched him as he walked with eyes smeared with clay and looked at him attentively, so that they could not afterward say "it is he" or "it is not he"; and finally, so that by sending him to Siloam He might bear witness concerning Himself that He is not alien to the Law and the Old Testament.
Why did the Evangelist add the explanation of the name Siloam? So that you would know that here too it was Christ who healed the blind man, and that Siloam is a type of Christ. For Christ is both the spiritual Rock (1 Cor. 10:4) and the spiritual Siloam; and just as the stream of Siloam by its strange flow presented something sudden and striking, so too the coming of the Lord, hidden and unknowable to the angels, by its power drowns every sin.
Jn. 9:8. Then the neighbors and those who had seen before that he was blind said: Is this not the one who sat and begged?
The neighbors, struck by the extraordinariness of the miracle, did not believe. Although his procession to Siloam with eyes anointed with clay was for the very purpose that many would see him and afterwards would not deny it by claiming ignorance, nevertheless, even now they do not believe.
The Evangelist does not remark without purpose that he was asking for alms, but to show the ineffable love of the Lord for mankind in that He condescended even to the poor, that He healed even beggars with great care, and from this we too would learn not to despise our lesser brethren.
Jn. 9:9. Some said: it is he, while others said: he resembles him. But he said: it is I.
And the blind man, not ashamed of his former wretchedness, not fearing the crowd, openly says: "It is I."
Jn. 9:10. Then they asked him: how were your eyes opened?
Jn. 9:11. He answered and said: A Man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me: Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. I went and washed and received my sight.
He proclaims the Benefactor and says: "A man called Jesus." He calls the Lord a Man, because up to that point he still knew nothing about Him, and what he has now learned, that he confesses.
From where then does he know that this is Jesus? From His conversation with the disciples. The disciples asked the Lord about him. He answered them at considerable length: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me; I am the light of the world." No one else taught this way except Jesus alone, and He used such words often. From this the blind man learned that it was Jesus.
That He made clay and anointed his eyes, he knew from the touch and said so. About the spitting he said nothing, because he did not know, and since he did not know, he did not add it. Evidently, this man was righteous.
Jn. 9:12. They said to him then: Where is He? He answered: I do not know.
Since the Lord, when granting healing and performing a miracle, usually concealed Himself out of His modesty, the blind man, when asked where Jesus was, says "I do not know," so as to be completely faithful to the truth.
Jn. 9:13. They brought this formerly blind man to the Pharisees.
They lead him to the Pharisees, in order to subject him to a more detailed and rigorous interrogation.
Jn. 9:14. It was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
The Evangelist notes that "it was the Sabbath" in order to show their malice, how they seize upon every occasion against Christ: they accuse Him of violating the Sabbath and thereby attempt to overshadow the miracle. Therefore they do not ask him "how did you receive your sight," but rather "how did He open your eyes," — in everything slandering the Lord as One who had worked on the Sabbath.
Jn. 9:15. The Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said to them: He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.
They compel the blind man himself to recall that He made the clay precisely on the Sabbath. He, answering those who had already heard, mentions neither the name of Jesus nor what the Lord said to him, but only says: "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed and I see." For the Pharisees had probably heard beforehand from those who brought the blind man to them, and perhaps slandered the Lord and said: "See what Jesus does on the Sabbath." The boldness of the blind man is worthy of note, that he speaks fearlessly with the Pharisees. They brought him so that he, struck with fear, would deny the reality of the healing, but he very clearly proclaims: "I see."
Jn. 9:16. Then some of the Pharisees said: This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath. Others said: How can a sinful man perform such miracles? And there was a division among them.
Some of the Pharisees, not all, but the more audacious ones, said: "This Man is not from God." But others said: "How can a sinful man perform such miracles?" Do you see how under the influence of miracles many are softened? These people are Pharisees, rulers, and yet, as a result of this miracle, they are put to shame and offer some degree of defense.
"And there was a division among them." This division had previously occurred among the people, for "some said, He deceives the people, while others said, He is good" (Jn. 7:12, 43), but now it begins also among the rulers.