John 9:6-16 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
‘He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay’ Jesus illustrates that sin causes blindness (2 Pet. 1:9; 2:22).
‘Pool of Siloam’ this pool was made by Hezekiah (2Ki. 20:20); the Greek word for pool is kolumbethra which means a swimming pool or a place for diving (John 5:2, 4, 7; 9:7).
The blind man’s neighbours and others which had seen him that he was blind before, asked: ‘Is not this he that sat and begged?’ and ‘How were thine eyes opened?’
He answered and said that Jesus made clay, anointed his eyes, and told him to go to the pool of Siloam. He went and washed and received his sight.
‘And it was the sabbath day’ this made it the unpardonable sin as far as the hypocrites were concerned. Nothing good was to be done on this day except for material gain. One could take a beast out of the ditch, but not save a man from death, hell and the grave. Such utter senselessness exists even to this day in religion in many respects! Is it any wonder that sensible men reject outward forms, rituals, and teachings that have no practical and beneficial value at all!
Did keeping the sabbath help the Pharisees or prove they were of God? No more than in many cases today where men maintain some mere outward show of religion before others. Would they perform consistently the same things in private if no one was in the grandstand?
Some of the Pharisees accused Jesus of not being of God because He didn’t keep the sabbath day. Others didn’t agree and asked how can a sinner do such miracles? The question that should have been asked was why could the Pharisees not heal the blind if they were of God more than Jesus was?
Living the Word 