VISION
Play Audio
If you prefer listening to today’s Bible guide reading, play this audio file.
If the audio bar is not appearing, click here to play the audio.
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that no matter how familiar are the stories I read in Scripture, there is always something more for me to see, more for me to learn. Thank you for continuing to teach, challenge, and encourage me.
Read JOHN 9:1–12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
The Lord is my light and my salvation.’1
I will never forget the collective gasp as Jesus cured a blind beggar. We were watching a film about Jesus with some non-Christian friends. They had never seen anything like it and were amazed. What a delight to witness! Yet it was also a rebuke because I was so used to Jesus giving sight to the blind, that my sense of wonder had frayed. In this account of Jesus giving a man his vision, we also watch an acted parable with a lively cast of characters. We get behind-the-scenes insight into God’s glorious kingdom work, full of drama, humor, and warning: the Light of God shines into physical and spiritual darkness, highlighting truth and sham, bringing judgment and restoration.
At the heart of the story is a beggar, blind from birth. He cannot contribute to family finances or feel the satisfaction of a day’s work. As a disabled man, he cannot participate in temple worship. Casual passersby engage in theological debate: ‘Whose sin is responsible for his pitiful state?’ Sadly, he is not the first nor the last person to receive blame on top of misery. Yet Jesus sees him and speaks to him, touching his useless eyes with mud. He gives him something purposeful to do: ‘Go … wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (v. 7).
Why Siloam? Fresh suggestions came with the discovery in 2004 of an Olympic-sized pool at the actual Siloam, a pool much larger than the one previously visited by tourists. This was a vast place of cleansing, where weary pilgrims arriving in Jerusalem prepared to set foot in the temple. From Siloam, they ascended the steps to where God met his holy people. As this excluded man opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is the stairway bidding him to join the worshippers.2 A journey of sight and insight beckons.
Apply
What disabilities challenge you? In what ways do you sense Jesus’ loving and compassionate gaze?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to notice, to really see, people with your eyes of compassion and love!
1 Ps 27:1 2 Andrew D Mayes, Sensing the divine: John’s word made flesh (the Bible Reading Fellowship, 2019).
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.