John 9

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Professor, whose fault is it, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 Joshua answered, “This man made no mistake, nor did his parents; he is blind so that the rest of us can see the works of God in him. 4 Our work is in the light because God works openly, in plain sight. Darkness is coming, though, when no one can do much work. 5 By showing up in the world, light appears with me. 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, applied it to the blind man’s eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of shalakh” (Hebrew for “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back a seer.

8 Therefore his neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9 Others were saying, “That’s him.” Still others were saying, “He just looks like him.”

He said, “I am.”

10 So they asked him, “How were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered, “A person named Joshua made mud, put it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Shalakh and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I became a seer.”

12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?”

He said, “I dunno.”

13 They brought the blind man to the Pharisees. 14 It was supposed to be a day of rest when Joshua made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”

16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from our god, because he doesn’t keep our Sabbath.”

Others said, “How can a Sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them.

17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 These Jews didn’t believe him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the man’s parents 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who was born blind? How does he now see?”

20 His parents answered them, “This is definitely our son, and he was definitely born blind; 21 but how he came to see, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He’s an adult; ask him. He’s capable of speaking for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared those Jews; for some Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, they could be put out of the synagogue. 23 That’s why his parents said to ask him themselves.

24 So they called the man who had been blind a second time, and said to him, “God is watching; We know that this man is a Sinner.”

25 He pushed back, “I don’t know if he is a ‘sinner.’ What I do know is that I was blind, but now I see.”

26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

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

28 They insulted him and said, “You might be his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this one, we don’t know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered them, “How marvelous! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 Everyone knows your god doesn’t listen to so-called sinners, but if anyone is a God-Fearer, they will be heard. [Psalm 66.18] 32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that someone would open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do that.”

34 They answered him, “You were all born as Sinners, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.

35 Joshua heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in Daniel’s Child of Humanity?”

36 He answered, “Who is that, sir, that I may believe in him?”

37 Joshua said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”

38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he paid the utmost attention to him.

39 Joshua said, “I’m here to balance the scales, that those who want to see may see; and that those who can’t see may become blind.”

40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we blind?”

41 Joshua said to them, “If you were blind, you would be safe; but if you say, ‘We see.’ Then you bear that responsibility.”