Sign in
JOHN 9:1 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 9John 9:2
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.”
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth — Jesus encounters a man blind from birth (from childhood, ek koilias mētros, from his mother's womb). The blindness is congenital, total, and lifelong—the complete deprivation of sight. The encounter exemplifies John's principle: the sign is both physical and spiritual. Physical blindness will become the occasion for spiritual revelation and crisis. The man's absolute disability (not blind from an accident or illness but from birth) makes the cure maximally miraculous and maximally symbolic of spiritual blindness cured only by Jesus.

Church Fathers on John 9:1

The Jews having rejected Christ’s words, because of their depth, He went out of the temple, and healed the blind man; that His absence might appease their fury, and the miracle soften their hard hearts, and convince their unbelief. And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. It is to be remarked here that, on going out of the temple, He betook Himself intently to this manifestation of His power. He first saw the blind man, not the blind man Him: and…

Chrysostom · 4th century

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, i.e. looked with compassion on the human race.

Bede · 8th century

For the blind man here is the human race. Blindness came upon the first man by reason of sin: and from him we all derive it: i.e. man is blind from his birth.

Augustine · 4th century
Read all 18 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
John 9:1 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy