Healing The Man Blind From Birth
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The miracle of healing the man born blind is one of the
miracles of Jesus in the Gospels The miracles of Jesus are miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature. In the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), Jesus r ...
, in which Jesus is believed to have restored the sight of a man at
Siloam Silwan or Siloam ( ar, سلوان, translit=Silwan; gr, Σιλωὰμ, translit=Siloam; he, כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ, translit=''Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ'') is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on the outski ...
. Although not named in the gospel, church tradition has ascribed the name
Celidonius Celidonius is the traditional name ascribed to the man born blind whom Jesus healed in the Gospel of John . This tradition is attested in both Eastern Christianity and in Catholicism. One tradition ascribes to St. Celidonius the founding of t ...
to the man who was healed. The account is recorded in the ninth chapter of the
Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
.


Biblical account

According to the
Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
9:1–12,
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
saw a man who had been blind since birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus replied:
Neither this man nor his parents sinned ... but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Having said this, Jesus spat on the ground, and anointed the man's eyes with a mixture of mud and saliva. He told the blind man to go and wash in the
Pool of Siloam The term Pool of Siloam ( ar, بركه سلوان, he, בריכת השילוח, ''Breikhat HaShiloah'') ( gr, Σιλωάμ) refers to a number of Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the City of David (Silwan), Wadi Hilw ...
; the Bible narrative adds that the word "Siloam" means "Sent". The man "went and washed, and came home seeing". When they saw him, those who had known him as a blind beggar asked if this was the same man. Some said that he was, while others said, "No, he only looks like him." But the man himself said, "I am the man" (Greek: '' egō eimi'', literally: "I am"). The remainder of the chapter relates the investigation of the miracle by the Pharisees. Jesus makes use of the occasion to deliver a metaphorical teaching that he came into the world "so that the blind may see".


Interpretations

Parallels have been drawn between the act of Jesus in healing the blind man with a paste made of mud and spittle, and the
Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word ...
in which God makes man out of the dust of the earth and his own breath (Genesis 2:7). The story also contains an allusion to the Old Testament story of
Naaman Naaman ( he, נַעֲמָן ''Naʿămān'', "pleasantness") the Aramean was a commander of the armies of Ben-Hadad II, the king of Aram-Damascus, in the time of Joram, king of Israel. According to the Bible, Naaman was a commander of the army o ...
, the leper, who was told by
Elisha Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
to cure himself by washing in the
Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...
(2 Kings 5:10). It also fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah: “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free” (Is. 35:5-6). In the confusion over whether the healed man is identical with the beggar, it has been argued that both conclusions are correct. He is the same and not the same; he is the man who used to sit and beg, yet he is a new person. The phrase ''egō eimi'', "I am", is frequently spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John; the use of it here by the healed man appears to mimic this usage, and suggests that the man has found his own identity in an encounter with the divine.
Cornelius a Lapide Cornelius Cornelii à Lapide (''né'' Cornelis Cornelissen van den Steen; 18 December 1567 – 12 March 1637) was a Flemish Catholic priest. He was a Jesuit and exegete of scripture. Life He was born at Bocholt, in Belgian Limburg. He studi ...
in his ''great commentary'' writes:
The reason why God inflicted blindness on this man was that the miraculous power of Christ should be made manifest in his case, and thus Christ be acknowledged as the true Messiah. So the
Fathers A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...
quoted above. The
Glossa Ordinaria The ''Glossa Ordinaria'', which is Latin for "Ordinary .e. in a standard formGloss", is a collection of biblical commentaries in the form of glosses. The glosses are drawn mostly from the Church Fathers, but the text was arranged by scholars du ...
gives the mystical meaning, that it was to signify what Christ would do in enlightening mankind in like manner by His grace, and the doctrine of the Gospel. And accordingly the man himself was enlightened not only in his body, but in his mind, as will be seen below. And therefore he suffered no wrong, but gained a benefit by his blindness (says St.
John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...
), for in consequence of it he beheld with the eyes of his mind, Him who from nothing brought him into being, and received from Him enlightenment both in body and in mind.Cornelius Cornelii a Lapide; Thomas Wimberly Mossma
''The great commentary of Cornelius à Lapide,''
London: J. Hodges, 1889-1896.


Tradition

According to Christian tradition, the man's name was
Celidonius Celidonius is the traditional name ascribed to the man born blind whom Jesus healed in the Gospel of John . This tradition is attested in both Eastern Christianity and in Catholicism. One tradition ascribes to St. Celidonius the founding of t ...
.


See also

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Life of Jesus in the New Testament The life of Jesus in the New Testament is primarily outlined in the four canonical gospels, which includes his genealogy and nativity, public ministry, passion, prophecy, resurrection and ascension. Other parts of the New Testament – suc ...
*
Ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples.''Chri ...
*
Parables of Jesus The parables of Jesus are found in the Synoptic Gospels and some of the non-canonical gospels. They form approximately one third of his recorded teachings. Christians place great emphasis on these parables, which they generally regard as the word ...
*
Seven signs in the Gospel of John In Christian scholarship, the Book of Signs is a name commonly given to the first main section of the Gospel of John, from 1:19 to the end of Chapter 12. It follows the Hymn to the Word and precedes the Book of Glory. It is named for seven no ...


Further reading

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References

{{Authority control Miracles of Jesus Gospel of John Supernatural healing