ESOCS Devotional 11 June 2025 – Master, Who Did Sin?
MEMORY VERSE: ”And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2
TEXT: JOHN 9:1-23
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one 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 with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who 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 by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
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Blindness was an all-too-common occurrence in the ancient world (Lev. 19:14; Deut. 27:18; 2 Sam. 5:6, Job 29:15); and the uncared-for blind were reduced to begging (Mark 10:46). As Isaiah 42:7 predicted that the Messiah would do, Jesus gave sight to the blind on several occasions (Matt. 9:27-28; Mark 8:22-25; Luke 4:18). The text does not say how the disciples knew that this man had been blind from birth (v. 2). Presumably he was a familiar enough figure that his background was common knowledge. Or the blind man himself may have told them. We don’t know exactly how old this man was. The fact that he is called a “man” in verse 1 indicates that he was an adult. In verse 21, his parents said that he was “of age,” this meant…He is of sufficient age to give testimony. Among the Jews, this age was fixed at thirteen years. He was not just a blind man, but he was a beggar (John 9:8). The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, “Is not this he that sat and begged?”
John 9:2 – And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” The disciples did not look at the man as an object of mercy but rather as a subject for a theological discussion. The disciples were sure that the man’s congenital blindness was caused by sin, either his own or his parents’. But Jesus disagreed with them.
In the final analysis, all physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam, for his disobedience brought sin and death into the world (Romans 5:12). But afterward, to blame a specific disability on a specific sin committed by specific persons is certainly beyond any man’s ability or authority. Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps, and only God can turn those handicaps into something that will bring good to the people and glory to His name. Certainly, both the man and his parents had at some time committed sin, but Jesus did not see their sin as the cause of the man’s blindness; nor did He suggest that God deliberately made the man blind so that, years later, Jesus could perform a miracle.
CHALLENGES
- For the vicissitudes of life and every other things else, no one knows the mind of God. Let us not neglect to give Him thanks in all situations, and adore Him always.
PRAYER POINT
- Father, every sickness in my family until now, may your hand of healing visit us now, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 1:1-End; 2:1-End; John 9:24-41
ESOCS Devotional 11 June 2025
