Church Fathers Commentary John 9:1-7

"And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. When I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing." — John 9:1-7 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Because the Jews had rejected Christ’s words due to their depth, He went out of the temple and healed the blind man. He did this so that His absence might appease their fury, and the miracle might soften their hard hearts and convince them of their unbelief.

As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from his birth. It should be noted here that, upon leaving the temple, He turned His attention intently to this display of His power. He saw the blind man first; the blind man did not see Him. And He fixed His eyes on him so intently that His disciples were struck and asked, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

The Venerable Bede: Mystically, our Lord, after being banished from the minds of the Jews, passed over to the Gentiles. The passage or journey here is His descent from heaven to earth, where He saw the blind man—that is, looked with compassion on the human race.

St. Augustine of Hippo: For the blind man here represents the human race. Blindness came upon the first man because of sin, and from him we all derive it; that is, humanity is blind from its birth.

“Rabbi” means “Master.” They call Him Master because they wanted to learn; they put their question to our Lord as one would to a Master.

Theophylact of Ohrid: This question does not seem to be a proper one, for the Apostles had not been taught the fanciful notion of the Gentiles that the soul sins in a previous state of existence. It is difficult to account for why they asked it.

St. John Chrysostom: They were led to ask this question because our Lord had said previously, when healing the man who was paralyzed, See, you are made well; sin no more. Thinking from this that the man had been struck with paralysis for his sins, they asked our Lord about the blind man here, whether he had sinned or his parents. Neither of these could be the reason for his blindness: it could not be his own sin, because he had been blind from birth, nor his parents’ sin, because the son does not suffer for the father.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Was he then born without original sin, or had he never added to it by his own sin? Both this man and his parents had sinned, but that sin was not the reason he was born blind. Our Lord gives the reason, namely, that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

St. John Chrysostom: This should not be understood to mean that others had become blind as a result of their parents’ sins, for one person cannot be punished for the sin of another. But did the man therefore suffer unjustly? On the contrary, I would say that his blindness was a benefit to him, for through it he was brought to see with the inward eye. In any case, He who brought him into being from nothing had the power to ensure he was ultimately no loser by it.

Some also say that the word “that” here expresses not the cause but the result, as in the passage from Romans, The law entered that sin might abound. The effect in this case is that our Lord, by opening the closed eye and healing other natural infirmities, demonstrated His own power.

St. Gregory the Great: One affliction falls on the sinner for punishment only, not for conversion; another falls for correction; another not for correcting past sins, but for preventing future ones; and yet another falls neither for correcting the past nor preventing the future, but so that the unexpected deliverance following the affliction might inspire a more ardent love for the Savior’s goodness.

St. John Chrysostom: When He said, That the glory of God should be made manifest, He spoke of Himself, not of the Father, for the Father’s glory was already manifest. I must work the works of Him that sent Me; that is, I must reveal Myself and show that I do the same things my Father does.

The Venerable Bede: For when the Son declared that He worked the works of the Father, He proved that His works and His Father’s works were the same: to heal the sick, to strengthen the weak, and to enlighten humanity.

St. Augustine of Hippo: By saying, Who sent Me, He gives all the glory to Him from whom He comes. The Father has a Son who is from Him, but has no one from whom He Himself comes.

St. John Chrysostom: He adds, While it is day; that is, while people have the opportunity to believe in Me, while this life lasts. The night comes, when no one can work. “Night” here refers to the one spoken of in Matthew: Cast him into outer darkness. Then there will be a night in which no one can work, but can only receive the consequences for what they have done. While you live, do what you must do, for beyond this life there is neither faith, nor labor, nor repentance.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But if we work now, then now is the daytime, for now Christ is present. As He says, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. This, then, is the day. The natural day is completed by the circuit of the sun and contains only a few hours, but the day of Christ’s presence will last to the end of the world, for He Himself has said, See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

St. John Chrysostom: He then confirms His words with deeds: When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. He who had brought greater things into being from nothing could much more easily have given sight without using any material. But He wished to show that He was the Creator, who in the beginning used clay to form man. He makes the clay with spittle, not water, to make it evident that it was not the pool of Siloam, where He was about to send him, but the power proceeding from His mouth that restored the man’s sight.

Then, so that the cure might not seem to be the effect of the clay, He ordered the man to wash, saying to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. The Evangelist gives the meaning of Siloam—which is by interpretation, Sent—to show that it was Christ’s power that cured him even there. Just as the Apostle says of the rock in the wilderness, that that Rock was Christ, so Siloam had a spiritual character; the sudden rise of its water was a silent symbol of Christ’s unexpected manifestation in the flesh.

But why did He not tell him to wash immediately, instead of sending him to Siloam? It was so that the obstinacy of the Jews might be overcome when they saw him going there with the clay on his eyes. Furthermore, it proved that He was not opposed to the Law and the Old Testament. And there was no danger of the credit for the healing being given to Siloam, as many had washed their eyes there and received no such benefit.

This also shows the faith of the blind man, who made no objection. He never argued with himself that clay is more likely to obscure sight than to restore it, or that he had often washed in Siloam without any benefit, or that if our Lord had the power, He could have cured him with a word. Instead, he simply obeyed: he went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Thus our Lord manifested His glory, and it was no small glory to be proven the Creator of the world, as He was by this miracle. For on the principle that the greater contains the less, this act of creation implies all others. Man is the most honorable of all creatures, and the eye is the most honorable part of the human body, directing its movements and giving it sight. The eye is to the body what the sun is to the universe, and therefore it is placed high up, as if on a royal throne.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Some think that the clay was not laid upon the eyes, but made into new eyes.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Our Lord spat on the ground and made clay from the spittle because the Word was made flesh. The man did not see immediately when he was anointed; he was, so to speak, only made a catechumen. But he was sent to the pool called Siloam—that is, he was baptized in Christ—and then he was enlightened. The Evangelist then explains the name of this pool to us: which is by interpretation, Sent. For if Christ had not been sent, none of us would have been delivered from our sins.

St. Gregory the Great: Or, to put it another way: by His spittle, understand the savor of inward contemplation. It runs down from the head into the mouth and gives us a taste of revelation from the divine splendor, even in this life. The mixture of His spittle with clay is the mixing of supernatural grace—that is, the contemplation of Himself—with our earthly knowledge, for the soul’s enlightenment and the restoration of human understanding from its original blindness.