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JOHN 9:2 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 9:1John 9:3
“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? — the disciples assume that physical disability results from personal or parental sin. This reflects a common theological view: suffering is punishment for sin (cf. Job 4:7, though Job itself questions this). The disciples' question frames blindness within the categories of moral causation and divine retribution. Jesus will reject this framework, reorienting understanding toward God's redemptive purposes rather than explanations of suffering rooted in sin-causation.

Church Fathers on John 9:2

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
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