Born Blind, Now Seeing
Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing. John 9:7 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus tells the man to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, and when he does, he comes back able to see for the first time in his life.
The pool's name means 'Sent,' which is a beautiful connection—the man is sent to wash by the One who was sent by God.
Jesus gives the blind man a simple instruction, and the man's obedience leads to his healing.
Imagine the courage it took for this blind man to walk to the pool, trusting a stranger's word. And then the overwhelming moment when he washes his eyes and the world floods in for the very first time.
Jesus commands the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam, whose name (Siloam = 'Sent,' from Hebrew 'shālach') John interprets as a christological reference to Jesus as the one 'sent' by the Father.
The Pool of Siloam was fed by the Gihon spring through Hezekiah's tunnel and held liturgical significance during the Feast of Tabernacles. John's wordplay links the pool's name to Jesus' identity as the Sent One.
Jesus instructs the blind man, and the narrator provides etymological commentary on the pool's name.
The man obeys Jesus' command without hesitation, walks to the Pool of Siloam, washes, and returns with sight—completing a miracle that will set off a firestorm of controversy.
5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
7Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
8At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
9Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
Read all of John 9 — A man blind from birth receives sight, and the Pharisees interrogate him relentlessly. His simple testimony dismantles their theology piece by piece.
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