Jesus Heals a Blind Man

1As he was walking along, he observed a man who had been blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,a who sinned, this man or his parents, that caused him to be born blind?”

3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so thatb God’s work might be revealed in him. 4Ic must do the work of the one who sent med while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work. 5As long as I’m in the world, I’m the light of the world.” 6After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he spread the mud on the man’s eyes 7and told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “Sent One”). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.

8Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him as a beggar said, “This is the man who used to sit and beg, isn’t it?”

9Some were saying, “It’s him,” while others were saying, “No, but it’s someone like him.”

But he himself kept saying, “It’s me!”

10So they asked him, “How, then, did you gain your eyesight?”

11He said, “The man named Jesus made some mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So off I went and washed, and I received my sight.”

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

He said, “I don’t know!”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13So they brought to the Pharisees the man who had once been blind. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and healede his eyes. 15So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had gained his sight. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see.”

16Some of the Pharisees began to remark, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

17So they asked the formerlyf blind man again, “What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he healed?”g

He said, “He is a prophet.”

18The Jewish leadersh did not believe that the mani had been blind and had gained sight until they summoned his parentsj 19and asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How does he now see?”

20His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21But we don’t know how it is that he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders,k since the Jewish leadersl had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesusm was the Messiahn would be thrown out of the synagogue. 23That’s why his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

24The Jewish leaderso summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

25But he responded, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not. The one thing I do know is that I used to be blind and now I can see!”

26Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he healp your eyes?”

27He answered them, “I’ve already told you, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples, too, do you?”

28At this, they turned on him in fury and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this fellow comes from.”

30The man answered them, “This is an amazing thing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he healedq my eyes. 31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will. 32Ever since creation it has never been heard that anyone healedr the eyes of a man who was born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do anything like that.”

34They asked him, “You were born a sinners and you are trying to instruct us?” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

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

36He answered, “And who is he, sir?u Tell me,v so that I may believe in him.”

37Jesus told him, “You have seen him. He is the person who is talking with you.”

38He said, “Lord, I do believe,” and worshipped him.

39Then Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind.”

40Some of the Pharisees who were near him overheard this and asked him, “We aren’t blind, too, are we?”

41Jesus told them, “If you were blind, you would not have any sin. But now that you insist, ‘We see,’ your sin still exists.”