ACC ~ John 9 v1 - 12

OVERVIEW:

As Jesus did not ignore the man born blind, neither should we (AMBROSE). It was he who sought the man out, not the other way around (CHRYSOSTOM), seeking to restore what nature had left defective (CAESARIUS). The disciples want to know the reason for the man’s blindness (CHRYSOSTOM), knowing that he could not have sinned before birth and that sometimes children may suffer in order to bring grief to the parents (APOLLINARIS). They assume there must be a reason for his suffering (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). Sin, however, was not the reason for his blindness (AUGUSTINE), nor had he or his parents done anything wrong (CHRYSOSTOM). There are many reasons for trials and maladies (GREGORY THE GREAT). This text begs the question: What, then, is the cause of suffering (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) since nothing happens without a purpose (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA)?

Christ reveals that he and the Father are going about the same work, which is urgent work because, beyond life, there is no more opportunity for work, faith or repentance (CHRYSOSTOM). We should avoid speculation and instead use the time God has given us to fulfill his commands (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) since after the resurrection the night will come for unbelievers (AUGUSTINE). Jesus calls himself light because he enlightens souls but also because he was about to open the blind man’s eyes (THEODORE OF HERACLEA) through dust, just as he had done at the beginning of creation (EPHREM). The light remains in the world as long as Christ’s presence remains in the world (AUGUSTINE). The brightness of Christ overwhelms the darkness (CHRYSOSTOM).

In healing the man born blind, Jesus completes his work as creator (IRENAEUS), using the same clay he used at creation to perform further creative work in restoring sight (ORIGEN, AMMONIUS). Law with grace is like clay without saliva: no healing can be accomplished (CAESARIUS). Jesus uses saliva instead of water so that everyone would know that the healing came from him and not from the fountain, but he also commanded the man to wash so that no one might think that the earth he mixed with the saliva did the healing either (CHRYSOSTOM). The actual healing takes place in Jesus’ absence quite a distance away, at the pool of Siloam, allowing many to be witnesses to the miracle (ORIGEN). We too can come to Siloam, which is a type of the washing of regeneration (IRENAEUS), as we receive healing through the waters of baptism (AMBROSE), although it is the Lord’s word and command connected with the water that does the healing (EPHREM). Having washed, the man encounters grace (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA), which only beggars can do (CHRYSOSTOM).

As part of the healing, the man walks the long walk to the pool with the mud on his eyes, ensuring that the people would see what had to have been quite a spectacle (CHRYSOSTOM). The blind man is leading the blind (EPHREM) since he still does not know who Jesus is (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) but recounts as much as he knows, describing the miracle as only a blind man would (CHRYSOSTOM). He becomes a blind evangelist to the blind (AUGUSTINE). When they ask the blind man where Jesus is, he can truthfully say he does not know since he could not see Jesus when he was healed (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). Those blind eyes that Jesus had opened with his saliva would later testify against the blindness that spit in his face (EPHREM).

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BLINDNESS FROM BIRTH

AMBROSE: You have heard that story in the Gospel where we are told that the Lord Jesus, as he was passing by, caught sight of a man who had been blind from birth. Since the Lord did not overlook him, neither ought we to overlook this story of a man whom the Lord considered worthy of his attention. In particular we should notice the fact that he had been blind from birth. This is an important point.

There is, indeed, a kind of blindness, usually brought on by serious illness, which obscures one’s vision but that can be cured, given time; and there is another sort of blindness, caused by cataract, that can be remedied by a surgeon: he can remove the cause, and so the blindness is dispelled. Draw your own conclusion: this man, who was actually born blind, was not cured by surgical skill but by the power of God. LETTER 67.1-2. [1]

[1] CSEL 82 2:165.

CHRYSOSTOM: It is clear that, on going out of the temple, he proceeded intentionally to do the work [of the miracle] from the fact that it was he who saw the blind man, not the blind man who came to him. And so intently did Jesus look at him that even his disciples perceived it. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:200**.

RESTORING WHAT NATURE LEFT DEFECTIVE

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: We have just heard that Jesus gave sight to the man who was blind from birth. Do you wonder? Jesus is the Savior. He did something in keeping with his name, for by his kindness he restored what he had given to a lesser degree in the womb. Now when he made his eyes less powerful, surely he did not make a mistake, but he deferred it for the miracle…. Behold, why Christ delayed when he made the eyes less powerful in the womb. Do not think that the parents of that blind man had no sin and that the blind man himself, when he was born, did not contract original sin; because of the fact of original sin even very little children are baptized. However, that blindness was not due to the sin of his parents or due to the sin of the blind man, but in order that the glory of God might be made manifest in him. For when we are born we all contract original sin, [1] and still we are not born physically blind. That blind man was prepared as a salve for the human race. He was bodily restored to light, in order that by considering his miracle we might be enlightened in heart. SERMON 172.1. [2]

[1] Augustine sees the blind man as a type of the human race, which is blind from birth due to original sin. See Tractates on the Gospel of John 44.1 (NPNF 1 7:245).

[2] FC 47:424-25*.See also Athanasius On the Incarnation 18.

9:2 | Who Sinned?

WHY THE DISCIPLES ASK

CHRYSOSTOM: They were led to ask this question because our Lord had said above, when he healed the paralytic, “See, you are well! Sin no more.” Thinking from this that the man had been paralyzed because of his sins, they say, “That other person was paralyzed because of his sins, but what would you say about this man? Had he sinned? How can you say that, since he was blind from birth? Have his parents sinned? Neither can one say this because the child does not suffer punishment because of his parents.” The same way we ask how it can be when we see a child suffering, this is how the disciples spoke here, not so much asking for information as being perplexed. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:200*.

SUFFERING AS AN EXERCISE

APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: There was a certain philosophy among the ancients that troubles came from sin because they were confident that God was not responsible for any evil. The notion that people suffer as an exercise so that they might perceive the power of God at last—this was not well known at all because they would rather have God give good rewards to the just then and there and not prolong suffering any longer for the sake of eternal life. Since he was a blind man from birth, it occurred to the disciples to ask. Since no one can sin before his birth, they ventured a guess that the parents were to blame. For they knew that children may suffer in order to bring grief to the parents. But the Lord said that the blindness did not occur because of any sin but for the sake of the glory of God that was about to take place as the power of God would be revealed through his unexpected recovery of sight. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 49. [1]

[1] JKGK 21.

THERE MUST BE A REASON

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: It was not unusual for his disciples to ask this kind of question about all that was happening to the Lord so that they could learn those things that lead to godliness. Indeed, since they had left everything and had given themselves completely to the Lord in order to learn from him godliness and piety, it is with laudable care that they took the opportunity from what happened around them to ask him such questions. When they saw this man born blind who, before he could sin, had this damage, and to whom this defect of the eyes happened when he was still in the womb, they were upset in their human way about this fact in trying to relate it to their faith. They thought that there was a just reason for such an accident and that such adversity had occurred not without good cause because they knew that God rules all human things. They were not able to understand what had happened in any other way because of their human weakness, attributing the reason for what happened either to the sin of the parents or to the blind man himself. It was not that he had been injured because he had sinned already— indeed, how could he sin if he was not born yet? But, since he would commit future sins, God, in his foreknowledge, restrained him by that disability. They justly and piously thought that the sins of people were the cause of all evils. But since, because of their human weakness, they could understand nothing more by themselves, they thought that the cause for this disability could only be attributed to the blind man himself or to his parents; as if the son had received that punishment for their sins, or he was the cause of his misfortune because he had received that punishment for his future sins. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.1-2. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:181-82.

9:3 | Neither This Man Nor His Parents Sinned

HE NEVER SINNED?

AUGUSTINE: Was he then born without original sin, or had he committed no sin in the course of his lifetime?… Both this man and his parents had sinned… but that sin itself was not the reason why he was born blind. … Our Lord gives the reason why… “That the works of God should be made known in him.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 44.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:246**.

DOES HE SUFFER FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?

CHRYSOSTOM: Here again is another difficulty if [it is true that] it was not possible that the glory of God should be shown without this man’s punishment. Certainly it was not impossible, for it was possible. But it happened so “that [God’s glory] might be made evident even in this man.” One might ask, however, Did he suffer wrong for the glory of God? Tell me what he did wrong. For what if God had never willed to make him at all? But I assert that he even received benefit from his blindness. Because he recovered the sight of the eyes within. What were the Jews profited by their eyes? They incurred the heavier punishment, being blinded even while they saw. And what injury did this man have because of his blindness? For through his blindness he recovered his sight. As, then, the evils of the present life are not evils, so neither are the good things good. Sin alone is an evil, but blindness is not an evil. And he who had brought this man from not being into being also had power to leave him as he was. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:201**.

VARIOUS REASONS FOR TRIALS

GREGORY THE GREAT: One blow falls on the sinner for punishment only, not conversion. Another occurs for correction; still another happens not in order to correct past sins but for the prevention of future sins. Another blow happens neither for correcting past nor preventing future sins. Rather, the unexpected deliverance following the blow serves to excite a love more focused on the Savior’s goodness. MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB, PREFACE 5.12. [1]

[1] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING?

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We do not believe that the soul previously existed; nor indeed can we think that it sinned before the body, for how can someone sin who has not yet been born? But if there has been no sin or fault preceding the suffering, what then shall we allege as the cause of the suffering? Truly, by our minds we cannot comprehend those things that are far above us. And, I should advise the prudent and myself above all to abstain from wishing to thoroughly scrutinize them. For we should recall to mind what we have been commanded [1] and not curiously examine things that are too deep, or pry into those that are too hard or rashly attempt to discover those things that are hidden in the divine and ineffable counsel alone. Rather, concerning such matters we should piously acknowledge that there are certain wondrous things that God alone understands. At the same time we should maintain and believe that since God is the fountain of all righteousness, God will neither do nor determine anything whatsoever in human affairs or in those of the rest of creation that is unbecoming to God or differs at all from the true righteousness of justice. Since therefore it is fitting for us to be affected in this way, I say, that the Lord does not speak dogmatically when he says “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Rather, he says it to redirect the questioner in another direction and to lead us from things too deep for us to more suitable ones. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1. [2]

[1] See Eccles 3:21-22.

[2] LF 48:13-14*.

NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT A PURPOSE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The Lord taught the disciples that there are many reasons for all these events and that they are certainly secret and unexplainable. And so, we always complain about events whose causes we ignore, but then we also learn that nothing happens in vain. This knowledge will be given to us in the future world, because what is hidden now will be revealed to us. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.3. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:182-83.

9:4 | Working the Works of Him Who Sent Me

CHRIST AND THE FATHER’S WORK IS THE SAME

CHRYSOSTOM: He says here, “I must reveal myself and do those things that may show that I do the same things with the Father”—not things “similar” but “the same.” This is an expression that marks greater invariability and that is used of those who do not differ even a little. Who then, after this, will face him when he sees that he had the same power with the Father? For not only did he form or open eyes; he also gave the gift of sight. This is proof that he also breathed in the soul. If that [soul] did not work, the eye, though perfected, could never see anything. He gave both the energy, [1] which is from the soul, and gave the member also, possessing all things, both arteries and nerves and veins, and all things of which our body is composed. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.2. [2]

[1] Or “noble birth.”

[2] NPNF 1 14:202**.

BEYOND LIFE IS NEITHER FAITH, LABOR NOR REPENTANCE

CHRYSOSTOM: “While it is day” means I must work while people can still believe on me as long as this life lasts. “The night comes,” that is, the future, “when no one can work.” He did not say, “when I cannot work” but “when no one can work,” that is, when there is no longer faith, labors or repentance. For to show that he called faith a “work,”… he replied, “This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent.” Why then can no one do this kind of work in the future world? Because there is no faith there, but all, whether willingly or unwillingly, will simply submit. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:202**.

GOD PREFERS HOLY ACTION OVER IDLE SPECULATION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Here Jesus is saying, “Why do you ask questions that are better left unsaid? Or why, leaving what suits the time, do you hurry to learn things beyond the capacity of people? It is not a time for such curiosity,” he says, “but for intense work. I think it is more appropriate to pass by such questions and instead zealously execute God’s commands.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:16**.

AFTER THE RESURRECTION COMES THE NIGHT FOR UNBELIEVERS

AUGUSTINE: After the resurrection of the living and the dead, when he will say to those placed at his right hand, “Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom,” and to those at his left, “Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” [1] then shall be the night when no one can work but only get back what he has previously done. There is a time for working, another for receiving; for the Lord shall render to every one according to his works. [2] While you live, do something if you are to be doing anything at all. For then that appalling night shall come to envelop the wicked it its folds. But even now every unbeliever, when he dies, is received within that night: there is no work to be done there. In that night was the rich man burning and asking a drop of water from the beggar’s finger. [3] … Unhappy man! When you were living, that was the time for working. Now you are already in the night in which no one can work. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 44.6. [4]

[1] Mt 25:34, 41.

[2] Mt 16:27.

[3] Lk 16:24-28.

[4] NPNF 1 7:247*.

9:5 | The Light of the World

THEODORE OF HERACLEA: He calls himself light both because he enlightens the souls of those who believe and because he was about to open the eyes of the one who was blind from birth. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 71. [1]

[1] JKGK 85.

THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS OF DUST

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: And he brought forth the light from the dust, just as he had done in the beginning, when there was a shadow of the heavens. “Darkness was spread out over everything.” [1] He gave a command to the light, and it was born from the darkness. Thus also here, he formed clay from his saliva, and he supplied was what lacking in creation, which was from the beginning, to show that what was lacking in nature was being supplied by his hand. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.28. [2]

[1] Gen 1:2-3.

[2] CB709:186-188.

THE LIGHT LASTS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

AUGUSTINE: What is that night in which, when it comes, no one shall be able to work? Hear what the day is, and then you will understand what the night is. But how shall we hear what the day is? Let he himself tell us: “As long as I am in this world, I am the light of the world.” See, he himself is the day…. The natural day is completed by the circuit of the sun and contains only a few hours. The day of Christ’s presence will last to the end of the world, for he himself has said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” [1] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 44.5-6. [2]

[1] Mt 28:20.

[2] NPNF 1 7:246-47**.

THE BLINDING BRIGHTNESS OF THE LORD

CHRYSOSTOM: “Believe while the light is with you,” [1] he said to others. Why then did Paul call this life “night” and that other “day”? He was not opposing Christ but saying the same thing, even if not in those exact words—although the sense is the same. For he also says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” [2] He calls the present time “night,” because of those who sit in darkness or because he compares it with that day that is to come. Christ calls the future “night” because sin has no power to work there, but Paul calls the present life “night” because those who continue in wickedness and unbelief are in darkness. Addressing himself then to the faithful, he said, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand,” since they should enjoy that light. And he calls the old life night. “Let us put away,” he says, “the works of darkness.” Do you see that he tells them that it is “night”? Therefore he says, “Let us walk honestly as in the day,” that we may enjoy that light. For if this light is so good, consider what that light will be. As much as the sunlight is brighter than the flame of a candle, so much and far more is that light better than this. And signifying this, Christ says that “the sun shall be darkened.” Because of the excess of that brightness, not even the sun shall be seen. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 56.3. [3]

[1] Jn 12:36.

[2] Rom 13:12.

[3] NPNF 1 14:202-3**.

9:6 | He Made Mud and Spread It on the Man’s Eyes

JESUS COMPLETES HIS WORK AS CREATOR

IRENAEUS: He healed others by a word…. But the Lord bestowed sight on the one who was blind from birth—not by a word, but by an outward action. He did this neither casually nor simply because this was how it happened. He did it this way in order to show it was the same hand of God here that had also formed man at the beginning. And therefore when his disciples asked him why he had been born blind, whether by his own fault or his parents’, Jesus said, “Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him.” The work of God is, after all, the forming of man. He did this by an outward action, as Scripture says, “And the Lord took clay from earth, and formed man.” [1] Notice here too how the Lord spit on the earth, and made clay and smeared it on his eyes, showing how the ancient creation was made. He was making clear to those who can understand, that this was the [same] hand of God through which man was formed from clay. For what the creating Word had neglected to form in the womb, this he supplied openly. He did this so that the works of God might be evident in him, and so that we would now seek for no other hand than that through which humanity was formed. Nor should we seek another Father, knowing that the hand of God which formed us in the beginning, and forms in the womb, has in the last times sought us lost ones out. He is gaining his own lost sheep and putting it on his shoulders and joyfully restoring it to the fold of life. AGAINST HERESIES 5.15.2. [2]

[1] Gen 2:7.

[2] ANF 1:543**. See also Against Heresies 5.16.1. This is a common theme in patristic interpretation. See also Chrysostom Homilies on the Gospel of John 56.2 and Theodore Commentary on John 4.9.6-7.

ANOINTING OF THE EYES WITH CLAY

ORIGEN: I think this has been said to establish that Christ’s saliva had a quality of healing power. Even though the blind man did not himself ask to receive his sight, yet he will be found praiseworthy in delivering himself to Jesus anointing his eyes with clay and in doing without hesitation what had been enjoined him, without Jesus having even said that he would receive sight…. Let us therefore wash off the clay smeared in our eyes in the water of the pool of him [i.e., Jesus] who has been sent so that after this we may be able to see again. But you will understand by the clay the beginning of the rudiments of the oracles of God, according to which we as babies are fed with milk. But when the childish things are done away with and we eat solid food, we wipe away the clay so that we may return to Jesus as one who sees. FRAGMENT 63 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. [1]

[1] AEG 4:3-4*; GCS 10 (4):533-34.

PROVING JESUS IS CREATOR

AMMONIUS: He spat on the ground and made mud out of the saliva and he daubed the mud onto the eyes of the blind man. He wanted to show with the mud that he himself is the one who made Adam from the earth. His statement that “I am the one doing this” seemed to make his hearer hostile to him. But have shown himself to be the one through this work that he did—this, finally, did not give offense. Therefore, he fashioned eyes in that way rather than simply healing them. And he did not only make the eyes or open them but also graced them with the ability to see. This is positive proof that he had also breathed a soul into Adam. For he would never have seen, even if the eye had been completed, unless that life-giving spirit that breathed into Adam was at work. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 317. [1]

[1] JKGK 276.

LAW AND GRACE, GROUND AND SALIVA

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: In the ground we understand the law, and grace is designated in the saliva. What does the law effect without grace? What does the ground do without the saliva of Christ? What does the law do without grace, except make people still more guilty? Why? Because the law knows how to obey but not how to help; the law can point out sin, but it cannot take sin away from people. Therefore, let the saliva of Christ go down to the ground and gather together the earth. Let he who made the earth remake it, and he who created it reform and recreate it. Likewise, in the saliva is understood the word of God, his real human body on earth. For this reason let the saliva of Christ down in order that the law may be fulfilled. “He made clay with the saliva.” What is saliva mixed with clay, except the incarnate Word? That blind man presented an image of the whole human race, and, therefore, the saliva was mixed with clay, and the blind man was made to see: the Word became incarnate, and the world was illumined. SERMON 172.3. [1]

[1] FC 47:426-27*.

WHY NOT WATER INSTEAD OF SALIVA?

CHRYSOSTOM: And why didn’t he use water instead of saliva for the clay? He was about to send the man to Siloam. In order, therefore, that nothing might be ascribed to the fountain but that you might learn that the power proceeds from his mouth—the same, both formed and opened the man’s eyes—he “spat on the ground.”… And then, so that you might not think that it was the earth that healed him, he commanded him to wash. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 57.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:204**.

9:7 | Go, Wash in the Pool of Siloam

HEALING DOES NOT OCCUR IN JESUS’ PRESENCE

ORIGEN: But to heal in his absence, to tell him to go away and wash and to provide the healing only once he has washed—this was the work of someone who wanted to be sure that no one would be ignorant of the miracle that had taken place. For as he commanded the paralytic to take up his bed on the day when it was not lawful to do this—so that each man charging him with the transgression might learn the greatness of the miracle—in the same way he commanded this man who was at a distance from the pool to go there and wash. FRAGMENT 63 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. [1]

[1] AEG 4:4-5*; GCS 10 (4):535.

THE WASHING OF REGENERATION

IRENAEUS: As, therefore, we are formed in the womb by the Word, this very same Word also formed sight in the one who had been blind from his birth. In this way, he openly showed who it is who forms us in secret, since now the Word himself had been revealed to the world. It also made known the ancient formation of Adam and how he was made, and through what hand he was formed—indicating the whole [of Adam’s creation] by showing us a part [of it]. For the Lord who formed sight is he who has formed the entire person, and in doing so, carried out the will of the Father. But in respect to that formation in men and women that took place after Adam—when humanity fell into sin—there was a need for the washing of regeneration. This is why the Lord said to the man to whom he had given sight, “Go to Siloam and wash.” In this way, he provided both his physical reformation and his regeneration which comes through washing. And this is why, when he washed, he came back seeing. He would come to know his creator and humanity would come to know him who has given us life. AGAINST HERESIES 5.15.3. [1]

[1] ANF 1:543**.

YOU TOO COME TO SILOAM

AMBROSE: Again, I ask you: What is he trying to convey to us by spitting on the ground, mixing his saliva with clay and putting it on the eyes of a blind man, saying, “Go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam (a name that means ‘sent’)”? What is the meaning of the Lord’s action in this? Surely one of great significance, since the person whom Jesus touches receives more than just his sight.

In one instant we see both the power of his divinity and the strength of his holiness. As the divine light, he touched this man and enlightened him. As priest, by an action symbolizing baptism he wrought in him his work of redemption. The only reason for his mixing clay with the saliva and smearing it on the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restored the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive the light of eternal life through the sacrament of baptism.

You, too, should come to Siloam, that is, to him who was sent by the Father, as he says in the Gospel: “My teaching is not my own; it comes from him who sent me.” Let Christ wash you, and you will then see. Come and be baptized, it is time; come quickly, and you too will be able to say, “I went and washed”; you will be able to say, “I was blind, and now I can see.” And, as the blind man said when his eyes began to receive the light, you too can say, “The night is almost over and the day is at hand.” LETTER 67.4-6. [1]

[1] CSEL 82 2:166-67. Cyril speaks of his healing as a type of the Gentiles’ salvation; see Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.1.

THE POWER OF THE LORD’S WORD

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: For Siloam did not open [the eyes of] the blind man, just as the waters of the Jordan did not purify Naaman, [1] but rather it was the command [by our Lord] that brought the healing. Also, it is not the waters of our atonement that bring purification; rather, it is the names invoked over it [2] that produce atonement for us. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.29. [3]

[1] 2 Kings 5:14.

[2] The water of atonement refers to the baptismal liturgy, and the names that are pronounced over it are those of the Trinity.

[3] CB709:188.

9:8 | The Former Beggar?

HAVING WASHED, HE ENCOUNTERS GRACE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: After having gone and washed, he encountered grace. And yet his neighbors and those who were with him when he was begging did not all come to the same conclusion about him. There were some who said that he was indeed the blind man, but others, because of the miracle that had happened to him, said it was not him but someone like him. He, however, says that it is him, not because the event itself compelled him to but because he was eager to proclaim before everyone what had happened. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.8. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:188-89.

JESUS EVEN HEALS BEGGARS

CHRYSOSTOM: The strangeness of the miracle made people incredulous. The neighbors and those who had seen that he was blind said, “Is this now the man who used to sit and beg?” What wonderful clemency and condescension of God! With such great kindness he even heals the beggars. In this way he shuts up the mouths of the Jews, because he made, not the great, illustrious and noble, but the poorest and meanest, the objects of his providence. Indeed, he had come for the salvation of all. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 57.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:204-5**.

9:9 | I Am the Man

THE LONG WALK TO THE POOL ENABLES RECOGNITION

CHRYSOSTOM: Why didn’t he have him wash immediately instead of sending him to Siloam?… For one thing, everyone would probably see him as he was leaving, having the clay spread upon his eyes. The strangeness of this spectacle would most likely focus the attention of everyone on him—both those who knew him and those who did not—everyone would be watching him closely. And, because it is not easy to recognize a blind man who has recovered his sight, Jesus first of all sends him this long distance so that he can be seen by many witnesses. This bizarre spectacle of a man walking with mud on his eyes would make these witnesses even more attentive so that no one could any longer say, “This is not he.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 57.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:204**.

9:10 | How Were Your Eyes Opened?

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Those who could see were clearly being drawn to the blind man, who saw inwardly. The blind man was being drawn secretly to those who could see but who were blind inwardly. He [the blind man] washed away the clay from his eyes and appeared to himself. They washed the blindness from their hearts and gained approval for themselves. When our Lord opened up the eyes of one blind man clearly in that moment, he opened up [the eyes of] many blind people secretly. For that blind man was [surely] blind. He was like a source of profit for our Lord, for by him our Lord acquired many blind people [by healing them] from the blindness of their heart. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.30. [1]

[1] CB709:188.

9:11 | The Man Called Jesus Made Clay and Anointed My Eyes

STILL IGNORANT OF WHO JESUS IS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He appears still to be ignorant that the Savior is by nature God, for otherwise he would not have spoken of him in such an unworthy way. He probably thought of him as a holy man, forming this opinion from the rumors that were circulating around Jerusalem. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:22*.

CHRYSOSTOM: Notice how precise he is. He does not say how the clay was made since he could not see that our Lord spat on the ground. He does not say what he does not know. He did not see Jesus spit on the ground, but he could feel it when he spread the mud on his eyes. “And he said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’” This too he could mention because he heard it. For he had heard our Lord in conversation with his disciples and so he knew his voice. Even after all this, however, he cannot tell how he was cured. Now if faith is needed in matters that are felt and handled by the senses, how much more in the case of what is invisible? HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 57.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:205**.

AUGUSTINE: See how he became a herald of grace. See how he preaches the gospel. See how, once he is endowed with sight, he becomes a witness. That blind man testified, and the ungodly were troubled in their hearts because they did not have in their own hearts what they saw in him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 44.8. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:247**.

9:12 | Where Is He?

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: They were asking him, “Where is he?” His reply was that he did not know because he had not seen him, since at the time [of the healing] he was blind. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.12. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:189.

OPENED EYES LATER TESTIFY

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: His saliva was thus the key for closed eyes, for with water he healed the eye. From the water [he formed] clay and brought to wholeness what had been lost. When [later] they were spitting at his face, [1] the blind eyes that had been opened by his saliva would accuse them. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.32. [2]

[1] See Mt 26:67.

[2] CB709:190.