John 9:1–12

Read the passage.

The opening phrase of this chapter, “As he passed by”, is interesting to me because it makes it sound like this incident happened as Jesus escaped the crowd that wanted to kill Him. It would be understandable if Jesus had stopped the disciples and said, “Wait, guys, I know you think I’m in danger, but there’s something I need to do here.” He knows the time hasn’t come for Him to die yet, so there’s time to do the Father’s will in this man’s life. But it’s the disciples who see the blind man and start asking theological questions of their Rabbi. Maybe they thought they were far enough away from the temple, or that Jesus wouldn’t be recognized by anyone looking to kill Him.

Whatever the case, Jesus answers their question by saying that not every bad thing that befalls people is directly attributed to sin. Instead, evil circumstances can merely be an opportunity for God to display His power. Jesus lets His disciples know that there is a limited time for them to do God’s good works in the world. What’s confusing is whether that’s meant as a universal time limit, or a metaphor for each disciple’s life. “Night is coming, when no one can work,” He said, directly connecting that time with Him being the light of the world but also leaving the world. (v. 4–5) My best guess is that He is referring to the time He will be dead as the “night”, and those who followed Him would not be able to go do the Lord’s works during that time.

Then Jesus heals the blind man by making mud and putting it on his eyes. I expect He did it this way so that the man would have to go to the pool of Siloam while Jesus and His disciples walked away and avoided the commotion that would ensue. At first, the man’s neighbors didn’t believe this was the same guy they were used to seeing begging on their street, but there were a lot of people who noticed the change in him immediately. He must have known who Jesus was somehow, because he was able to explain who healed him and how. The people wanted to find Jesus, but He’d already left.

Help us to do the good works You have provided.