John 9:1-41
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the
works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is
coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these
things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and
said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit
and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they
said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 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.” They said to him, “Where
is he?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was
a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received
his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do
such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about
him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind
and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them,
“Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that
this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his
eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the
Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of
the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man
who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered,
“Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to
him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you
would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled
him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as
for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not
know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone
is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that
anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered
him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir,
that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He
said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who
do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and
said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that
you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
How do you feel about God being in control of all that happens in the world and even
your own life?
Can you see clearly with your spiritual eyes? If not, what steps might help you see?
What value do you place on your eternal soul? Is there anything you would trade it for?