Jesus Heals the Blind Man
The sixth sign miracle featured in John’s Gospel reveals Jesus as the light of the world (John 9:5). He was also unique among the prophets in that none of them had cured blindness (9:30–33).
The healing of the blind man speaks to the problem of human suffering. Then as now, sickness was often assumed to be divine punishment for someone’s sin. Like Job’s counselors (Job 4:7–9; 8:2–8; 11:4–20), Jesus’ disciples asked, “Whose sin caused this manblindness?” (John 9:2). But Jesus replied with a radically new truth: God can use human suffering to reveal His glory (9:3). Jesus immediately showed what He was talking about by healing the man’s blindness, thereby revealing Himself to be the Son of God.
In this detail from a Roman sarcophagus (about a.d. 330), Jesus touches the eyes of a blind man with a paste of spittle before sending him to the Pool of Siloam (John 9:1–7).
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