and miraculously opens his Eyes.

6 When he had thus

fpoken, he fpat on the Ground, and made Clay of the Spittle, and he anointed the Eyes of the Blind Man with the Clay,

199

fome notorious Sin? for we apprehend, that he Sect. 130.
was born Blind, as a Punishment to himself, or
them, or both.

But Jefus, waving the Curiofity of the Quef- John IX. 3,
tion, answered, It is not, becaufe either this Man,
or his Parents, have finned in fuch an extraordi-
nary Manner as you fuppofe; nor was the Punish-
ment of either the chief Defign of this Difpenfa-
tion of Providence; but the Intent of it was, that
the miraculous Works of GOD might be remark-
ably manifefted, in reftoring him to Sight, as you
will quickly fee. For however the Malice of 4
the Jews may be irritated by it, I must perform
the Works of him that fent me, while it is Day,
and the Opportunity of dispatching it continues;
for I well know, that the Night is coming, in
which no Man can work: I fee Death approaching,
which, as it puts a Period in general to Human
Labours, fo will close the Scene of fuch Miracles
as these, and remove me from the Converfe and
Society of Men. But fo long as 1 am in the 5
World, I am the Light of the World; and as a
Proof of the Divine Illumination I am capable
of giving, I have often restored Sight to the Blind;
and I will do it in this Inftance.

And when he had spoken thus, that he might 6. exercife the Faith and Obedience of the Patient, and might fhew that he could command Efficacy on whatever Means he should please to use, he Spat on the Ground, and made Clay with the Spittle, and anointed the Eyes of the Blind Man with the Clay: And then, for a farther Trial of his 7 wash in the Pool of Siloam, Refignation and Submiffion, he faid to him, Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam (c); which Word Si

7 And faid unto him, Go

(which

loam

our Lord's Sentiments, on this Subject of curious Speculation; but he wifely declined an exprefs Decifion of the Matter, to fix on fomething more ufeful.

(c) Wash at the Pool of Siloam.] Perhaps by this Command our Lord intended to make the Miracle fo much the more taken Notice of; for a Croud of People would naturally gather round him, to obferve the Event of fo ftrange a Prefcription. And as it is exceeding probable, he had a Guide to lead him, efpecially thro' the Streets of fo populous a City, he might naturally mention the Errand they were going upon, and call thofe that faw him to a greater Attention. Accordingly this Miracle was afterwards talked of with particular Regard: John xi. 37. Sect. 140. As for the Pool of Siloam, it was fupplied from the Fountain of that Name, which arofe in the South-Weft Part of Jerufalem. See Note (c) on Luke xiii. 4. pag. 130. and Reland. Paleftin. pag. 857.

(d) Could

200

Sect.

He tells the People, how he received his Sight.

130. loam being interpreted from the Hebrew, fignifies (which is by Interpretation, Sent, and fo bore fome Analogy to the Character Sent.) He went his Way

John IX. 7. of Jefus, as Sent of GOD. He therefore prefently complied with the Direction, and went away, and afbed as he was ordered; and had no fooner done it, but he came from the Pool feeing; and not only found his Sight given him, but his Eyes were at once fo remarkably ftrengthened, that he immediately could bear the Light (d).

8

9

therefore, and washed, and

came feeing.

8 The Neighbours therefore, and they which before blind, faid, Is not this he that fat and begged?

had feen him, that he was

9 Some faid, This is he: but he faid, I am he.

10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine Eyes opened?

The Neighbours therefore, and they who had feen him before, and known that he was always Blind, faid one to another, Is not this be, that fate in the Street, and afked [Charity] of those who paffed by? Whence is there fuch an astonishing Alteration in him? And fome faid, It is affuredly he; and others, It is indeed very much like others faid, He is like him: him, yet it cannot be the Perfon himself (e): [But] be faid, and confidently averred, Truly I am the 10 very Man. They therefore faid to him, How then were thine Eyes opened, which we know to have been Blind? Could any Medicine have fo 11 frange an Effect? And he replied, A certain Man, who is called Jefus, and who is famous for many other extraordinary Works, made Clay, by fpitting on the Ground, and having anointed mine Eyes with it, faid to me, Go to the Pool of Siloam, and wash there: And accordingly I went and washed, and immediately received my Sight; and this is, in a few Words, a true and exact Account of this wonderful Fact.

12

II He answered and said,

A Man that is called Jefus, made Clay, and anointed mine Eyes, and faid unto me, Go to the Pool of Siloam, and wash : and I went Sight.

and washed, and I received

12 Then faid they unto

I know not.

Then faid they to him, Where is he, that per- him, Where is he? He said, formed this, and gave thee fuch Directions? And thee fuch Directions? And be faid, I do not know; for I have never yet feen him, nor ever converfed with him, otherwife than as I just now told you.

And

(d) Could bear the Light.] This is ftrongly intimated in the Phrafe, he came feeing. Compare Note (b), Sect. 86. Vol. i. pag. 534.Perhaps he had been taught by the Example of Naaman, not to defpife the most improbable Means, when prescribed in the View of a Miracle. Yet it is plain, he did not know this was Jefus of Nazareth yet, and fo had no particular Faith in him; (compare ver. 12.) which fhews, by the way, that fuch a Faith was not univerfally required, as a Condition of receiving a Cure.

(e) It is like him, &c.] The Circumftance of having received his Sight would give him an Air of Spirit and Chearfulness, which would render him fomething unlike what he was before, and might occafion a little Doubt to thofe who were not well acquainted with him; as Bishop Hall juftly obferves.

And being queftioned by the Sanhedrim, a Divifion arises. 201

And they brought him, who had formerly been Sect. 130.
Blind, to the Pharifees in the grand Sanhedrim,
John IX. 13.
that he might be examined by them; that fo, if
there was any Fraud in the Matter, they might
difcover and expose it. Now it was on the Sab- 14
bath-Day, when Jefus made the Clay (f), as we be-
fore related, and opened his Eyes; which was a
Circumstance, that fome of these hypocritical Ru-
lers pretended to take great Offence at. The 15
Pharifees therefore, difpofed to find all the Fault
they could, afked him again, how, or by what
Means, he received his Sight. And he faid to them,
exactly as he had before declared to the People,
He only put Clay upon mine Eyes, and I then, ac-
cording to his Command, went and washed at the
neighbouring Pool of Siloam, and behold, I do
now fee perfectly well.

Then faid fome of the Pharifees, This Man, tho' 16
apparently poffeffed of fome extraordinary Power,
is not, to be fure, a Meffenger of GOD, nor can
he perform these Works by a Divine Agency, be-
caufe he obferveth not the facred Reft of the Sab-
bath, which the Law of GOD fo exprefsly en-
joins. But others more wifely faid, How can a
Man, that is a notorious Sinner, and Sabbath-
breaker, as you fuppofe this Man to be, do fuch
great and beneficial Miracles (g), which wear all
the Marks of a Divine Original, that can be ima-
gined? And there was a warm Debate and Divifion
among them on this important Queftion; the few
Friends of Chrift among them, not failing to urge
fo great an Advantage against the rest (b).

But

(f) It was on the Sabbath-Day, &c.] Dr. Lightfoot (in his Hor. Hebr. on ver. 6.) has hewn, that anointing the Eyes on a Sabbath-Day with any Kind of Medicine, was forbidden to the Jews by the Tradition of the Elders.

(g) Such great and beneficial Miracles.] This feems to intimate, that they thought, there were at least fome Miracles fo glorious, and fo benevolent, that no Evil Agent would have either Inclination, or Power, to perform them; and that they reckoned this in that Number. The Thought feems both rational and important, and is fet in a very strong Light by the learned Mr. Chapman, in his Eufebius, chap. ii.

(b) The few Friends of Chrift among them, &c.] If Nicodemus, and Jofeph of Arimathea, both Members of the Sanhedrim, were now prefent, they would naturally diftinguish themselves on this Occafion; and Gamaliel, on the Principles he afterwards avowed, (Acts v. 38, 39.) must have been on their Side.

VOL. II.

Cc

(i) If

202

His Parents are examined, but refer them to their Son.

Sect. 130.
But to prevent the Offence that might be taken
at their Difpute, they turned and faid again to the
John IX. 17. Blind Man, (that is, to him who had been Blind,
and still was spoken of by that Title,) What fayeft
thou concerning bim, feeing be hath, as thou de-
clarest, opened thine Eyes? And be freely faid, It
is clear to me, that he is a moft illuftrious Pro-
phet; for furely otherwife he would have been
unable to perform fo great a Miracle.

18

The Jews therefore of this great Council, being generally displeased with his Reply, and yet unable to invalidate it, if the Miracle was allowed, would not believe concerning him on his own Credit, that he had formerly been Blind, and had now received his Sight; but reprefented it as a Confe deracy betwen him and Jefus, by an eafy Fraud, to get the Reputation of fo extraordinary a Cure: And in this View they went on roundly to cenfure it, till they had called in the Parents of the Man who maintained that he had thus received his Sight, that they might ftrictly examine them on 19 this Question. And they afked them, faying, Is this indeed your Son, of whom you are reported to fay, that he was born Blind? Give us an Account of the whole Matter; and particularly tell us, if you are fure that he was Blind, how then doth be now fee? His Parents answered them, and faid, We affuredly know, that this is our Son; and affirm it to be true, that he was born Blind, and hath 21 continued fo from his Infancy : But as for

20

22

this ftrange Fact, how he now fees, we know not;
or who has opened his Eyes, we know not any more
than he has told us, not being prefent when the
Cure was wrought: He is himfelf of a fufficient
Age to anfwer fuch a Queftion; if you please
therefore to afk him, he will undoubtedly speak
concerning himself, and is best able to tell you
his own Story.

Thefe Things his Parents faid in this cautious
Manner, not that they had any Doubt of the
Cure as wrought by Jefus, but because they were
afraid of the fews: For the Jews in this their
higheft Court had already agreed, that if any one
fhould fhew fuch Regard to Jefus of Nazareth,

as

17 They fay unto the

What fayeft thou of him, that he

Blind Man again,
hath opened thine Eyes? He
faid, 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 that had received his Sight.

23

Reflections on the Cure of him that was born Blind.

Therefore said his Parents, He is of Age, ask him,

203

John IX. 22.

དུ

that if any Man did confefs as to confess him to be Chrift, he should immediately Sect. 130. that he was Chrift, he should be excommunicated and caft out of the Synabe put out of the Synagogue. gogue (i); a Cenfure, which was reckoned very infamous, and attended with many civil Incapacities and Penalties. Not knowing therefore 23 but such an Interpretation might be put on their owning the Truth of this Miracle, his Parents declined giving any particular Testimony concerning it; and rather chofe to refer them to their Son, and faid, He is of Age fufficient to be heard as an Evidence, and it will therefore be most proper, that you should ask the Particulars from him.

IMPROVEMENT.

H that the Zeal of our Great Mafter might quicken us his too John ix. 5. negligent Servants! Still is He the, Light of the World, by his Doctrines, Precepts, and Example. May our Eyes by Divine Grace be opened to fee, and our Hearts be difpofed to love, and to follow this Light! It was a governing Maxim with him, and he meant it alfo for our Admonition, I must work the Works of him that fent me, while it is Ver. 4. Day; the Night cometh, wherein no Man can work. We are fent into the World on an important Errand, to work out our own Salvation, and that of others: May we improve the prefent Day; and fo much the rather, as we see the Night approaching! On fome the Shadows of the Evening are already drawing on; and as to others, their Sun may go down at Noon. Let us therefore, waving the Curiofity of unprofitable Specula- Ver. 2, 3. tions, apply ourselves feriously to the Business of Life, and zealoufly seize every Opportunity of Usefulness.

Our Lord, as it fhould feem unasked, and by the Perfon on whom it Ver. 6, 7.— was wrought unknown, performed this important and extraordinary Cure. And the Manner in which he did it, is worthy of Notice: He anointed bis Eyes with Clay, and then commanded him to wash. Clay laid on the Eye-lids might almost blind a Man that had Sight; but what could it do towards curing Blindness? It reminds us, that GOD is no farther from

the

(i) If any one should confefs him to be Chrift, &c.] Hence it appears, that tho' our Lord was cautious of profeffing himself to be the Chrift in exprefs Terms, yet many underftood the Intimations he gave; and that most of his Difciples by this Time declared their Faith in him under that Character. It also farther appears from hence, that the Parents, and indeed the Sanhedrim, knew who it was that opened this Man's Eyes, tho' he himself was hitherto a Stranger to him, and was not yet acquainted with the Dignity of his Perfon, Compare ver. 25, 36.