1Da Jesus og disciplene senere gik omkring i byen, traf de en mand, som havde været blind fra fødslen.2„Mester, hvorfor er den mand født blind?” spurgte disciplene. „Er det på grund af hans egne synder eller hans forældres?”3„Ingen af delene,” svarede Jesus. „Men det, der er sket med ham, vil føre til, at Guds kraft bliver synliggjort.4Så længe det endnu er ‚dag’, må jeg[1] gøre de gerninger, som Gud har lagt til rette for mig. Der kommer en ‚nat’, hvor ingen kan arbejde.5Mens jeg er i verden, er jeg verdens Lys.”6Derefter spyttede Jesus på jorden, lavede mudder af spyttet, smurte det på den blinde mands øjne7og sagde til ham: „Gå hen og vask dig i den dam, der kaldes Shiloa.” (Shiloa betyder „udsendt”). Manden gik så hen og vaskede sig, og da han kom tilbage, kunne han se.8Hans naboer og andre, der kendte ham som den blinde tigger, sagde: „Er det ikke ham, der sad og tiggede?”9„Jo, det må være ham,” mente nogle. Andre sagde: „Nej, det må være en, der ligner ham.” „Det er mig!” sagde manden.10„Hvordan er du kommet til at se?” spurgte folk.11„En mand ved navn Jesus lavede noget mudder og smurte det på mine øjne,” svarede han. „Og så sagde han, at jeg skulle gå hen og vaske det af i Shiloa-dammen. Da jeg havde gjort det, kunne jeg se.”12„Hvor er den mand henne nu?” spurgte folk. „Det ved jeg ikke,” svarede han.
Forhøret hos farisæerne
13Så tog de manden, som havde været blind, med hen til farisæerne.14Da helbredelsen var foregået på en sabbat,15forhørte farisæerne ham om, hvordan han var kommet til at se. Han forklarede, hvordan Jesus havde smurt mudder på hans øjne og bedt ham vaske det af. Da han havde gjort det, kunne han se.16„Den mand er ikke sendt af Gud,” sagde nogle af farisæerne, „han overholder jo ikke sabbatten.” Men andre sagde: „Hvordan skulle en synder kunne gøre sådan et mirakel?” De var meget uenige om, hvad de skulle mene om Jesus.17Derfor spurgte de manden, der havde været blind: „Hvad mener du om ham? Det er jo dig, han har helbredt.” „Han er en profet!” var svaret.18De jødiske ledere nægtede nu at tro på, at manden havde været blind. Derfor blev hans forældre tilkaldt og krydsforhørt:19„Er den mand her jeres søn, som I påstår er født blind? Hvordan kan det så være, at han kan se nu?”20„Ja, det er vores søn. Og det er rigtigt, at han er født blind.21Men hvordan det er gået til, at han nu kan se, eller hvem der er årsag til det, det kan vi ikke sige noget om. Spørg ham selv! Han er gammel nok til selv at svare.”22-23De svarede på den måde, fordi de var bange for de jødiske ledere, som havde vedtaget, at hvis nogen sagde, at Jesus var Messias, skulle de udelukkes fra synagogen.24For anden gang tilkaldte farisæerne manden, der havde været blind, og sagde til ham: „Giv Gud æren! Vi ved jo, at han, der helbredte dig, er et syndigt menneske.”25„Om han er en synder, det ved jeg ikke,” svarede manden, „men én ting ved jeg: Før var jeg blind, og nu kan jeg se!”26„Jamen, hvordan gjorde han det?” spurgte de. „Hvordan fik han dig til at se?”27„Det har jeg jo lige fortalt jer!” udbrød manden. „I hørte måske ikke efter? Hvorfor vil I ellers høre det igen? I vil da ikke være hans disciple, vel?”28Så skældte de ham ud: „Du kan selv være hans discipel! Vi er disciple af Moses.29Vi ved, at Gud talte til Moses, men vi ved ikke, hvem den her mand er.”30„Det var da mærkeligt,” svarede manden. „Han helbreder en blind, og I aner ikke, hvem han er.31Mon Gud ville bønhøre ham, hvis han var et syndigt menneske? Nej, Gud bønhører dem, der viser ham ære og gør hans vilje.32Har man nogensinde før hørt, at en blindfødt er blevet helbredt, så han kunne se?33Hvis den mand ikke kom fra Gud, kunne han ikke have gjort det.”34„Vil du nu til at belære os?” råbte de. „Du, som har været en synder hele dit liv!” Så jog de ham ud.[2]
Farisæernes blindhed
35Da Jesus hørte, hvordan manden var blevet smidt ud, opsøgte han ham og spurgte: „Tror du på Menneskesønnen?”36„Mester, sig mig, hvem han er, så jeg kan tro på ham,” svarede manden.37„Du har allerede set ham,” sagde Jesus. „For det er mig, der er Menneskesønnen.”38„Herre, jeg tror!” svarede han og faldt på knæ foran Jesus.39Da sagde Jesus: „Denne verden vil blive dømt, nu da jeg er kommet. De blinde bliver seende, men de seende bliver blinde.”40Da nogle af de farisæere, som fulgte med Jesus, hørte det, sagde de: „Vil du måske påstå, at vi også er blinde?”41Jesus svarede: „Havde I været blinde, ville I have været uden skyld. Men så længe I påstår, at I kan se, er I skyldige!”
1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.2And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (2.Mos 20,5; Luk 13,2; Luk 13,4; Joh 1,38; Joh 9,34)3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (Joh 11,4)4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (Joh 4,34; Joh 11,9; Joh 12,35; Rom 13,12; Gal 6,10)5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Joh 1,4; Joh 1,9; Joh 8,12)6Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud (Matt 9,29; Mark 7,33; Mark 8,23)7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (Luk 13,4; Joh 11,37)8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” (Ap G 3,2; Ap G 3,10)9Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”10So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”11He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” (Joh 9,6)12They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. (Joh 5,9)15So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” (Joh 9,10)16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. (Matt 12,2; Joh 7,29; Joh 7,43; Joh 9,33; Joh 10,19)17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (Joh 4,19; Joh 6,14)18The Jews[1] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight (Joh 9,13; Joh 9,22)19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.21But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”22(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[2] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) (Joh 7,13; Joh 7,45; Joh 12,42; Joh 16,2; Rom 10,9)23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” (Joh 9,21)24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” (Josva 7,19; 1.Sam 6,5; Es 42,12; Jer 13,16; Joh 9,16; Ap G 12,23)25He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (Joh 9,18; Joh 9,24)26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” (Joh 9,15)28And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. (Joh 5,45)29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” (Joh 8,14)30The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. (Joh 3,10; Joh 12,37)31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. (Job 27,9; Salm 34,15; Salm 66,18; Salm 145,19; Ord 15,20; Ord 28,9; Jak 5,16)32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (Joh 1,21; Joh 3,2; Joh 9,16)34They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. (Joh 9,2; Joh 9,22)35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[3] (Joh 10,36)36He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” (Rom 10,14)37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” (Joh 4,26)38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (Matt 9,13; Matt 11,25; Matt 13,13; Mark 4,12; Luk 4,18; Joh 5,22; 2.Kor 2,16)40Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” (Rom 2,19)41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;[4] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. (Joh 15,22; Joh 15,24; Joh 19,11; 1.Joh 1,8)