Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Christ gives sight to a man born blind on the sabbath day. Hence, in v. 14, the Pharisees accuse Christ as a violator of the sabbath; but the blind man, now seeing, defends Him, and therefore, in v. 34, is cast out of the Synagogue — yet Christ receives him and instructs him.
Vulgate Text: John 9:1-41
1. And Jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth. 2. And His disciples asked Him: Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? 3. Jesus answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work: 5. as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay upon his eyes, 7. and said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing. 8. The neighbors therefore, and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said: This is he. 9. But others said: No, but he is like him. But he said: I am he. 10. They said therefore to him: How were thy eyes opened? 11. He answered: That man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me: Go to the pool of Siloe, and wash. And I went, I washed, and I see. 12. And they said to him: Where is He? He saith: I know not. 13. They bring him that had been blind to the Pharisees. 14. Now it was the sabbath, when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. 15. Again therefore the Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them: He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed, and I see. 16. Some therefore of the Pharisees said: This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath. But others said: How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. 17. They said therefore to the blind man again: What sayest thou of Him that hath opened thy eyes? And he said: He is a prophet. 18. The Jews then did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight, 19. and asked them, saying: Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see? 20. His parents answered them, and said: We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21. but how he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: ask himself; he is of age, let him speak for himself. 22. These things his parents said, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had already agreed among themselves, that if any man should confess Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 23. Therefore did his parents say: He is of age, ask himself. 24. They therefore called the man again that had been blind, and said to him: Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. 25. He said therefore to them: If He be a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. 26. They said then to him: What did He to thee? How did He open thy eyes? 27. He answered them: I have told you already, and you have heard: why would you hear it again? Will you also become His disciples? 28. They reviled him therefore, and said: Be thou His disciple; but we are the disciples of Moses. 29. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as to this Man, we know not from whence He is. 30. The man answered, and said to them: Why herein is a wonderful thing, that you know not from whence He is, and He hath opened my eyes; 31. now we know that God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God, and doth His will, him He heareth. 32. From the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. 33. Unless this Man were of God, He could not do any thing. 34. They answered, and said to him: Thou wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. 35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out: and when He had found him, He said to him: Dost thou believe in the Son of God? 36. He answered, and said: Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? 37. And Jesus said to him: Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. 38. And he said: I believe, Lord. And falling down, he adored Him. 39. And Jesus said: For judgment I am come into this world; that they who see not, may see; and they who see, may become blind. 40. And some of the Pharisees, who were with Him, heard: and they said to Him: Are we also blind? 41. Jesus said to them: If you were blind, you should not have sin: but now you say: We see. Your sin remaineth.
Verse 1: And Jesus Passing By, Saw a Man Blind From His Birth
1. AND JESUS PASSING BY, SAW A MAN BLIND FROM HIS BIRTH. — The Arabic: "born blind." "Passing by," that is, passing through the midst of His enemies and the crowd of the people. Hence this word signifies that the healing of the blind man took place immediately (although others deny it) upon Christ's going out from the temple; namely, when the disciples, following Him as He departed invisibly, as soon as He had escaped the eyes of His enemies, caught up with Him again once He had become visible and been recognized. St. Chrysostom gives the reason: "Going out from the temple," he says, "He cured the blind man, by His absence mitigating their fury, and by the working of the sign softening their hardness."
HE SAW, — that is, He looked upon him with kindly and fixed eyes, as having pity on him and about to restore him to sight. Hence this gaze of Christ gave the disciples occasion to ask the cause of his blindness. So St. Chrysostom: "He Himself," he says, "saw the blind man; the blind man did not come to Him. And He looked so attentively that the disciples asked what follows." Mystically, unbelievers and sinners are blind: wherefore they cannot see or seek Christ, but it is necessary that Christ first look upon them and, embracing them with the eyes of His grace, enlighten them.
BLIND FROM HIS BIRTH, — so that it might be shown that the blindness was natural and incurable; for those who become blind by accident — whether through humors covering the eye, or through a film grown over the eye — are naturally cured by physicians and surgeons, when these are dispersed or the film is drawn aside by a needle. But that one born blind should be cured "is not a matter of art, but of power," says St. Ambrose. "For the Lord bestowed health, He did not practice medicine. For the Lord healed those whom no one could cure."
Moreover, this blind man was called Cedonius, or Celidonius, and what sort of man and how great he became through Christ, I shall tell on verse 38.
Mystically: the one blind from birth is the human race, blinded by Adam's original sin, say St. Augustine and Bede, whom Jesus passing by the way of our mortality, says the Gloss, saw with pity and enlightened. For, as St. Augustine says, blindness befell the first man through sin, from whom we all derive our origin: therefore the human race is blind from birth. And Bede: Christ's journey, he says, is His descent from heaven to earth; He saw the blind man when He mercifully looked upon the human race.
Again, this man born blind denotes the Gentiles, born and brought up in blind unbelief and idolatry, to whom Christ, driven out of the hearts of the Jews, passed over, says Bede, and illuminated them with the light of faith and of His Gospel; and this Christ willed to designate and prefigure, as in a type, in this enlightening of the blind man, say St. Cyril, Rupert, and Bede.
Verse 2: Rabbi, Who Sinned, This Man, or His Parents, That He Should Be Born Blind?
2. AND HIS DISCIPLES ASKED HIM: RABBI, WHO SINNED, THIS MAN, OR HIS PARENTS, THAT HE SHOULD BE BORN BLIND? — This question proceeded from the rude opinion of the common people, who hold that diseases are punishments for sins, and, as St. Ambrose says, "they refer the weaknesses of bodies to the deserts of transgressions." They therefore ask whether the cause of this blindness is the fault of the blind man, or of his parents. In this they err. For though it often happens, it is not always so: for Job, though innocent, was afflicted by God with many diseases, to prove and increase his patience, as were Tobias and many others, which Christ teaches here in the following verse. Hence St. Chrysostom and Theophylact say that this question is impertinent and absurd.
Others think the disciples were moved to ask this by Christ's words to the paralytic in chapter 5:14: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee."
THIS MAN. — Because of his own blindness, as a punishment, the cause seems to be his own fault, not another's. And truly original sin is the cause of all the punishments and evils that befall us in this life, and in particular of the diseases that happen to infants, as St. Augustine teaches in Book III Against Julian, chapter 4, yet it was not the proper cause why this man should be born blind in preference to other infants. Hence St. Augustine says: This man was not born without original sin, nor had he added nothing by his living: therefore he himself, and his parents, had sin; but it was not because of this sin that he was born blind.
Furthermore, St. Cyril thinks the disciples were imbued with the error of Pythagoras and Plato, who held that souls existed before bodies, and were thrust into bodies for their sins — which afterwards Origen also held. Leontius thinks the disciples speak of the blind man's sin, not as past before birth, but as future after birth; as if God, foreseeing that future sin, had punished it with preceding blindness. But whether this, or some other, was the disciples' meaning (which is hard to guess), it is certain they erred: for souls were not before the body, nor does God punish future sins, but past ones.
OR HIS PARENTS. — For God often punishes parents in their children for their sins; for children are the offspring and members of their parents. Hence through the lusts and other iniquities of parents, offspring are often born weak, sickly, blind, maimed, deformed, monstrous, or die quickly, as David's child begotten of adultery died, 2 Samuel 12:14. This is what God decreed, Exodus 20:5: "I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."
Verse 3: Neither Hath This Man Sinned, Nor His Parents; But That the Works of God Should Be Made Manifest in Him
3. JESUS ANSWERED: NEITHER HAS THIS MAN SINNED, NOR HIS PARENTS; BUT THAT THE WORKS OF GOD SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST IN HIM. — Christ does not deny that the blind man and his parents sinned with original sin and other actual sins consequent upon it; but He denies that it was on account of these sins, in preference to others who had committed the same and greater, that he was condemned to blindness. So St. Augustine, Chrysostom, Leontius, Bede, Theophylact, Euthymius; in vain therefore do the Pelagians abuse this passage to deny and abolish original sin.
The reason, therefore, why God sent blindness upon this man was, "that the works of God," that is, the miraculous power and working of God, might shine forth in him through Christ's healing him, so that by this Christ might be known as sent by God, and be the true Messiah. So the Fathers just cited. The Gloss gives the mystical reason, namely: that by enlightening the blind man, and signifying through him what He would do in the blindness of the human race, the Son of God might be manifested; that is, Christ enlightened the blind man in body, to signify that in like manner He would enlighten men in mind through His grace and the teaching of the Gospel. Hence this blind man was enlightened by Christ not only in body but also in mind, as will appear in the last verse.
Wherefore, when he was born blind, he suffered nothing unjust, but received a benefit through his blindness, says St. Chrysostom; for through it he looked with inner eyes, and indeed upon Him who brought him from non-being to being, and received from Him more clearly both the light of sense and of mind.
Verse 4: I Must Work the Works of Him That Sent Me, Whilst It Is Day
4. I MUST WORK THE WORKS OF HIM THAT SENT ME, WHILE IT IS DAY: THE NIGHT COMETH, WHEN NO MAN CAN WORK. — St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, Leontius, and Rupert take "day" as the present age until the end of the world, and "night" as the age to come. But this day for working has been appointed for all men: Christ however appropriates this day to Himself and attributes it to His own working; wherefore St. Augustine, Bede, and Cyril better and more exactly understand "day" as the time of Christ's life, when He was bodily present in the world, and "night" as His death and time of His absence. Therefore the night comes, that is, death is at hand for Me, after which neither I nor any other can work. The sense is: As men cannot work at night because of darkness, so I, after death, shall work none of those things which I now do for the salvation and redemption of men. So in chapter 8:56, He said: "Abraham rejoiced that he might see my day," that is, the day of My birth and of My life among men. Christ says this to prepare the way for enlightening the blind man, as if to say: I have been sent into the world continually to work the things that pertain to the salvation of men, for example, to enlighten the blind: behold, this blind man offers himself; I will therefore use the occasion, and enlighten him.
Symbolically the Interlinear Gloss says: Night is the persecution of the Apostles, and especially the persecution of Antichrist.
Tropologically: for each man the time of life is a day for working and meriting eternal glory; night is his death. Wherefore let him who is wise follow the advice of the Wise Man: "Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening," Ecclesiastes 9:10. See what is said there. Hence St. Augustine here: Night, he says, is that of which it is said, "Cast him into the outer darkness": there therefore will be night, where no one can work, but only receive what he has worked: while you live, work, lest that night overtake you.
So also the Philosophers and Poets called life "day" and death "night." Hence Pythagoras said that the life of men is like a festival day, to which many gather: some to compete, others to do business, some to be spectators. So Laertius relates, book VIII, chapter 1. And Epicharmus, when he had heard them disputing about the length of life, while some assigned themselves three, some four, others more years yet to live, said: "Why do you contend and quarrel among yourselves about a few days? For all of us who have gathered here are, by a certain destiny, near to death." So Aelian, Book II of De varia historia.
Another anonymous man, being asked what man's life was, showed himself briefly, then suddenly hid himself, signifying that man's life is brief and fleeting, indeed momentary. Thales said there was no difference between life and death. To one who objected: Why then do you not die? He answered: For this very reason, because there is no difference; for that which is sought for is rather to be held. So Laertius, book I, chapter 1. Musonius, asked "by what means one best ends one's last day?" replied: "He who always supposes the last day of his life to be at hand." So Maximus, sermon 36. Secundus the Philosopher, being asked by the Emperor Hadrian, "what is death?" replied: "An eternal sleep, a dissolution of bodies, the terror of the rich, the desire of the poor, an inevitable event, an uncertain pilgrimage, the thief of man, the father of dreams, the flight from life, the departure of the living, the dissolution of all things." So Laertius. Hence that line: "Their eyes are closed in eternal night," that is, in death. And: "One night awaits us all: one night is to be slept by all"; but from this night we shall awaken in the resurrection.
Wherefore Messodanus, a most holy man, now an old man, when he was invited by a friend to a feast for the next day, said: "Why do you call me for tomorrow, who for many years have had no tomorrow, but have expected the coming of death every day?" — as St. Anthony (in St. Athanasius) and Barlaam (in Damascene's History) warned every faithful and religious person ought to do. Wherefore St. Jerome wisely says: "He easily despises all things who always thinks of himself as about to die" — who reckons every day to be his last; for, "A fixed day stands for each, brief and irreparable is the time of life for all," says Virgil, Aeneid book X.
Verse 5: As Long as I Am in the World, I Am the Light of the World
5. AS LONG AS I AM IN THE WORLD, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. — That is: It belongs to light to enlighten; therefore I will enlighten this blind man, to show that I am the light and sun of the world. See what is said at chapter 1, verse 9, and chapter 8, verse 12.
Verse 6: He Spat on the Ground, and Made Clay of the Spittle, and Spread the Clay Upon His Eyes
6. WHEN HE HAD SAID THESE THINGS, HE SPAT ON THE GROUND, AND MADE (the Syriac: kneaded) CLAY OF THE SPITTLE, AND ANOINTED THE CLAY UPON HIS EYES. — Christ enlightened the blind man by means of clay, which by its nature rather blocks and blinds the eyes, in order to show that He was healing him not naturally but supernaturally, namely through that which was plainly contrary to the disease. The symbolic reason, says St. Chrysostom, was to signify that He was He (God) who at the beginning of the world had formed man like a potter out of clay (Genesis 1), and therefore that man, formed by Him but deformed by blindness, was His own, and He was refashioning and reforming him by enlightening him; and consequently that He was likewise Lord of all, even of the sabbath, so that He could work on it and cure the blind man, whatever the Pharisees might protest. So Cyril, Leontius, and Theophylact.
Whence the interlinear Gloss says: Behold the eye-salve, with which the human race is anointed, namely the thought of its own baseness, that it was made from clay, that through it the pride which blinded it might be cured, according to that saying: "Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return."
Christ used His own saliva, says Cyril: first, to show that His flesh also was salvific, and had supernatural healing power. Secondly, because saliva was a symbol of providence and consequently of recovering sight — for saliva, descending from the brain (where is the seat of judgment and prudence), is what enables us to distinguish the flavors of foods. Hence saliva is named from sal (salt), because it has nearly the taste of salt: and salt is a symbol of wisdom. Or saliva is so called as if salvia (sage), because, like sage, it heals and saves many diseases, as Galen and Pliny teach, Book XXII, chapter 25, and Book XXVIII, chapter 4. "Fasting human saliva," he says, "is a defense against serpents," etc. The same, Book XXVIII, chapter 4, says that bleariness of the eyes is cured by daily anointing with fasting saliva, and he adduces many other advantages of saliva, but such as are superstitious and magical.
Thirdly, He used spittle, says Chrysostom, so that nothing might be ascribed to the fountain of Siloe, but to the power of His own mouth from which the spittle flowed; for by His own mouth commanding, He drove away the blindness. A fourth reason the same Chrysostom gives: so that this miracle might be more attested and famous among all; and a fifth, to test the faith and obedience of the blind man. Hear Chrysostom: "Why does He send him to Siloe? So that all might see him going, and having clay upon his eyes. Yet there was no fear that the healing would be ascribed to Siloe, for many had washed there and had not been healed. Add to this that the blind man's faith was shown, for he did not contradict, nor did he think within himself: Clay rather blinds; I have often washed in Siloe, and received no help; if Christ had power, He would have cured me while present; but he simply obeyed." I have condensed the words of St. Chrysostom as well as of St. Augustine, since they are fuller, into few words, lest I delay and weary the reader with too long a citation.
Allegorically St. Augustine says: Christ made clay from saliva, because the Word was made flesh: He anointed the eyes of the blind man, but he did not yet see; for when He anointed him, He perhaps made him a catechumen. He sends him to the pool of Siloe, for being baptized in Christ he is enlightened. And the Gloss says: Saliva is the wisdom that has come forth from the mouth of the Most High; earth is the flesh of Christ: to anoint the eyes is to make a catechumen. He who believes the Word was made flesh is sent to wash, that is, to be baptized, in Siloe — that is, in "Sent," which is in Christ: and being baptized, he receives the light of the mind through faith, grace, and charity, which are infused into him by God in baptism.
Verse 7: Go, Wash in the Pool of Siloe, Which Is Interpreted, Sent
7. AND HE SAID TO HIM: GO, AND WASH IN THE POOL (a fishpond, in which fish swim; the Syriac: in the baptistery) OF SILOE, WHICH IS INTERPRETED SENT. — The Arabic: "Go and wash in the spring of Siloe, whose interpretation is sent."
Note first: Siloe is a spring at the foot of Mount Sion, which not constantly, but at uncertain hours and days, as St. Jerome says, bubbles up with a noise, and then falls silent — that is, it hides itself under the ground — and is carried through channels into the pool of Siloe, whence through pipes silently and gently it is conducted into the royal gardens, and waters them. Hear St. Jerome, on Isaiah 8: "That Siloa is a spring at the roots of Mount Sion, which not with continuous waters, but at uncertain hours of the day bubbles up, and comes through the hollows of the earth, into the caverns of very hard rock with a great noise, we cannot doubt, especially we who dwell in this province." Thus Jerome.
As to how that spring first burst forth by the prayers of Isaiah, and whence it received its name, Epiphanius recounts the story in these words: "For God caused the spring of Siloa for the sake of the Prophet: because, before he died, he prayed briefly that waves might deign to burst forth from there, and immediately God sent him from heaven living water; whence that spring received the name Siloa, which, if anyone interpret it, sounds 'sent down.' Also under King Hezekiah, before he had built the pool and basins, by Isaiah's prayers it was effected that a little water should gush forth, so that the people in the enemy's siege might be sustained, lest the city itself perish bereft of waters. The soldiers therefore searched everywhere, where they might quench their thirst — for they did not know. Indeed, having already taken the city, they besieged Siloa: whenever the needy Jews came to draw water, the wave gushed forth for them, and they drew water: but men of foreign nations could not find it, for the water fled. And even to this day it gushes forth secretly, by which the mystery is signified."
All this St. Epiphanius gives in his book On the Life of the Prophets, chapter 7, in Isaiah. Wherefore Baronius, vol. I, year of Christ 33, chapter 26, says: To this spring of Siloe there seems similar that spring or river, also in Palestine, called Sabbatical, because it flows only on the sabbath day, and on other days appears with a dry bed, as Josephus relates and firmly asserts in Book VII of the Jewish War, chapter 14. For thus the fountain of Siloe, bubbling and flowing on interrupted days — especially on the sabbath, which among the Hebrews was solemn and sacred — seems to have flowed. Hence for this reason Christ seems to have sent this blind man to wash his eyes in Siloe likewise on the sabbath day. So St. Irenaeus, book IV, chapter 19: "Siloa, he says, often cured on sabbaths, and for this reason many sat by it on the sabbath days."
Note secondly: From this spring of Siloe, since it flows at interrupted intervals, and in Palestine, being a hot region, there is a scarcity of water, the water was conducted flowing silently and without noise — as Isaiah has it in 8:6 — into a kolymbethra, that is, a swimming pool or pond, as our Evangelist renders in chapter 5:2, and from there the water was led into the gardens; and so this spring, from waters sent out and derived in this manner, was called Siloe; and more properly in Chaldaic schillucha, that is, sent, emitted, dismissed, from the root שלח schalach, that is, he sent, emitted, dismissed.
You will ask: why, when Christ was about to enlighten the blind man, did He send him to the spring or pool of Siloe? I reply, because Siloe was a type of Christ. First, because Christ was sent by the Father into the world, to enlighten it with divine light and doctrine; and it was by His power that this blind man was enlightened, not by the force or efficacy of the waters of Siloe, as St. Chrysostom says, and Irenaeus, book IV, chapter 19.
Secondly, just as the waters of Siloe go with silence, as Isaiah says in 8:6, so Christ is gentle, meek, and as a lamb led to death: for He Himself is sent and emitted by the Father, from whom He proceeds in a hidden silence, as God in heaven, and as man through the Virgin on earth. Again, Christ is Siloe, that is, a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.
Thirdly, because Christ is the fountain of graces, who pours forth and distributes His gifts, as if through streams, to the faithful, according to that saying of Isaiah 12:3: "You shall draw waters with joy from the fountains of the Savior," and that of Zechariah 13:1: "In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner and of the unclean woman." See what is said there. For the Fountain is Christ. Hence, if we believe St. Epiphanius, Isaiah was the author of the spring of Siloe, who in his very name, as well as in his prophetic life and martyrdom, was a type of Jesus Christ. Hence Isaiah also was buried near Siloe. See the map of the city of Jerusalem in Adrichomius.
Fourthly, because beside the waters of Siloe, or Gihon (for this spring was called by both names), Solomon was anointed king, 1 Kings 1:43. Hence the waters of Siloe signify the royal line and the scepter of David and Solomon. Christ therefore sent the blind man there, and there enlightened him, to hint that He was the Son of David and Solomon, that is, that He was the Messiah.
Fifthly, because the name of the Messiah was Siloach, which Latins and Greeks pronounce Silve, that is, "sent" or "to be sent," namely legate from God, according to Genesis 49:10: "The scepter shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent;" the Hebrew: "till Shiloach come" — for which now "Shiloh" is corruptly read, the letter ח cheth having been changed into the neighboring ה he and corrupted; the Chaldaic: "till the Messiah come." Christ therefore sent the blind man to Siloe, to recall to the Jews the oracle of the patriarch Jacob concerning the Messiah, as if to say: I, who in Siloe am curing the blind man, am Siloach or Siloe, that is, the Messiah, sent and legate from God the Father, whom Jacob foretold would come by this name "Silve" 1500 years ago. And for this reason Christ, here repeatedly arguing against the Pharisees, calls Himself Siloach, that is, the sent one and the legate of the Father, or Him whom the Father sent, that is, the Messiah, whose name by office was Siloach. For Christ's proper office was to act as God's legate among men: wherefore the proper name of His office and dignity was Siloach, that is, Sent.
Sixthly, Siloe was a type of Christ's baptism, by which we are spiritually enlightened: whence baptism is called in Greek photismos, that is, illumination, Hebrews 6:4: so Rupert, Bede, Jansenius, Maldonatus, and Ambrose, Epistle 75, and St. Augustine, Homily 43 among the fifty. Hence St. Irenaeus, book V, chapter 15, holds that this blind man was enlightened in Siloe not only in body but also in mind, as happens in baptism.
Finally, there is great affinity between a fountain and light, between ablution and illumination. For a fountain is as it were the eye and light of the earth, and rivers are as it were the clear lights of the fields. Hence in Hebrew עין ain means both "eye" and "fountain." For just as the eye is, as it were, the light of the whole body, so a fountain is as it were the light of the earth; and just as tears flow from the eye, so waters flow from a fountain. Hence also in Hebrew נהר nahar means both "river" and "light," and nahar denotes both "to flow together" and "to illuminate": indeed Cicero and Quintilian call the lights of talent, mind, speech, and virtue "rivers." Nay, the Psalmist calls the light of glory the fountain or river of life: "For with Thee," he says, "is the fountain of life, and in Thy light we shall see light," Psalm 35.
Wherefore Christ here joins light to a fountain. For when He had said, "I am the light of the world," He immediately sent the blind man to the fountain of Siloe, that he might there receive the light of his eyes. For waters wash away and wipe out the thick and harmful humors of the eyes, and so illuminate them. Whence physicians counsel washing the eyes in the morning with spring water to sharpen their vision.
Furthermore, Bartholomew Saligniacus, book X of his Jerusalem Itinerary, chapter 1, and after him Adrichomius, on Siloe, page 171, no. 200: "Siloe," he says, "is a spring, to which the pool or fishpond of Siloe, also called the lower pool, is joined; it gushes forth on the western side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, from the foot of Mount Sion. Its water is clear, sweet, and most abundant, and flows silently and gently into the torrent of Kidron." And shortly after: "The water of this spring is even today still prized by the Saracens themselves. For since their bodies naturally stink like goats, in this spring they wash themselves and their children, and by that washing they soften their stench. Indeed the Turks also esteem it greatly, because they experience that its use benefits the sight of the eyes." Doubtless, just as Christ baptized in the Jordan by His touch sanctified the waters and infused into them the power of washing away sins in baptism, so also by enlightening the blind man through the waters of Siloe, He seems to have communicated to them some similar power of enlightening others, so that, while all spring waters clarify the eyes, the waters of Siloe do so beyond the rest. Wherefore St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, built magnificent and wonderful works at the spring of Siloe, says Nicephorus, book VIII, chapter 30. Hear St. Chrysostom here: He signifies, he says, that in Siloe was the power of Christ, which cured the blind man. For just as the Apostle said that Christ was a spiritual rock, so also Christ was a spiritual Siloe. So also Cyril, and St. Basil, on Isaiah 8:6, and Eusebius, book VII of the Demonstration, chapter 2.
WHICH IS INTERPRETED SENT, — because this spring was a type of the Messiah, whose name was Siloach, that is, sent or to be sent by God, as I have already said. For, as St. Augustine says: "Unless He had been sent, no one of us would have been dismissed from iniquity."
HE WENT THEREFORE, AND WASHED, AND CAME SEEING, — by the power not of the waters of Siloe, but of Christ, who used these waters as an instrument for enlightening the blind man, just as He uses the waters of baptism for the purification and illumination of the mind. "In Siloe," says Chrysostom, "was the power of Christ, which cured the blind man." This was merited not of condignity, but of congruity, by the faith and obedience of the blind man, by which he believed that, by washing off the clay placed upon his eyes by Christ with the waters of Siloe, he would recover his sight: for unless he had believed this, he would not have worn the clay upon his eyes, to the mockery of onlookers, nor would he have gone to Siloe and there wiped the clay from his eyes. Therefore less truly perhaps He also does this lest He stir up the Jews, already hostile to Christ, still more against Him.
TO THE POOLS, — that is, the pools in the plural. So the Roman editions; others read, to the pool, that is, the fish-pond. The sense is therefore the same.
Verse 8: Is Not This He That Sat and Begged?
8. THEREFORE THE NEIGHBORS, AND THOSE WHO HAD SEEN HIM BEFORE, BECAUSE HE WAS A BEGGAR, WERE SAYING: IS NOT THIS HE WHO SAT AND BEGGED? OTHERS SAID: IT IS HE. 9. OTHERS, HOWEVER: BY NO MEANS, BUT HE IS LIKE HIM. BUT HE SAID: I AM HE. — The greatness of the deed, says Chrysostom, produced incredulity; and the opened eyes had changed the countenance of the blind man, says St. Augustine, so that those looking at him doubted whether this seeing man was the same as the former blind man; but looking carefully at him as he went along the long way, they recognized him as the same, and that this could not be denied. So Chrysostom.
A BEGGAR. — Admirable is the clemency of God, says Chrysostom, that He healed those who begged with great devotion, judging even the lowly worthy of His providence; for He had come for the salvation of all. So today at the Blessed Virgin of Loreto and of Sichem, it is for the most part the poor and those of slender fortune who obtain miracles and benefits through the Blessed Virgin: partly because they themselves are in greater need and want than the rich; partly because they are of a more innocent life; partly because they display greater faith and devotion; partly because God takes particular care of them as His abandoned ones, according to that text: "To Thee is the poor man left; Thou shalt be a helper to the orphan." Hence St. James, chapter 2, verse 5: "Has not God," he says, "chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith?" And Christ: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them," Matthew chapter 11. Therefore the follower of Christ should not despise the poor, but by Christ's example seek them out.
Verse 10: How Were Thy Eyes Opened?
10. THEY THEREFORE SAID TO HIM: HOW WERE YOUR EYES OPENED? 11. HE ANSWERED: THAT MAN WHO IS CALLED JESUS MADE CLAY AND ANOINTED MY EYES AND SAID TO ME: GO TO THE POOLS OF SILOAM AND WASH. AND I WENT AND WASHED AND I SEE. — "That man," because he did not yet know that Jesus was God, say Euthymius and Theophylact.
WHO IS CALLED JESUS. — The blind man had learned the name of Jesus either from common report or by asking the bystanders. That he does not call Jesus Rabbi or Lord must be ascribed partly to his simplicity and candor, partly to his truthfulness: for lest he should seem to add anything of his own opinion about Christ, he plainly lays open the truth and calls Him simply Jesus: perhaps also he does this lest he stir up the Jews against Christ.
Though still only anointed, says St. Augustine, he was not yet confessing in his heart the Son of God, yet he was not lying; for the Lord Himself says of Himself: "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country."
Verse 12: Where Is He? He Saith: I Know Not
12. AND THEY SAID TO HIM: WHERE IS HE? HE SAID: I DO NOT KNOW. — For Jesus, fleeing praise, had withdrawn Himself. Christ used to withdraw wherever He had healed, says Chrysostom: for He did not seek glory, nor to display Himself.
Verse 13: They Bring Him That Had Been Blind to the Pharisees
13. THEY BROUGHT HIM WHO HAD BEEN BLIND TO THE PHARISEES. NOW IT WAS THE SABBATH WHEN JESUS MADE THE CLAY AND OPENED HIS EYES. — "To the Pharisees," so that they, as Rabbis and chief men, might examine the matter. This was done by God's design, so that the miracle might be most attested and most celebrated, and the Pharisees themselves could not deny it. Hence St. Augustine: "The blind man," he says, "was confessing, and the heart of the impious was being broken." They therefore bring the blind man to the Pharisees, as to judges, and so gathered in a house of judgment, says Theodore of Heraclea in the Catena. This house seems to have been the synagogue next to the temple: for here a question of religion and faith was being conducted, namely that the Pharisees, as doctors and judges, should examine this miracle, and from it judge whether its author was a Prophet and Messiah, or not.
NOW IT WAS THE SABBATH. — He adds this, says Chrysostom, to show their evil mind; for they were seeking an occasion against Jesus, and wished to detract from the miracle through an apparent violation of the law. For in truth to make clay, in order to enlighten a blind man by it on the sabbath, as Christ did, is not a violation of the sabbath but a sanctification.
The Gloss here says: "How was this man healed without faith, when no one is read to have been healed by Christ outwardly without inward healing? This is said of those who were sick because of sins; but this man was ailing for the glory of God:" for, as I have shown, great was the faith and obedience of this blind man, and through it he was likewise justified, as we shall hear at the end of the chapter. So Elisha through the waters of the Jordan cleansed Naaman the Syrian from leprosy, 2 Kings 5. The same, by salt cast into the bitter and salty waters, sweetened them, 2 Kings 2:20. I gave various reasons, just above, why he was enlightened in Siloam. Hence St. Augustine: Christ, he says, was the Day who divided between light and darkness, when He drove away blindness from the blind man and restored his sight.
Verse 17: What Sayest Thou of Him That Hath Opened Thy Eyes? He Is a Prophet
17. THEY THEREFORE SAY TO THE BLIND MAN AGAIN: WHAT DO YOU SAY OF HIM WHO OPENED YOUR EYES? HE SAID: THAT HE IS A PROPHET. — "A prophet," that is, a holy, excellent, wonder-working and divine man. So in Genesis 20:7 Abraham is called a Prophet, that is, a holy and excellent man. See my remarks at 1 Corinthians 14 at the beginning of the chapter, and Ecclesiasticus 48:12, where I have set forth the various meanings of the name Prophet.
WHAT DO YOU SAY OF HIM? — Again and again they questioned the blind man, out of bitter hatred and envy against Christ, both to involve the blind man in the same charge and calumny with Christ, and to elicit from his mouth something by which he might contradict himself, and so they might convict him of lying; but God catches the envious and crafty in their own craft, when He brought it about that through this frequent examination the confession of the blind man became more steadfast, and thereby Christ's miracle and glory shone more brightly. So Leontius and others. Wisely St. Chrysostom: This, he says, is the nature of truth, that through the very things by which it is thought to suffer ambush, it becomes stronger, which even now happens: the parents are brought forward, who above all knew their son, and they lay open the truth and name him simply Jesus.
Verse 18: The Jews Did Not Believe That He Had Been Blind, Until They Called His Parents
18. THE JEWS THEREFORE DID NOT BELIEVE ABOUT HIM, THAT HE HAD BEEN BLIND AND HAD RECEIVED SIGHT, UNTIL THEY CALLED THE PARENTS OF HIM WHO HAD RECEIVED HIS SIGHT: 19. AND THEY QUESTIONED THEM, SAYING: IS THIS YOUR SON, WHOM YOU SAY WAS BORN BLIND? HOW THEN DOES HE NOW SEE? 20. HIS PARENTS ANSWERED THEM AND SAID: WE KNOW THAT THIS IS OUR SON, AND THAT HE WAS BORN BLIND: 21. BUT HOW HE NOW SEES, WE DO NOT KNOW; OR WHO OPENED HIS EYES, WE DO NOT KNOW; ASK HIM; HE IS OF AGE, LET HIM SPEAK FOR HIMSELF. — The Pharisees, confounded by the blind man's answer, turn to his parents with even greater spite and fury, in order to elicit from their mouth something by which to refute either the blind man or Christ; namely, either that this man had not been born blind, or that he had not been completely blind but weak-sighted, or, as Chrysostom says, that he had been enlightened by Christ not through a miracle but through magical art. They were seeking, says St. Augustine, how they might calumniate the man, so as to cast him out of the synagogue, as they did shortly afterwards. And Theophylact asserts that this was their dilemma: Either it is false that your son now sees, or that before he was blind; but it is evident that he sees: therefore what he says, that he was blind, is false. But the parents cautiously answer: That they know this is their son, and that he was born blind, but by whom and how he was enlightened they do not know. Prudently, so that they neither deny the truth nor incur the danger of excommunication: but timidly; whence they say: "He is of age;" as if to say, says Augustine: We should justly be compelled to speak for an infant, because he could not speak for himself; but here is a man who can speak for himself; therefore "ask him."
Verse 22: His Parents Feared the Jews; for the Jews Had Already Agreed to Put Out of the Synagogue Whoever Confessed Him to Be Christ
22. HIS PARENTS SAID THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY FEARED THE JEWS; FOR THE JEWS HAD ALREADY AGREED THAT IF ANYONE SHOULD CONFESS HIM TO BE CHRIST, HE SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 23. THEREFORE HIS PARENTS SAID: HE IS OF AGE, ASK HIM. — "Out of the synagogue;" in Greek ἀποσυνάγωγος, that is, asynagogus, meaning cast out from the synagogue and as it were excommunicated. But, as St. Augustine says, it was no longer an evil to be put outside the synagogue; because they were expelling, but Christ was receiving the expelled. "Therefore his parents said:" because they were weaker than their son, says Theophylact, who stood as an intrepid witness of the truth.
Verse 24: Give Glory to God. We Know That This Man Is a Sinner
24. THEY THEREFORE CALLED AGAIN THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN BLIND AND SAID TO HIM: GIVE GLORY TO GOD. WE KNOW THAT THIS MAN IS A SINNER. 25. HE THEREFORE SAID TO THEM: IF HE IS A SINNER, I DO NOT KNOW: ONE THING I KNOW, THAT WHEREAS I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE. 26. THEY THEREFORE SAID TO HIM: WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU? HOW DID HE OPEN YOUR EYES? 27. HE ANSWERED THEM: I HAVE TOLD YOU ALREADY, AND YOU HAVE HEARD: WHY DO YOU WISH TO HEAR IT AGAIN? DO YOU ALSO WISH TO BECOME HIS DISCIPLES? — "Give glory to God." This is a manner or phrase of adjuration and oath-taking among the Hebrews, as is clear from Joshua 7:19, as if to say: Speak the truth to the glory of God: confess the very thing that we know to be true, namely that this man, that is Jesus, is a sinner, and by this confession manifested by you of the hidden truth, you will glorify God, who is the first and eternal truth. "To give glory to God," says the Gloss, is to speak the truth about someone as if in God's presence, as if to say: Confess that this man is not God, as we say, but a sinner: namely, under the pretext of religion, says Chrysostom, they wish to lead the blind man to deny that he was cured by Christ, or to say he was cured falsely and by magical tricks; as if to say, says the Interlinear: Deny the benefit and miracle which you received from Jesus: which is to blaspheme, not to give glory to God.
IF HE IS A SINNER, I DO NOT KNOW; ONE THING I KNOW, THAT WHEREAS I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE. — He answers prudently and cautiously, because he neither exposes himself to calumny nor hides the truth, says the Interlinear. Chrysostom raises the objection: How does the blind man, who a little before said "He is a Prophet," now say "If He is a sinner, I do not know"? He replies: He does not say this by way of assertion, nor out of fear, but because he wished Jesus to be delivered from the accusation by the testimony of the fact, not by his own voice; as if to say: I do not now wish to say or to dispute with you whether Jesus is a sinner or not: one thing I say, which I certainly know, that I am now seeing, who was previously blind.
HOW DID HE OPEN YOUR EYES? — They again inquire into the manner of the healing, like dogs, says Chrysostom, that search for a hare now here, now there.
WHY DO YOU WISH TO HEAR IT AGAIN? — as if to say: You ask in vain, not wishing to learn, but to cavil, says St. Chrysostom.
DO YOU ALSO WISH TO BECOME HIS DISCIPLES? — as I now see, and do not envy, says the Interlinear. Nay, I profess myself to be Jesus' disciple, and I desire that you likewise become His disciples: he was saying these things, says St. Augustine, already indignant at the hardness of the Jews, and being now sighted after being blind, not bearing with the blind. Note here the heroic constancy and magnanimity of the blind man, in defending Jesus before the Pharisees, sworn enemies of Christ, whence he merited to be received and exalted by Christ.
Verse 28: They Cursed Him, and Said: Be Thou His Disciple; We Are the Disciples of Moses
28. THEY THEREFORE CURSED HIM AND SAID: BE YOU HIS DISCIPLE; WE HOWEVER ARE DISCIPLES OF MOSES. 29. WE KNOW THAT GOD SPOKE TO MOSES: BUT AS FOR THIS MAN, WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE HE IS FROM. — "They cursed," by saying: You cursed one, be accursed, may God curse you, go to an evil cross; or something similar: or "they cursed," that is, cast curses and insults against him; the Arabic, they assailed him with reproaches. But their curse was ineffectual, and turned by Christ into a blessing; for it is the praise of the pious to be cursed by the impious. Hence St. Augustine says a curse is something if the heart you examine, not if you weigh the words: but let such a curse be upon us and upon our sons. From this passage St. Cyprian, epistles 64 and 80, and his followers the Donatists, inferred that baptism conferred by a heretical minister was invalid, and therefore to be repeated, because a heretic is a great sinner whom God does not hear. But wrongly: for in similar fashion the baptism of a Catholic priest who lives in sin would be null and to be repeated; for he too is a sinner. I say therefore: the power of a sacrament is one thing, the power of prayer another. For a sacrament has its power ex opere operato (from the work performed), but prayer has it ex opere operantis (from the work of the one performing it), namely from the holiness and merits of the one praying. Wherefore if a sinner, e.g., a heretic, baptizes, the Sacrament is valid and has its power from the institution of Christ, who confers grace through the Sacrament: for Christ is the principal author of baptism, who baptizes through the minister as instrument. Add: although God may not hear the prayers of a sinner insofar as he is a private person, He does hear his prayers insofar as he is a public person, namely a minister of the Church, for the Church is holy, because she has a holy Head, namely Christ, and has many members, that is, many holy faithful, whose prayers God hears.
BUT AS FOR THIS MAN WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE HE IS FROM. — whether sent by God, as Moses was, or by the devil. So Euthymius.
Verse 30: Why Herein Is a Wonderful Thing, That You Know Not From Whence He Is, and He Hath Opened My Eyes
30. THAT MAN (the blind man enlightened by Christ) ANSWERED AND SAID TO THEM: FOR IN THIS (as if to say: This indeed. It is a Hebraism) IS A MARVELOUS THING, THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE HE IS FROM, AND YET HE OPENED MY EYES. — as if to say: It was for you, being doctors and experts in the law, to know that Jesus, who works such great miracles and who has just now enlightened me, could not but be sent from God; for it is God who works the miracles through Him. Everywhere he brings forward the sign of his illumination, says Chrysostom, because this they could not distort, but were convinced by it.
Verse 31: We Know That God Doth Not Hear Sinners
31. BUT WE KNOW THAT GOD DOES NOT HEAR SINNERS. — You will ask, how is this true? For God, if sinners repent and ask pardon, grants it to them, and often bestows temporal goods and even spiritual goods on sinners who ask. I answer first: God does not ordinarily hear sinners, sinners, I say, persevering in sin; sometimes however He does hear them, but that is rare. So Jansenius. That this is so is clear from Scripture. Hear Isaiah: "His ear is heavy, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have divided between you and your God," Isaiah 59:1-2. And: "He who turns away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be accursed," Proverbs 28:9. And: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my justices, and take my testament in your mouth?" Psalm 49:16. And: "I will curse your blessings," Malachi 2:2. But of the just it is said: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears unto their prayers," Psalm 33:16. And: "The eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear Him," Ecclesiasticus 15:20.
Secondly, and more properly to the matter at hand, God does not hear sinners; namely in this sense and manner, that He does not work miracles to declare their sanctity (which is none, or feigned and simulated), as He does through Jesus to testify that He is the Messiah: for it was of this matter that they were speaking. So Theophylact, Euthymius, and Maldonatus here, and Suarez, tome II De Religione, book De Oratione, chapter 25: God, he says, does not hear sinners if they pray with an evil intention, e.g., to confirm hypocrisy or falsehood.
Thirdly, St. Augustine, in book III De Baptismo contra Donatistas, chapter 20, answers that this blind man said it generally, since he was still a catechumen and not yet sufficiently instructed in the faith; for generally speaking that is not true. Therefore this sentence is not wholly true, nor is it a statement of Holy Scripture, but Scripture only asserts that it was uttered by the blind man: which is true and canonical.
Hear St. Augustine: "This man speaks while still only anointed; for God also hears sinners: otherwise the publican would have said in vain, God be merciful to me a sinner; and by that confession he merited justification, just as the blind man merited enlightenment."
Verse 32: From the Beginning of the World It Hath Not Been Heard, That Any Man Hath Opened the Eyes of One Born Blind
32. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD IT HAS NOT BEEN HEARD THAT ANYONE OPENED THE EYES OF ONE BORN BLIND. — as if to say: Granted that Moses and the Prophets performed many miracles, yet they never restored sight to one born blind: therefore Jesus, who restored sight to me born blind, must be a great Prophet sent into the world by God, indeed greater than Moses and the other Prophets. He stings and refutes the saying of the Pharisees: "Be you his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses," as if to say: You prefer Moses to Christ; but I prefer Christ: you wish to be disciples of Moses; I prefer to be a disciple of Jesus. So Cyril, Leontius, and others.
Verse 33: Unless This Man Were of God, He Could Not Do Anything
33. IF THIS MAN WERE NOT FROM GOD, HE COULD DO NOTHING, — in curing my blindness. The blind man says this freely, constantly and truthfully, says St. Augustine. For it is the supernatural and proper work of God to enlighten the blind.
Verse 34: Thou Wast Wholly Born in Sins, and Dost Thou Teach Us? And They Cast Him Out
34. THEY ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM: YOU WERE WHOLLY BORN IN SINS, AND DO YOU TEACH US? — "Wholly," namely both in soul and in body; for on account of your sin you were born blind: hence you display the stigma of sin in your eyes. For they held with Pythagoras, Plato, and others, that the soul existed before the body and on account of sins was thrust into a deformed body, e.g., a blind one. So Cyril, Leontius, and others. Maldonatus differently, as if to say: From your mother's womb to the present day you have learned nothing but to sin. So also St. Chrysostom and Theophylact: From earliest age, they say, you sin continually.
AND DO YOU TEACH US? — as if to say: You, O blind sinner, wish to teach us, who are seeing, wise and just?
AND THEY CAST HIM OUT, — outside the private house in which they were, as a foolish and unworthy person with whom such great masters would dispute, says Maldonatus; or, as Theophylact from St. Chrysostom has it, outside the temple, and consequently outside the synagogue, says Leontius, that is, they excommunicated him and cast him out of the assembly, that is, their church; but the Lord of the temple (Christ) found him, says Chrysostom, and received him. That they did both is credible, namely, that they cast the blind man out of the house, and by this symbol out of their Church. For this was already decreed among them, as is clear from verse 22. And this is sufficiently indicated by verse 28, when they say: "Be you His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples," as if to say: Go away from Moses and from us, O apostate, to your Jesus; for envy and hatred of Christ drove them to this. Finally, the same is suggested by the fact that these things were done in a house of judgment, which seems to have been a public house, not private, namely the synagogue next to the temple, as I said at verse 31. So St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Leontius. The same will appear more clearly at chapter 10, verse 1, where on account of this blind man expelled from the synagogue, Christ says that He is the door of God's sheepfold, that is, the Church.
Verse 35: Dost Thou Believe in the Son of God? I Believe, Lord. And Falling Down, He Adored Him
35. JESUS HEARD THAT THEY HAD CAST HIM OUT; AND WHEN HE HAD FOUND HIM, HE SAID TO HIM: DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD? 36. HE ANSWERED AND SAID: WHO IS HE, LORD, THAT I MAY BELIEVE IN HIM? 37. AND JESUS SAID TO HIM: YOU HAVE BOTH SEEN HIM, AND IT IS HE WHO IS TALKING WITH YOU. 38. AND HE SAID: I BELIEVE, LORD, AND FALLING DOWN HE WORSHIPED HIM. — Christ kindly receives the blind man who had been cast out by the Jews for confessing Him, and rewards his constancy; wherefore, Him whom He had first enlightened in body, He now enlightens also in mind. For when He enlightened him in body, He had at the same time implanted in him certain common and confused seeds of faith, which He now forms and perfects in detail, so that he who was believing Jesus, his enlightener as it were, to be a Prophet, but a man, may now believe Him to be also God and Son of God. Hence the Gloss: The blind man, it says, had long had his heart ready for believing, but did not know in whom he should believe. Hence he says: "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" He therefore learns this from Christ, namely that he should believe in Him as Messiah, Son of God, and therefore true God.
AND WHEN HE HAD FOUND HIM, — sought out indeed by Christ's pains in that place where He knew him to be. For no one finds except that which he previously sought: it is the task of the good shepherd to seek the wandering sheep which cannot return itself to the way, unless sought out and led back by Him. Hence St. Augustine, tract 44: "They drive him out," he says, "the Lord receives him: for it is rather because he was expelled that he became a Christian."
DO YOU BELIEVE. — Jesus did not require the blind man's faith in the healing of his body, but here in the healing of his mind He demands it; because, as St. Augustine says in sermon 13 De Verbis Apostoli: "He who made you without you does not justify you without you; He made you unknowing, He justifies you knowing."
AND JESUS SAID TO HIM: YOU HAVE SEEN HIM, AND IT IS HE WHO IS TALKING WITH YOU. — "And you have seen Him," now when He Himself offers Himself to be seen by you, whom up to this point you as a blind man could not see. For the blind man had been enlightened at Siloam in Christ's absence, so that up to now he had not seen Christ. Christ therefore insinuates that He is the one who had a little earlier restored sight to him. For He recalls to his mind his healing, says Theophylact, and that he had received from Him the power of seeing, so that he may thus believe Him to be not only the Son of man but also the Son of God.
I BELIEVE, LORD, AND FALLING DOWN HE WORSHIPED HIM, — Jesus, as the genuine and proper Son of God, and therefore true God to be adored with latria. Furthermore, the blind man, with Christ inwardly enlightening and impelling him, saying "I believe," at the same time elicited acts of hope, contrition, charity, religion and adoration toward Christ, and through them was purged from his sins and justified. Wherefore he became a holy and apostolic man: Peter de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio, wrote his life in the Catalogus Sanctorum, book 5, chapter 102: "Bishop Cedonius," he says, "or Sidonius, was that man born blind whom the Lord enlightened by making clay from spittle and anointing his eyes, as is recounted in John 9, and who is said by some to have been one of the 72 disciples of Christ. Whether he was of that number or not, it is established from the chronicles and acts of the disciples that he was a disciple of Christ; and after the Lord's ascension, having been baptized by the Apostles, he attached himself especially to St. Maximinus, and together with him, and with Lazarus and his sisters, he was placed in a small boat and expelled from the territory of the Jews. Afterwards, when the aforesaid Saints had converted to Christ the province of Provence, to which by God's guidance they had come; and after blessed Lazarus had been ordained at Marseilles and blessed Maximinus at Aix, he remained in the ministry of Maximinus, Bishop of the city of Aix, as coadjutor in his preaching: where also after many days he rested in peace, and lay buried beside his master, as has been said above."
Verse 39: For Judgment I Am Come Into This World; That They Who See Not, May See, and They Who See, May Become Blind
39. AND JESUS SAID. — Some manuscripts add "to him," namely to the blind man; but with the Roman, Greek, Syriac and Arabic versions the "to him" must be deleted. For Christ said these things not to the blind man but to the Pharisees.
FOR JUDGMENT I HAVE COME INTO THIS WORLD (the Arabic: I have come that I may judge this world), THAT THOSE WHO DO NOT SEE MAY SEE, AND THOSE WHO SEE MAY BECOME BLIND. — "For judgment," that is, for condemnation, say Cyril, Leontius, Theophylact, and Chrysostom, that is, so that I may convict, refute and condemn of blindness the proud and worldly Pharisees who seem to themselves to see and to be wise.
Better, others take "judgment" not of condemnation but of examination and discernment, as if to say: I am incarnate and have come on earth to discern and separate the believing from the unbelieving, the good from the evil, the pious from the impious; namely that the humble, who formerly lived in ignorance of God and of salvation in blindness of mind, like this blind man believing in Me, I may enlighten with the knowledge of God and of things pertaining to salvation; but the proud who refuse to believe in Me, as are the Pharisees, puffed up with knowledge of the law, I shall permit to be blinded by their own pride, and shall convict and refute those so blinded of their blindness. So St. Augustine.
It can secondly mean that "judgment" here signifies the secret counsel of God and His wonderful decree, but one set and fixed by His just judgment, whereby God brought it about that the Gentiles, ignorant of God and therefore blind, should see the light of the faith of Christ and humbly and eagerly receive it; while the Scribes, Pharisees, and wise men of the world, puffed up with their own knowledge, should be blinded through unbelief and should reject the faith and light of Christ. Humility therefore enlightened the foolish Gentiles submitting themselves to Christ with the faith of Christ: but pride blinded the wise Scribes rejecting Christ with unbelief. So Cyril, or rather Clichtoveus, who supplied Cyril here. This is what the Apostle exclaims, Romans 11: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways!" Indeed, "the judgments of God are a great deep." The Apostle gave the cause a little before at verse 25, saying: "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in." So Clichtoveus in the printed edition, and Cyril in the Catena. Moreover Theodoret in the Catena applies these words to Paul and Judas; for Paul from blind became seeing, whereas Judas from seeing became blind.
Here note that "ut," propterea, ideo, idcirco, etc., in John often do not signify cause but effect or consequence. For Christ did not come with this cause and this end, that the Scribes should be blinded, but their blindness followed upon His coming and preaching, not through Christ's action but through their own pride and fault.
Verse 40: Are We Also Blind?
40. AND SOME OF THE PHARISEES WHO WERE WITH HIM HEARD, AND SAID TO HIM: ARE WE ALSO BLIND? — The Pharisees perceived that by Christ's saying "that those who see may become blind," they were being touched and pricked, and that Christ was speaking of blindness not of the body, as Theophylact thinks, but of the mind: so Cyril and Leontius. For they saw that they were not bodily blind, and so if He had said they were deprived of sight, they would have hissed Him off as a fool; therefore they ask: "Are we also blind?" as if to say: Have you then come so that you may bodily enlighten the blind, and blind us, who are spiritually seeing and doctors of the law, and make us foolish and mad? Show us this blindness and madness.
Verse 41: If You Were Blind, You Should Not Have Sin: But Now You Say, We See. Your Sin Remaineth
41. JESUS SAID TO THEM: IF YOU WERE BLIND, YOU WOULD HAVE NO SIN; BUT NOW YOU SAY, WE SEE. YOUR SIN REMAINS. — The Arabic, "it is confirmed." First, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius expound it of bodily blindness, as if to say: If you were bodily blind, you would have less pride and sin. For bodily blindness would humble your soul.
Secondly, and more genuinely, St. Augustine, tract 44: "If you were blind," namely in your own opinion and judgment, that is, if you humbly acknowledged yourselves to be blind, that is, ignorant and foolish in matters of salvation, you would have no sin; because you would seek the remedy of your blindness, and seeking it you would receive it from Me. So also Bede, Maldonatus and others.
Thirdly, precisely and scholastically, as if to say: If you were blind, namely through ignorance of Scripture and the natural law, you would have no sin in acting according to this ignorance and in not recognizing Me as your Messiah; that is, if your ignorance were entirely without fault and invincible, you would indeed have some sin, but one less grave and excusable, and you could easily be enlightened and cured by Me, My teaching dispelling your ignorance; but now you yourselves "say: We see," that is, you think yourselves to see and to be wise, so that you judge excellently about Christ's coming and person; therefore, as the Greek, Arabic and Syriac have it, "your sin remains," as if to say: Therefore out of malice and arrogance you persist in your sin of unbelief against Me, therefore you obstinately harden your minds, that you refuse to believe that I am the Messiah, even though I have demonstrated the same to be true by very many signs and miracles. Wherefore you cannot in any way be enlightened and cured by Me, because you obstinately refuse to hear Me. So Theophylact, Jansenius and others.