Sunday of the Blind Man
Today’s passage takes place during the Feast of Sukkot or Booths (Lev 23).
This feast remembers how God cared for the Hebrews while they wandered in the desert.
In the first century, the time of Jesus, the Judeans celebrated this feast in the temple at Jerusalem.
People from all around came to Jerusalem and built temporary booths to sit in.
In addition, as a part of the ceremony, priests drew water from the Pool of Siloam with golden pitchers and poured it out in libation around the foot of the altar.
Many people saw this as a fulfillment of Isaiah: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3 RSV)
Besides booths and water, light also played an important role in this feast.
Four large menorahs stood in the precincts of the Temple. Each one was 75 feet high and had 4 golden bowls on the top.
Every day, priests took several liters of oil up ladders to fill these bowls, and wicks–made from old used priestly clothing–were placed in each bowl and lit.
This, of course, provided an awesome presence of light in the evening, which allowed the people to dance around the menorahs with torches while harps, lyres, cymbals, and trumpets provided lively music.
The booths (or tents) represented the temporary dwellings the Hebrews dwelt in after they were freed from the Egyptian Pharaoh in the Exodus.
The fire symbolizes the pillar that led them through the desert, and the water signifies the wells of salvation.
But now, the Word has “pitched a booth” among us (John 1:14; this is the literal translation of the Greek); in other words, Jesus has come to walk with us in the desert, and he is the light that leads us in the desert of this world, and he’s the water that brings salvation.
The story of the blind man show us how Jesus is the fulfillment of this feast for each of us, personally.
No longer is this the celebration of a historical event . . . it’s God acting now, in time, to give us sight.
Like the blind man, we are recreated (from the mud) and healed from our spiritual blindness when we accept the “light” of the gospel that’s been handed down to us according to scripture.
Scripture: John 9:1-38 (click here to read)
Bottom Line: We are all spiritually blind, but the gospel opens our eyes to a new reality.
Discussion Questions
- “Blindness” here is used metaphorically to speak of “spiritual blindness.” What do you think our society is spiritually blind to? What are you spiritual blind to?
- It’s easy to understand how Jesus makes the “blind see,” but he also said that he makes those who “see” become “blind” (John 9:39). What do you think this means?
- The man washed in the Pool of Silaom, which means “sent.” What do you think the “sent” refers to? What’s “sent” to us today?
- Why do you think Jesus spit in the dirt to make mud to heal the man? Where else in scripture do we see God using dirt to create? What does this “mud” symbolize?
- The blind man had to wash to be healed. What ritual do we, as Christians, do to “wash” our sins away? What connections do you see between this washing and our washing?
Moving Forward
For us, as Christians, the Feast of Sukkot now centers around Jesus, he is its fulfillment.
To celebrate this feast is to be healed of our spiritual blindness and walk according to the teaching of Jesus—this is the road of Life.
Will you accept the light and believe?
Changing Your Mind
“. . . Jesus said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he’.” (John 9:37)