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João 9

ARC · Chapter 9/21

1E, passando Jesus, viu um homem cego de nascença.

2E os seus discipulos lhe perguntaram, dizendo: Rabbi, quem peccou, este ou seus paes, para que nascesse cego?

3Jesus respondeu: Nem elle peccou nem seus paes; mas foi para que se manifestem n'elle as obras de Deus.

4Convém que eu faça as obras d'aquelle que me enviou, emquanto é dia: a noite vem, quando ninguem pode trabalhar.

5Emquanto estou no mundo, sou a luz do mundo.

6Tendo dito isto, cuspiu na terra, e com o cuspo fez lodo, e untou com o lodo os olhos do cego.

7E disse-lhe: Vae, lava-te no tanque de Siloé (que significa o Enviado). Foi pois, e lavou-se, e voltou vendo.

8Então os visinhos, e aquelles que d'antes tinham visto que era cego, diziam: Não é este aquelle que estava assentado e mendigava?

9Uns diziam: É este. E outros: Parece-se com elle. Elle dizia: Eu sou.

10Diziam-lhe pois: Como se te abriram os olhos?

11Elle respondeu, e disse: O homem, chamado Jesus, fez lodo, e untou-me os olhos, e disse-me: Vae ao tanque de Siloé, e lava-te. E fui, e lavei-me, e vi.

12Disseram-lhe pois: Onde está elle? Elle disse: Não sei.

13Levaram pois aos phariseos o que d'antes era cego.

14E era sabbado, quando Jesus fez o lodo e lhe abriu os olhos.

15Tornaram pois tambem os phariseos a perguntar-lhe como vira, e elle lhes disse: Poz-me lodo sobre os olhos, lavei-me, e vejo.

16Por isso alguns dos phariseos diziam: Este homem não é de Deus; pois não guarda o sabbado. Diziam outros: Como pode um homem peccador fazer taes signaes? E havia dissensão entre elles.

17Tornaram pois a dizer ao cego: Tu que dizes d'aquelle que te abriu os olhos? E elle disse: Que é propheta.

18Os judeos, porém, não creram que elle tivesse sido cego, e que agora visse, emquanto não chamaram os paes do que agora via.

19E perguntaram-lhes, dizendo: É este o vosso filho, que vós dizeis ter nascido cego? Como pois vê agora?

20Seus paes lhes responderam, e disseram: Sabemos que este é nosso filho, e que nasceu cego;

21Mas como agora vê, não sabemos; ou quem lhe tenha aberto os olhos, não sabemos: tem edade, perguntae-lh'o a elle mesmo; e elle fallará por si mesmo.

22Seus paes disseram isto, porque temiam os judeos. Porquanto já os judeos tinham resolvido que, se alguem confessasse ser elle o Christo, fosse expulso da synagoga.

23Por isso é que seus paes disseram: Tem edade, perguntae-lh'o a elle mesmo.

24Chamaram pois segunda vez o homem que tinha sido cego, e disseram-lhe: Dá gloria a Deus; nós sabemos que esse homem é peccador.

25Respondeu elle pois, e disse: Se é peccador, não sei: uma coisa sei, que, havendo eu sido cego, agora vejo.

26E tornaram a dizer-lhe: Que te fez elle? Como te abriu os olhos?

27Respondeu-lhes: Já vol-o disse, e não ouvistes: para que o quereis tornar a ouvir? Quereis vós porventura fazer-vos tambem seus discipulos?

28Então o injuriaram, e disseram: Discipulo d'elle sejas tu: nós, porém, somos discipulos de Moysés.

29Nós bem sabemos que Deus fallou a Moysés, mas este não sabemos d'onde é.

30O homem respondeu, e disse-lhes: N'isto pois está a maravilha, que vós não saibaes d'onde elle é, e me abrisse os olhos;

31Ora nós sabemos que Deus não ouve a peccadores; mas, se alguem é temente a Deus, e faz a sua vontade, a esse ouve.

32Desde todos os seculos nunca se ouviu que alguem abrisse os olhos a um que nasceu cego.

33Se este não fosse de Deus, nada poderia fazer.

34Responderam elles, e disseram-lhe: Tu és nascido todo em peccados, e nos ensinas a nós? E expulsaram-n'o.

35Jesus ouviu que o tinham expulsado, e, encontrando-o, disse-lhe: Crês tu no Filho de Deus?

36Elle respondeu, e disse: Quem é elle, Senhor, para que n'elle creia?

37E Jesus lhe disse: Tu já o tens visto, e é aquelle que falla comtigo.

38Elle disse: Creio, Senhor. E o adorou.

39E disse-lhe Jesus: Eu vim a este mundo para juizo, a fim de que os que não vêem vejam, e os que vêem sejam cegos.

40Aquelles dos phariseos, que estavam com elle, ouvindo isto, disseram-lhe: Tambem nós somos cegos?

41Disse-lhes Jesus: Se fosseis cegos, não terieis peccado; mas agora dizeis: Vemos; por isso o vosso peccado permanece.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus heals a man born blind using mud, sparking controversy among the Pharisees over the violation of the Sabbath. The healed man courageously defends his experience under religious pressure and is expelled from the synagogue, but finds faith in Jesus.

Explanation

The disciples' question about who sinned to cause the blindness reflects a common belief of the time that suffering always results from a specific sin; Jesus corrects this view, stating that the condition would serve to display the work of God. The Pharisees' interrogation of the healed man shows his growing clarity and courage as he testifies, culminating in his expulsion from the synagogue for refusing to deny what he experienced. His final encounter with Jesus, who reveals himself as the Son of God, completes his journey from physical blindness to full spiritual sight. The practical application today is that honestly testifying about the work of God may come at a great social cost, but it is worth it.

Fun facts

  • The pool of Siloam, mentioned in v.7, was identified by archaeologists in 2004 in Jerusalem, confirming it to be a large water reservoir from the Second Temple period, connected to Hezekiah's tunnel.
  • Being expelled from the synagogue (v.22, 34) was a severe social punishment within the Jewish community, meaning exclusion from religious and communal life—a real risk that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Messiah faced in that context.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. João 9:1Unlike other healings in the gospel, no one asks for help here: Jesus simply sees the man born blind as He passes by and takes the initiative on His own.
  2. João 9:2The disciples start from an idea common at the time: that physical suffering, like being born blind, was always punishment for someone’s sin, either the man’s own or his parents’. Jesus rejects this direct cause-and-effect logic, saying it’s neither one nor the other.
  3. João 9:3Jesus rejects the disciples’ logic that the blindness would be punishment for someone’s sin; instead, He explains that this situation will serve to display the works of God.
  4. João 9:4Jesus speaks of a limited window to act, using the image of day and night: while it’s still possible to work, He must carry out the mission He received.
  5. João 9:5He repeats the same claim from the previous chapter about being the light of the world, but now He’s about to demonstrate it in practice, restoring sight to someone who had never seen.
  6. João 9:6Jesus uses spit and dirt to make clay, an unusual method of healing that also appears in another miracle in the gospel of Mark — the gesture even recalls the image of God forming man from the dust of the ground.
  7. João 9:7Siloam was a pool inside Jerusalem, connected to a tunnel built centuries earlier to bring water into the city in case of siege. The gospel pauses to explain that the name means ‘Sent,’ because that fits the one telling the blind man to wash there: Jesus Himself, who describes Himself several times as someone sent by God.
  8. João 9:8The change is so great that even the neighbors, used to seeing this man begging while blind, are unsure whether it’s really him.
  9. João 9:9Some think he’s the same beggar, others think he only looks like him; the man himself settles the doubt by confirming: I am he.
  10. João 9:10The people around him want to understand how such a thing happened, asking directly how his eyes were opened.
  11. João 9:11The man tells what he knows, in the simplest way possible: someone called Jesus made clay, put it on his eyes, told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and he obeyed and received his sight.
  12. João 9:12Asked where Jesus is now, the man admits he doesn’t know — showing that his contact with Jesus up to this point was brief and to the point, without much conversation.
  13. João 9:13The people decide to bring the healed man to the Pharisees, moving the story onto the ground of religious dispute.
  14. João 9:14This detail explains the conflict that follows: making clay was considered a kind of forbidden work on the Sabbath, which turns the healing into a religious problem in the eyes of the Pharisees.
  15. João 9:15The Pharisees repeat the same question the neighbors had already asked, and the man answers with the same straightforward explanation as before.
  16. João 9:16The Pharisees are divided: some think Jesus can’t be from God because He disregards the Sabbath, others find it strange that a sinner could perform such impressive signs.
  17. João 9:17They ask the healed man himself for his opinion of Jesus, since it happened to his own eyes; he answers with a partial but already significant acknowledgment: he thinks Jesus is a prophet.
  18. João 9:18The religious leaders doubt the whole story, refusing to believe he had really been blind before, until they call his parents in to confirm it.
  19. João 9:19They ask the parents directly whether this is really their son, born blind, and how he can now see.
  20. João 9:20The parents confirm the part they’re sure of: yes, he is their son, and yes, he was born blind.
  21. João 9:21But they avoid committing to an explanation of the healing, saying they don’t know how or by whom his eyes were opened, and suggest asking their son directly, since he’s an adult.
  22. João 9:22Being put out of the synagogue meant being cut off from the religious and social life of the Jewish community, practically total isolation in that society. It’s out of fear of that punishment that the blind man’s parents, even knowing the truth, prefer not to commit themselves and send the leaders to ask their son directly.
  23. João 9:23The text repeats this same evasive line from the parents, reinforcing that they prefer not to get involved and push the responsibility of answering onto their own son.
  24. João 9:24The Pharisees call the man in a second time, using an expression that amounted to demanding an oath of truth, and insist that Jesus is a sinner.
  25. João 9:25The man refuses to weigh in on whether Jesus is a sinner, and holds on to the one fact he’s absolutely sure of: he was blind, and now he sees.
  26. João 9:26They press on, repeating the same question as before about how the healing happened.
  27. João 9:27The man answers with a certain boldness, almost provoking them: he already told them everything before and wasn’t heard, so why keep pressing so hard — do they also want to become Jesus’ disciples?
  28. João 9:28Offended by the provocation, they insult him, declaring themselves disciples of Moses, creating a direct contrast of loyalty between Moses and Jesus.
  29. João 9:29They claim to be certain that God spoke to Moses, but say they don’t know where Jesus comes from — an argument similar to the doubt about Jesus’ origin that has already come up earlier in the gospel.
  30. João 9:30The man turns the argument back on them: he finds it strange that, even without knowing where Jesus comes from, He managed to open his eyes, something so extraordinary.
  31. João 9:31He lays out a simple theological argument: God doesn’t answer sinners’ requests, He only listens to those who fear Him and do His will — implying that Jesus can’t be a sinner.
  32. João 9:32He points out how unprecedented the miracle is: never before, in all of history, had anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.
  33. João 9:33He concludes with straightforward logic: if Jesus weren’t from God, He wouldn’t be able to do anything like this.
  34. João 9:34The Pharisees are repeating the same logic from the start of the chapter: to them, being born blind was already proof that the man, or his family, had sinned. That’s why they find it absurd that he, someone who had carried that mark since birth, would try to teach them anything.
  35. João 9:35Jesus, knowing the man had been cast out, seeks him out personally — a gesture that contrasts with the rejection he had just suffered from the religious leaders.
  36. João 9:36The man answers with sincerity and openness, asking who this person is that he should believe in, showing genuine willingness to believe.
  37. João 9:37Jesus reveals Himself directly to him, saying that He is the very one speaking with him at that moment.
  38. João 9:38The man declares his faith and worships Him — a striking contrast with the rejection the religious leaders had just shown Jesus.
  39. João 9:39Jesus explains the purpose of His coming with a paradoxical statement: to make those who don’t see begin to see, and those who think they see discover their own spiritual blindness.
  40. João 9:40Some Pharisees nearby feel targeted by the statement and ask whether Jesus is saying that they too are blind.
  41. João 9:41Jesus answers that genuine blindness wouldn’t be grounds for guilt, but insisting they see, when in fact they reject the truth in front of them, is what makes them truly guilty.

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