John 9:8 - Meaning and Application

Such a great event as giving sight to a man born blind could not help becoming the talk of the town. Many people treated it like any other piece of gossip, just another short-lived wonder, but John tells us what the neighbors said because it confirms the facts. What was first hard to believe could later be accepted without hesitation. Two things are discussed in this conversation about the healing.

First, they ask whether this really was the same man who had been blind, John 9:8. The neighbors who lived near the place where he had been born and raised knew he had been blind, so they were amazed to see that he now had sight, and had it suddenly and completely. They asked, "Is not this he that sat and begged?" It seems this blind man had been a common beggar because he could not work for a living. He was unable to labor, so he sat still, and when his parents could not support him, he begged.

Those who cannot support themselves in any other way should not be ashamed to beg. No one should be ashamed of anything except sin. There are some common beggars who are truly needy and deserve compassion, and we should make room for them. We must not let the worthy go hungry because of the drones and wasps mixed among them. In this man’s case, Providence arranged things well, because he was a common beggar and therefore widely known. That made the miracle easier to prove, since more people could testify against the unbelieving Jews who would not accept that he had been blind. It also showed Christ’s humility, since he chose to heal a man marked by poverty and misery, not by rank or dignity.

In answer to their question, some said, "This is he," the very same man. They were witnesses to the truth of the miracle, because they had long known him as stone-blind. Others could not think it possible that a man born blind could suddenly receive sight, so they said, "He is not he, but is like him." Even that kind of doubt proves the greatness of the miracle, because if it really was he, then something remarkable had clearly happened to him.

This also gives us a thought about the wisdom and power of Providence in making such variety in human faces. No two are so alike that they cannot be told apart, and that is necessary for society, trade, and justice. It also reminds us of the great change that God’s converting grace makes in some people. Those who were once very wicked and vile can become so changed in all they are and do that people would not recognize them as the same.

The man himself soon settled the matter. He said, "I am he," the very man who had lately sat and begged. He was saying, "I am the one who was blind, once an object of charity, but now a monument of God’s mercy and grace." The neighbors did not ask him first, but when he heard them debating, he stepped in and ended the dispute. It is a matter of justice to our neighbors to correct their mistakes and put things in the right light whenever we can. Spiritually, this teaches that those whom God has truly enlightened by his grace should be willing to admit what they were before that blessed change, (1 Timothy 1:13-14).

Second, they ask how his eyes were opened, John 9:10-12. They want to step aside and look more closely at this great sight. Jesus did not trumpet his miracles or perform them on a stage, and yet, like a city on a hill, they could not stay hidden. The neighbors ask two things.

First, they ask about the manner of the cure: "How were your eyes opened?" Since the works of the Lord are great, they should be studied, (Psalm 111:2). It is good to notice how God works, because then his works appear even more wonderful. Spiritually, it is strange that blind eyes should be opened, but it is even more striking when we think about how they are opened, through weak means and against strong resistance. The man gives them a plain and full answer: "A man called Jesus made clay, and I received sight" (John 9:11). Those who have experienced special acts of God’s power and goodness, whether in outward or spiritual things, should be ready to share their experiences whenever they can, for God’s glory and for the help of others. David gathered his own and others’ experiences together, (Psalm 34:4-6). We owe that to our Benefactor and to our brothers and sisters. God’s gifts are wasted on us when they stop with us and go no farther.

Second, they ask about the author of the cure: "Where is he?" Some may have asked out of curiosity, wanting to see a man who did such works. Others may have asked in hostility, wanting to seize him. There was already a warrant out for discovering and arresting him (John 11:57), and the crowd, without thinking fairly, often assumes the worst about people who have been slandered. We hope some asked out of goodwill, wanting to meet him and share in his kindness. In reply, the man could only say, "I do not know." As soon as Jesus sent him to the pool of Siloam, he seems to have gone away at once, as he did in John 5:13, without waiting for the man to return, as if he did not care to hear thanks or to doubt the result. Humble people take more pleasure in doing good than in hearing praise for it. There will be time enough for that in the resurrection of the just.

The man had never seen Jesus, because by the time he had gained his sight, he had lost sight of his Healer. He probably asked, "Where is he?" None of the new sights around him could have been as precious as one look at Christ. Yet he knew only that the man was called Jesus, and rightly so, a Savior. In the work of grace in the soul, we can see the change, but we do not see the hand that made it. The Spirit works like the wind, you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes.