Jesus saw a blind man while he was passing by. The disciples asked the natural question, especially as good Israelites, who knew their Scriptures. They knew that every sorrow and trouble in the world came about from the sin of Adam and Eve.
Still, it probably rings a little harsh in our ears, the way they ask it. And when Jesus answers, he reveals a great mystery: that sometimes God gives a great difficulty to someone, in order to glorify Himself in them. In general, we talk about our weakness and frailty, and the tendency to sin, as part of the consequences of original sin. But it is important to recognize that original sin is different than personal sin, and that's part of what Jesus was trying to communicate.
Jesus tells the guy to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, after Jesus spits on the ground, and makes mud or clay out of the dirt, rubbing it on the man's eyes. Do you notice how physical everything is? Jesus isn't afraid to touch people, or the ground on which he walks. He works a miracle with his own spit. We should remember all of this when we read later about Jesus's body. Our bodies are good; heaven will not be about getting rid of our bodies. Maybe you can think of a part of your body which reminds you of some challenge that you overcame, or some event that was meaningful to you. Even in this little story, Jesus shows that he cares about all of that as well.
You can imagine that the neighbors and friends of this man weren't really sure that it was the same person they knew. These kinds of things don't happen every day. It was the man they knew, and he finally got around to telling them what had happened. It is interesting that St. John says Jesus "anointed" the man's eyes. There may have been something formal that Jesus said, like a prayer. Maybe he said a blessing that he was familiar with. In any case, the crowd ends up looking for Jesus. They asked the man where Jesus went, and he didn't know. They brought the man to the Pharisees, because they figured the Pharisees would know what to do.
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