John 9:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”

NIV: He replied, 'The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.'

NASB: He answered, 'The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.'

CSB: He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So when I went and washed I received my sight."

NLT: He told them, 'The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!'

KJV: He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

NKJV: He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

This particular miracle provides us with many valuable lessons. One, first hinted at here, is the simplicity of our testimony. The man speaking was born blind (John 9:1–2), but was miraculously granted sight by Jesus (John 9:6–7). When pressed about what happened to so drastically change his life, the man has a simple answer: Jesus put mud on my eyes and said to wash, so I did, and now I can see. This man will be interrogated by the Pharisees, and yet he will consistently give the same answer. In fact, when pressed to give a deeper explanation, he will respond with a classic statement: "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).

God does not expect us to have deep, advanced knowledge in order to be saved. Nor do we need to have extensive experience or a well-polished story in order to reach others for the sake of Christ. In most cases, our most potent tool is to give a simple explanation of what God has done for us (Mark 5:19). Not only is this personal and real, but it's undeniable: we know what we have experienced!

Another helpful perspective here is to consider what would have happened had the man refused Jesus' command. In this particular case, Jesus didn't instantly heal, He gave the man a task to perform. This is not an uncommon tactic by God, even when it comes to healing (2 Kings 5:1–14). Putting muddy clay on the man's eyes certainly gave him an incentive to wash, and God often uses "pressure" in our lives to encourage us in certain directions. But this man's blessing was effectively on hold until he acted in obedience. Not all of God's work in our lives is this way, and we certainly can't presume that God "owes" us when we do certain things. However, we should also recognize that God does not expect us to be passive (John 9:4; Matthew 5:16), and sometimes His commands are for our own benefit.

John 9:1–12 contains the sixth of the gospel of John's seven miraculous ''signs'' of Jesus' divinity. This miracle is the healing of a man who has been blind since birth. Jesus corrects His disciples' misconceptions about sin and suffering, then grants this man an ability he has never had before. This will lead to more angry confrontations with local religious leaders, as they purposefully ignore the spiritual message being proven by Jesus' works.

Jesus encounters a man who has been blind his entire life. In typical fashion for that era, the disciples assume this condition is due to some specific sin--either the man's sin or his parents' sin. Jesus challenges this idea, and heals the man. His restoration leads to interrogation, as the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus' miraculous work. The healed man's simple, straightforward perspective embarrasses the religious leaders, who excommunicate him in frustration. Jesus is able to meet with the man, explaining more about His identity and the purpose of His ministry. Jesus also reminds the Pharisees that those who ought to know better, spiritually, will be held more accountable as a result.

Jesus has begun to actively confront the false teachings of local religious leaders. His most recent debate included a heated exchange with the Pharisees, where Jesus claimed to have existed before Abraham. This resulted in an attempted stoning for blasphemy. Here, Jesus continues to antagonize religious hypocrites by healing a man who was born blind. The ensuing ruckus further exposes Jerusalem's religious leaders as shallow, prejudiced, and false. This event launches Jesus into another lengthy discussion of His ministry, recorded in chapter 10, including several crucial teachings on His role as Shepherd.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.