Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41; 6:33; 7:38-39; 8:12
In this chapter we will consider the signs in chapter 9 of the Gospel of John. This chapter contains an interesting story, a story of the Lord’s giving sight to a man who was blind from birth. According to verses 6 and 7, the Lord Jesus “spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed his eyes with the clay, and He said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore and washed and came away seeing.”
When I was young, I thought that this story was rather amusing. I thought that it was very unusual for the Lord to spit on the ground, make clay of the spittle, and then anoint the blind man’s eyes with the clay. Then He told the blind man to walk a distance to the pool of Siloam and there to wash away the clay from his eyes. I could not understand the significance of this story.
The Gospel of John is a book of signs. In chapter 1 we have the sign of the Lamb with a dove upon Him (vv. 29, 32); in chapter 2, the sign of the changing of water into wine (vv. 1-11); in chapter 3, the sign of a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole (v. 14); in chapter 4, the sign of Jacob’s well at the foot of a mountain (vv. 6, 20); in chapter 5, the sign of the pool of Bethesda, around which lay many who were sick, blind, lame, and withered (vv. 1-3). All these signs are pictures with a particular spiritual significance. The case of the Lord’s giving sight to the blind man in chapter 9 is also a sign with spiritual significance.
John 9:1 says, “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.” This signifies that as fallen people, descendants of Adam, we all were born blind.
I would ask you to consider your situation before you were saved. Before you were saved, you did not know where you came from or where you were going. You did not know the significance of the universe, and you did not know yourself. You did not know these things, because you were born blind. I can testify that I was born blind. As one who was blind from birth, I did not know spiritual things before I was saved. Is it not true that you also were born blind?
According to 9:2, the Lord’s disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” The disciples’ question indicates that they still held certain religious concepts. According to their concept, they regarded this man’s blindness as being the result of some sin committed either by him or by his parents.
The Lord answered His disciples by saying, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but he was born so, that the works of God might be manifested in him” (v. 3). Here the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “Do not ask whose fault it is that this man is blind. You ask whose sin caused him to be blind. But I say that neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but this blindness is so that the works of God might be manifested in him. You need to drop your religious concept.”
We all were born blind, but our blindness gives the Lord an opportunity to manifest the works of God in us. How wonderful that God has the opportunity to manifest His marvelous works in us! Our blindness gives Him a good opportunity to manifest His works. Therefore, we may say to the Lord, “Lord, without me, You would not have this opportunity to manifest Your works. If I had not been born blind, You would not have the way to manifest Your wonderful works in me. Lord, my blindness gives You an opportunity to express Yourself in Your works.”
In verses 4 and 5 the Lord Jesus said, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After reading these verses, we may wonder how to connect light and blindness. Apparently, light and blindness are not related.
Blindness denotes darkness. According to the Gospel of John, blindness issues in darkness. If you were blind, you would be in darkness, not able to see anything. According to the first Epistle of John, darkness also causes blindness: “He who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (2:11). On the one hand, blindness causes darkness; on the other hand, darkness causes blindness. According to the Gospel of John, blindness comes first and then darkness. But according to the first Epistle of John, we first have darkness and then are blinded by this darkness. However, since we are concerned in this chapter with John 9, we need to realize that here blindness is equal to darkness. Hence, the blind man in this chapter needed the light of the world.
At this point we need to raise an important question: How can the light come into one who is born blind? We were born blind, and Christ is the light of the world (8:12). But how can this light enter into us? According to chapter 9, in order for the light to come into us, we need the anointing. If we would understand this, we need to know the significance of the clay, the Lord’s spittle, and the anointing itself.
We may not regard the words clay and spittle as positive. Of course, the word anointed in verse 6 is certainly a positive term. The word anointing is a scriptural word. In his first Epistle John says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One,” and “His anointing teaches you concerning all things” (2:20, 27). John, no doubt, takes this word from chapter 30 of Exodus, which speaks of a holy anointing oil (v. 25). This is a further indication that the writings of John are the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings. Our point here is that it is by the anointing that the light of the world is able to come into a man born blind.
The anointing in John 9 was a compound formed of earth mixed with spittle. We may say that the earth was compounded with the Lord’s spittle and mingled with it. In other words, the spittle saturated the earth and permeated it. The earth was dry at first, but after the spittle was mingled with it, the earth became wet and was made into clay. This clay, therefore, was a compound, and this compound was used as an ointment by the Lord Jesus to anoint the eyes of the blind man.
What the Lord Jesus did in 9:6 can be compared to the creation of man from the dust of the ground. Genesis 2:7 says, “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Here we see that man’s body was formed of the dust of the ground, that the Lord breathed the breath of life into him, and that man then became a living soul. The principle is nearly the same in chapter 9 of John. In Genesis 2:7 we have dust; in John 9:6 we have the earth. In Genesis 2 the Lord breathed into man the breath of life; in John 9 the Lord spat on the ground and then made clay of the spittle.
Clay signifies the natural man, the man created by God. As those created by God, we all are clay. This is indicated not only by Genesis 2:7 but also by the word of the apostle Paul: “Does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?” (Rom. 9:21). We are vessels made of clay to contain God Himself.
The spittle, as something that proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth (Matt. 4:4), signifies His words, which are spirit and life (John 6:63). The words that the Lord speaks issue from His mouth, and His words are spirit and life. Therefore, spittle signifies the words that issue out of the Lord’s mouth.
To make clay of the spittle signifies the mingling of humanity with the Lord’s living word, which is the Spirit. The word anointed here proves this, because the Lord’s Spirit is the anointing Spirit (Luke 4:18; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 1 John 2:27). Hence, this compound, this anointing, is formed by mingling the Spirit with the man created by God.
In this chapter we have the mingling of spittle with earth to make clay. Another kind of mingling is found in Leviticus 2, where we have the mingling of oil with fine flour to make the meal offering. Both the clay in John 9 and the meal offering in Leviticus 2 are a compound. The meal offering is a compound formed by mingling two elements — oil and flour. The clay is also a compound formed by mingling two elements — spittle and earth. As we have indicated, the clay signifies us, human beings created by God, and the spittle signifies the Lord’s word, which is spirit and life. Therefore, the clay here signifies the mingling of the Spirit with our being.
Now we can see how the light of the world, Jesus Christ, can come into a person who was born blind. The light of the world comes into us through the mingling of the life-giving Spirit with our being. In order to come into us, Christ became the life-giving Spirit. Now as the Spirit He is able to come into us and mingle with us. This is the significance of the clay, the spittle, and the anointing in this chapter.
The blind man in John 9 was cast out of the synagogue (vv. 34, 22). Verse 35 says, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and He found him and said, Do you believe into the Son of God?” Notice that the Lord Jesus did not ask him if he believed the Son of God; He asked him if he believed into the Son of God. Believing into the Son of God implies an organic union between the believer and the Son of God in whom he believes. When we believe in the Son of God, we believe into Him. This means that our believing brings about an organic union between us and the Son of God, and in this union we are one with Him. It is in this way that the light of the world comes into a blind person. It is in this way that a person born blind becomes one with Him who is the light of the world. The result is that blindness vanishes.
The Gospel of John is a profound book. Because this Gospel is profound, we should not understand it in a shallow way. Rather, we need to touch the depths of the revelation in this book. For example, in chapter 2 we have the sign of changing water into wine. It is important to know the significance of this sign. Water here signifies death, and the six waterpots full of water (six is the number of man) signify man full of death. Wine signifies a pleasant life. Hence, the changing of water into wine signifies the changing of death into a pleasant life. To have this understanding is to touch the depths of the truth related to this sign.
In the same principle, we need to understand the signs in chapter 9 of the Gospel of John in a deep way. In this chapter the spittle signifies the words, which are spirit and life, issuing out of the Lord’s mouth, and the clay signifies humanity. Making clay with spittle signifies the mingling of humanity with the words spoken by the Lord, words spoken from within the Lord Himself, and which are spirit and life. When we receive the Lord Jesus as the Spirit and life and believe in Him, we enter into an organic union with Him. In this union He becomes one with us, and we become one with Him. This is the way that Christ as the light of the world comes into a blind person. When this light comes into a person born blind, his blindness vanishes, and he receives his sight.
Many of us can testify that when we repented and believed in the Lord Jesus, we received our sight and began to see a marvelous, divine view. Before we received the Lord, we were altogether ignorant of spiritual things. But after we believed in the Lord Jesus and entered into an organic union with Him, spiritual things began to be clear to us. We also had a clear view of human life, of where we came from and where we are going, and of the meaning of human life. The reason we could see these things is that the light of the world had been mingled with our being. As a result of the mingling of the life-giving Spirit with our being, our blindness disappeared.
Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus. Before he was called by the Lord Jesus, he did not know that he was blind. Saul had been educated in Tarsus, a city known for its culture. Not only did he have a good secular education, but he had been trained in the things of Judaism. But although Saul was a highly educated person, he was blind. However, he did not know that he was blind. He knew so many things, but he did not know the Lord Jesus. Then one day the Lord appeared to him and called to him, saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul answered, “Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 5). Saul may have wondered how he could have been persecuting Jesus. According to his understanding, he persecuted Stephen and other disciples of the Lord Jesus. But as far as he was concerned, Jesus was in the tomb. How blind he was!
After Saul met the Lord Jesus, he became physically blind for a period of time. “Saul rose from the ground; and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. And they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without seeing” (vv. 8-9a). Saul had led others to persecute Jesus; now it was necessary for others to lead him.
When the Lord Jesus called Saul on the way to Damascus, the Lord said to him, “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God” (26:16-18a). Perhaps Saul wondered why, if the Lord was sending him to open the eyes of others, his own eyes had been closed. If Saul had asked the Lord concerning this, the Lord may have told him that his eyes had been too open, and now they needed to be closed so that he could see spiritual things.
During the days he was physically blind, Saul may have seen many divine and spiritual things, not, of course, with his physical eyes but with his inner, spiritual eyes. Formerly, his physical eyes were open, but his inner eyes were blind. But after he met the Lord Jesus, his inner eyes were opened, and, for a period of time, his physical eyes were blinded. Because Saul’s spiritual eyes were now open and he could see spiritual things, the Lord told him that He was sending him to open the eyes of the Gentiles, all of whom were born blind.
All of today’s unbelievers are blind. Is there anyone who is not blind from birth? No, without exception, we all were born blind. We may have the highest education and the most developed culture; nevertheless, we have been born blind. This is still the situation of all unbelievers. Therefore, the unbelievers need the mingling of the life-giving Spirit with their being. If they experience this mingling, the divine light will come into them, their blindness will vanish, and their darkness will disappear.
According to the Bible, the Lord has done everything for our salvation. However, His work requires our cooperation. At least, it requires our belief. If we do not believe, then whatever the Lord has done cannot be applied to us. We need to cooperate with the Lord’s work by believing and being baptized. To believe is an inward obedience to the Lord’s salvation, and to be baptized is an outward obedience to the Lord’s word. The sign of washing in the pool of Siloam signifies the washing of baptism in obedience to the Lord (John 9:7, 11).
When I was young, I realized that it was very important to believe in the Lord, but I did not have much appreciation for baptism. I could not see the meaning of putting someone into water, and I did not regard this as necessary. Certain Christian groups do not believe in water baptism, for they consider baptism purely a spiritual matter. Jessie Penn-Lewis emphasized the subjective death of Christ, and she insisted that baptism in water was not necessary.
We may say that being baptized can be compared to washing in the pool of Siloam. The Lord Jesus clearly commanded the blind man to go and wash in that pool. Suppose the blind man had argued with the Lord and said, “Lord, You have put clay on my eyes. Why do You now tell me to wash in the pool of Siloam? Why must I do this in order to receive my sight?” If the blind man had argued with the Lord in this way, he would not have received his sight, because he would not have cooperated with the Lord by obeying His word. However, he did obey the Lord’s word, and “he went therefore and washed and came away seeing” (v. 7b).
Clay signifies the man created by God. Our created man has become the old man, and the old man has been crucified with Christ. In baptism we wash away this old man.
As those who have believed in the Lord Jesus and who have entered into an organic union with Him, daily we need to practice the washing away of our old man. On the one hand, we can declare that because we have believed in the Lord Jesus, we have a divine view and can see spiritual things. But on the other hand, we must admit that we have not always been obedient to practice the washing away of our old man. As a result, we may still have clay on our eyes. This is the reason many Christians do not have a clear view of spiritual things and do not have proper light.
Sometimes we have been asked how we are able to receive so much light from the Word of God. Certain ones have said, “We read the same Bible you do, but you have light and we don’t. What is the reason for this?” The reason is that the clay has been washed away from our eyes. As long as the clay of the natural man remains on a believer’s eyes, he will be blind to spiritual things. All the clay needs to be washed away. Therefore, we should not hold on to the old man with his old culture, ethical concepts, and religion.
Even though you have believed in the Lord Jesus and have entered into an organic union with Him, you may still have the clay of the old man on your eyes. Therefore, you need to obey the Lord, go to the pool of Siloam, and wash away your old man. We all need to wash away the old man day by day.
I can testify that as I was preparing to give this message, I prayed, “Lord Jesus, deliver me from the old man, and infuse me with Your feeling, thought, word, and expression.” On the negative side, I realize that I need the washing away of the old man; on the positive side, I need to be infused with the Lord. This is the way to receive divine light.
We should practice the daily washing away of the old man. This is our obedience in cooperation with the Lord’s revelation. He is everything to us in a practical way, not in a theoretical way. He is the light of the world, and He is the life-giving Spirit. He is ready to mingle Himself with us. We have believed into Him, and we are organically one with Him. However, we may still keep our old man. This means that we do not obey His word to go to the pool of Siloam and wash.
The word Siloam means “Sent,” as is pointed out in 9:7. The word Sent in this verse has the sense of an envoy being sent with a special commission. This indicates that when the Lord told the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash, He was sending him on a mission. He was sending him to carry out a particular work for a specific purpose. Hence, this sending is crucial. If the blind man had not been willing to be sent, he would have been in even greater darkness.
As a sign, the Sabbath day (v. 14) signifies rest, including release and satisfaction. When the blind man was without sight, he did not have this rest on the Sabbath. But after the Lord worked on him, he had such a rest in receiving his sight. Yet the religious people cared for their regulations instead of this rest. The Lord’s salvation of the blind man became a stumbling to them and was condemned by them (v. 16).
In chapter 9 of the Gospel of John we can see the persecution of the Lord by religion. This matter is emphasized by John in his writings. John shows us that the Hebrew religion, not a pagan religion, persecuted the Lord Jesus. This religion with its forms, rituals, ordinances, and practices opposed Christ as the living reality. For example, Christ is the real temple, and all the forms, rituals, ordinances, and practices are pictures of Christ as the living reality. But the religious people rejected this living person, the One who is the unique reality, and held to their religion. John, therefore, points out that these religious things oppose the living person of Christ, who is the Triune God incarnated and who has become the life-giving Spirit. Today this One is working within us, upon us, and among us. But just as religion opposed Him in ancient times, so religion opposes those who follow the Lord today. As long as something has become a religion, it stands in opposition to the living Christ.
According to John 9, the religious ones slandered the Lord. They said, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath” (v. 16). They also accused the Lord of being a sinner (v. 24). Furthermore, the religionists said to the man who had been blind, “You were wholly born in sins, and you are teaching us?” (v. 34). Then they cast him out. Anyone who was cast out of the synagogue lost his means of earning a living, for anyone who had been ostracized from the Jewish community had no way to get a living for himself. Such was the situation of the man who had been born blind. As we will see, his being cast out of the synagogue was actually his coming out of the fold. Christ as the light of the world became the door for him to come out of the old, religious fold and to follow Him as the living reality.
