Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. ² His followers asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused this man to be born blind—his own sin or his parents’ sin?”

³ Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him. ⁴ While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the One who sent me. The night is coming. And no one can work at night. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶ After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and made some mud with it. He put the mud on the man’s eyes. ⁷ Then he told the man, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means Sent.) So the man went to the pool. He washed and came back. And he was able to see.

⁸ Some people had seen this man begging before. They and the man’s neighbors said, “Look! Is this the same man who always sits and begs?”

⁹ Some said, “Yes! He is the one.” But others said, “No, he’s not the same man. He only looks like him.”

So the man himself said, “I am the man.”

¹⁰ They asked, “What happened? How did you get your sight?”

¹¹ He answered, “The man named Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and came back seeing.”

¹² They asked him, “Where is this man?”

The man answered, “I don’t know.”

Pharisees Question the Healing

¹³ Then the people took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴ The day Jesus had made mud and healed his eyes was a Sabbath day. ¹⁵ So now the Pharisees asked the man, “How did you get your sight?”

He answered, “He put mud on my eyes. I washed, and now I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man does not keep the Sabbath day. He is not from God!”

Others said, “But a man who is a sinner can’t do miracles like these.” So they could not agree with each other.

¹⁷ They asked the man again, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man answered, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and could now see again. So they sent for the man’s parents ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind. Then how does he see now?”

²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and we know that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don’t know how he can see now. We don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had already decided that anyone who said that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ That is why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

²⁴ So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind. They said, “You should give God the glory by telling the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. But one thing I do know. I was blind, and now I can see.”

²⁶ They asked, “What did he do to you? How did he make you see again?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have already told you that. But you would not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his followers, too?”

²⁸ Then they insulted him and said, “You are his follower. We are followers of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this man comes from!”

³⁰ The man answered, “This is a very strange thing. You don’t know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We all know that God does not listen to sinners. But God listens to anyone who worships and obeys him. ³² Nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ They answered, “You were born full of sin! Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw the man out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. So Jesus found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ He asked, “Who is the Son of Man, sir? Tell me, so I can believe in him!”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him. The Son of Man is the one talking with you now.”

³⁸ He said, “Yes, Lord, I believe!” Then the man bowed and worshiped Jesus.

³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world so that the world could be judged. I came so that the blind^[a] could see and so that those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees were near Jesus. When they heard him say this, they asked, “What? Are you saying that we are blind, too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But now that you say you can see, your guilt remains.”