Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

As Jesus walked along, he came across a man who had been born blind. His disciples asked him, "Master, whose fault is this? Was the man or his parents responsible for his blindness?"

Jesus replied, "Neither the man nor his parents sinned, but I must work while it's still day because the night comes when no one can work." He continued, "<span class="jesus-words">As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world</span>."

With that, Jesus spat on the ground and made mud from the saliva. He applied the mud to the blind man's eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means "Sent." The man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

The neighbors who had known him as a blind beggar were amazed: "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some said yes, others weren't so sure. But the former blind man was confident: "I am he."

They asked him how he could see now, and he told them that Jesus had applied mud to his eyes and instructed him to wash in Siloam. They asked where Jesus was, but the man replied, "I don't know."

The Pharisees got wind of this miracle and brought the blind man before them on the Sabbath day when Jesus had performed the healing. They asked him again how he could see now, and he repeated what Jesus had told him: that he applied mud to his eyes and washed, and now he saw.

The Pharisees were divided over whether Jesus was from God or not, depending on their interpretation of the Sabbath laws. Some argued that a sinner like Jesus couldn't perform such miracles; others claimed that a man who didn't keep the Sabbath properly must be acting against God's will.

They asked the blind man again what he thought about Jesus, and he replied, "He is a prophet." But when they called his parents to testify, they were afraid to speak out on behalf of Jesus because they had heard that anyone confessing him as the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue.

The Pharisees interrogated the parents and then brought the former blind man back before them. They tried to intimidate him into denying Jesus by saying, "Give God praise; we know this man is a sinner." But he stood firm: "I don't know whether he's a sinner or not, but one thing I'm sure of – I used to be blind, and now I see."

They kept pressuring him, asking how Jesus had opened his eyes. He told them again that they didn't listen the first time, so why did they want to hear it again? And then he dared to ask: "Will you also become his disciples?"

This only infuriated them more, and they called him a disciple of Jesus while claiming to follow Moses. They boasted about knowing that God spoke to Moses but had no idea where this mysterious Jesus came from.

The former blind man shot back: "That's amazing – you don't know where he comes from, yet he has given me sight." He then reflected on the paradox of God listening only to those who are willing to obey him. And in a stunning declaration, he claimed that since the world began, no one had ever opened the eyes of someone born blind.

If Jesus wasn't sent by God, he wouldn't be able to do such miracles, the man argued. But his words fell on deaf ears as they drove him out.

Jesus heard about this and found the former blind man. He asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" The man replied, "Who is he that I might believe in him?"

Jesus said, "You have seen him; it's me speaking to you right now." And with that, the man declared his faith: "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped Jesus on the spot.

Jesus then made a profound statement: "I came into the world to bring sight to those who are blind, but also to deepen their blindness for those who refuse to see."

Some of the Pharisees present heard these words and asked if they too were blind. Jesus replied that if they claimed to see spiritual truth but still sinned, then their sin would remain unaddressed.