John chapter 9 in its entirety revolves around one event. The symbolism of Christ must not be missed, as it was by the Pharisees.
This is one chapter where we may be tempted to look for the deeper meaning, the meaning of the moistened clay, the power of the pool of Siloam, or the tension in keeping the Sabbath. Were we to focus on these, we would miss the symbolism of chapter 9. It is instead a chapter we are to take at face value.
We are all spiritually blind from birth in our sins. The work of God to open blind eyes, spiritually speaking, displays His glory in the earth. Opening blind eyes was one of the marks of the coming Messiah, as foretold in Isaiah 42:7, “To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”
Christ says of Himself that He is the light of the world. Only a seeing eye can comprehend light. In our blindness, we cannot distinguish light from dark.
The clay mixed with the saliva of Christ pasted onto the eyes would surely have damaged the eyesight of a seeing person. Here, it represents an act of faith. The man had to take some action for the miracle to be completed. Note also that the dirt of sin must be washed from our spiritual eyes in order that we may see.
The man washed in the pool translated as Sent. Christ was sent by God the Father to rescue the world from its sin. The pool of Siloam is said to have been fed by a spring, which was rare given that the area was mostly desert. Thus, people believed the spring was a gift of God and named the pool Sent.
A wide variety of people were affected by the miracle, and the same is true for us. Our lives impact a wide variety of people for Christ. This also is one of Christ’s commandments, that we should go into all the world and make disciples.
That the miracle occurred on the Sabbath is symbolic in and of itself. The Sabbath is a period of rest, and here, it was rest from the man’s physical blindness and rest from the bondage of sin. Everyday is a Sabbath rest for those who see and are free in Christ.
The controversy which ensues from verse 13 to the end of chapter 9 indicates the darkness of spiritual blindness. This darkness had befallen the Pharisees. Having been made whole in Christ, both physically and spiritually, the Pharisees excluded him from the synagogue. Truly, light has no place among darkened minds.
Christ indicts the blindness of the Pharisees in verse 41, when He says, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”
What did the Pharisees see? Well, they did not see the Messiah. Having the law and the prophets and the promise of a Messiah in the Torah, they did not know the Messiah when He came. This represented grave blindness, having the ability to see but not recognizing Christ as the Messiah. Christ as much as fulfilled a prophecy of Himself (Isaiah 42:7), and still, they did not see.
The Pharisees did not see their sin because sin blinded their ability to see their own sin. Christ does not expressly highlight any particular sin in chapter 9, however, elsewhere in the gospels He does. The Pharisees represented a hypocritical bunch and had little intention to understand the heart of God, yet they wanted to align themselves with the righteousness of God. While they continued in their sin, their blindness only increased.
The Pharisees did not see faith. Christ helps the man believe, in the same manner that Abraham believed God. However, instead of trusting in the faith of Abraham, the Pharisees held to their own version of obedience to the law of Moses.
The Pharisees did not see that the law was only given as a teacher and not as a savior. They were trusting in the law for their salvation, and it was only salvation by works. It is evident in chapter 9, for they believed Christ had sinned by breaking the Sabbath law. Only in keeping their various laws did they believe one could be accepted by God. This, however, is a form of earning salvation from sin, which God did not prescribe anywhere, not even in giving the law. The law of Moses was never intended to save. Obedience to the law was the exercise of faith, and upon obeying the law, we are called to trust in the Lord. This was long forgotten by the Pharisees, who had trusted in the law itself for 5 or 6 centuries by this point. God desires a broken and contrite spirit above all else, and this the Pharisees could not see.
The Pharisees did not see the heart of God. Chapter 9 represents a compassionate scene, with Christ feeling pity for the blind man and then taking action to relieve his suffering. As with Christ’s other miracles on the Sabbath, the Pharisees exercised no compassion. They would rather have the man continue in his blindness than to violate the Sabbath law.
What about us? We are quick to proclaim, with the Pharisees, that we see. Do we? Christ is the judge of our ability to see. The climax of chapter 9 is verse 38, “And he said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped Him.”
If we profess our belief on Christ, what difference is it making in our lives? Are others impacted for Christ because of the wonderful change that has been wrought, since Jesus came into our hearts?
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