Anchor My Faith

Is This Really the Blind Beggar?

Scripture: John 9:8-12

We ended the previous lesson with the man born blind being sent to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud from his eyes which was placed there by Jesus. The man, in obedience, demonstrates his faith and goes to washes off the mud and returns with his sight. In John 5:1 – 15, Jesus healed a man who had been at the pool by the Sheep Gate for thirty-eight years as an invalid. The healing occurred on the Sabbath and resulted in both Jesus and the man getting into trouble. Healing this blind man on the Sabbath will probably cause problems for the man and more problems for Jesus.

^{Jn 9:8} “The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.”

The neighbors of the blind man were used to him going to his spot by the street and begging. When he returned from gaining his sight at the pool of Siloam, he was probably observed by several neighbors who saw a man who had many features of appearance as the blind man, causing them to wonder if he was indeed the blind man. Some believed it was the man who was now healed, but others insisted that he was another man who looked like the blind man.

The man who was born blind and received his sight at the pool of Siloam, “kept saying, “I am the man.”’ When a person is born blind the eyes and the area around the eyes is clearly different in appearance and expression when compared to a person born with healthy eyes. Not only did the man receive his sight, but he now had a face that was different in appearance do to having healthy eyes. That difference in appearance was probably great enough to cause some to question if the man before them was really the former blind man.

^{Jn 9:10} “So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”’ Their question was to determine if this man was the blind beggar. If he could explain in detail how he received his sight and if those who asked the question believed his witness then the issue would be settled, but was it?

Like the man Jesus healed at the pool by the Sheep Gate, this man points to Jesus as the one responsible. ^{Jn 9:11} “He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So, I went and washed and received my sight.”’

These who were interrogating the man were not yet convinced and so ^{Jn 9:12} “They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”’ They wanted to find Jesus and ask him about the healing and thus verify that this was indeed the man who was born blind.

Conclusion

The man who was born blind and given his sight is about to find out that he is going to be used by the Pharisees to further condemn Jesus because Jesus healed him on the Sabbath.