From Heaven With Love

The Man Born Blind

“As Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him... . 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.” HLv 318.4

It was generally believed by the Jews that sin is punished in this life. Satan, the author of sin and its results, had led men to look on disease and death as proceeding from God. One on whom some great affliction had fallen had the burden of being regarded as a great sinner. Thus the way was prepared for the Jews to reject Jesus. He who “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” was looked upon by the Jews as “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted,” and they hid their faces from Him. Isaiah 53:4, 3. HLv 318.5

The belief of the Jews in regard to the relation of sin and suffering was held by Christ's disciples. Having anointed the eyes of the blind man, Jesus sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man's sight was restored. Thus Jesus answered the question of the disciples in a practical way. The disciples were not to discuss as to who had sinned or had not sinned, but to understand the mercy of God in giving sight to the blind. There was no healing virtue in the clay or in the pool where the blind man was sent to wash; the virtue was in Christ. HLv 319.1