I Was Blind, But Now I See

A man has been blind since birth, and the disciples want a theological explanation: whose sin caused this, his or his parents’? Jesus refuses the premise entirely — “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” Then He does something almost defiantly simple: mud, saliva, a word — “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). The man obeys, not understanding, and comes home seeing. He isn’t given a theology lecture first. He’s given sight, and the understanding comes later, through interrogation, through being thrown out of the synagogue, through Jesus finding him again on the other side of his suffering.

What’s remarkable is how the man defends himself under pressure. He doesn’t out-argue the religious leaders with expertise he doesn’t have. He simply keeps returning to what he actually knows: “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” That’s the whole of his testimony, and it’s enough — enough to withstand a hostile cross-examination, enough to get him thrown out for it, and enough for Jesus to come looking for him afterward and ask the only question that ultimately matters: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” The man doesn’t hesitate: “Lord, I believe,” and worships Him. Meanwhile the ones who claimed to see clearly — the Pharisees, confident in their own spiritual sight — are the ones Jesus says remain in their sin, precisely because they insist they already see.