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Eustache Le Sueur, Christ Healing the Blind Man
French, c. 1650
Berlin, Schloss Sanssouci |
"As Jesus passed by he saw a man
blind from birth.
His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered,
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.
We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him,
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had
seen him earlier as a beggar said,
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is, “
but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”
So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He replied,
“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
So I went there and washed and was able to see.”
And they said to him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
They brought the one who was once
blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a Sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again,
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
Now the Jews did not believe
that he had been blind and gained his sight
until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.
They asked them,
“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How does he now see?”
His parents answered and said,
“We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
We do not know how he sees now,
nor do we know who opened his eyes.
Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid
of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,
he would be expelled from the synagogue.
For this reason his parents said,
“He is of age; question him.”
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The Pharisees Question the Former Blind Man and His Parents
From the Psalter-Hours of Yolande of Soissons
French, c. 1280-1300
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 729, fol. 104v |
So a second time they called the
man who had been blind
and said to him, “Give God the praise!
We know that this man is a sinner.”
He replied,
“If he is a sinner, I do not know.
One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
So they said to him,
“What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?”
He answered them,
“I told you already and you did not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
They ridiculed him and said,
“You are that man’s disciple;
we are disciples of Moses!
We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do not know where this one is from.”
The man answered and said to them,
“This is what is so amazing,
that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners,
but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.
It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.
If this man were not from God,
he would not be able to do anything.”
They answered and said to him,
“You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?”
Then they threw him out.
When Jesus heard that
they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered and said,
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus said to him,
“You have seen him,
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
Then Jesus said,
“I came into this world for judgment,
so that those who do not see might see,
and those who do see might become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees
who were with him heard this
and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”
Jesus said to them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains."
John 9:1-41
Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A
The dramatic story of the healing of the man born blind is
the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Year A, which is this Sunday this year. It is also the Gospel which the Church has
chosen as the Gospel for every fourth Sunday of Lent whenever the catechumens
who are to be baptized into the Church and the candidates who are to be
received into full Communion with her are present. Why?
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Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind
From the Rossano Gospels
Byzantine (Possibly Syrian), 6th Century
Rossano, Museo Diocesano
MS Codex Purpureus Rossanensis |
Like the other Gospel readings for Year A, this Gospel tells
us an important story and reveals an important truth about Jesus and about the
way in which he revealed himself and that we come to faith in him. On the First Sunday of Lent we heard about
how Jesus was tempted to accept easy fame and honors and to reveal who he was
by doing miracles for empty show. On the
Second Sunday we heard how he went up Mount Tabor with three disciples and was
transfigured before them, revealing his glory as God and his lordship over
time. On the Third Sunday we heard his
discourse with the Samaritan woman and saw her transformed from a frightened,
ashamed woman into a bold bearer of the good news of the Messiah.
This week we hear a similar story. Jesus gives sight to a man who has been blind
from birth, something that for all our advances in medical science we still
cannot do. But, he did, using humble
instruments: a handful of earth and his
own spittle.
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Ivory Book Reliquary with the Miracles of Jesus
Late Antique or Byzantine, c. 550
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9384
This book reliquary depicts Jesus enthroned in majesty, surrounded by scenes from the miracles. On the left side we see the miracles of the man born blind and the paralytic, on the right the miracles of the woman with the flow of blood and the wine at Cana. In the lower band we see Jesus with the woman at the well and the resurrection of Lazarus. Interestingly, three of these scenes are depictions of the Gospels for the Third, Fourth and Fifth weeks of Lent in Year A.
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The story doesn’t stop there, but goes on to tell us about
the response which the once blind man received from the people in power, the
Pharisees. Their response is
strange. Instead of expressing wonder
and joy at a cure of such a disability they start worrying about the legality
of the work. It was a Sabbath when no
work is permitted, yet Jesus made a paste and cured a man. For Shame!
Such a violation of the law would have to indicate that the man is not
from God. To all of their questions and
barbs the healed man remains perfectly simple in his response, “I was blind and
now I see”. They even call in his
parents, both to identify him and to ask if they know what happened. I must say that I have always loved the
parents’ reply “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do
not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for
himself.” (John
9:21)
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Matthias Gerung, Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind and the Man and His Parents Respond to the Pharisees
From the Ottheinrich-Bibel, Vol. IV
German, c. 1530-1532
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
MS BSB Cgm 8010(4), fol. 9r |
Again and again he gives his interrogators the same answer
and keeps confounding their attempts to shake him until finally they lose patience
and expel him from the synagogue.
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Brother Philipp, Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind, The Man Responds to the Pharisees and Is Expelled from the Synagogue
From Weltchronik
German (Regensburg), c. 1400-1410
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS 33, fol. 279v |
After his expulsion Jesus finds him and reveals himself to
him and the man “worshiped him”. Worship
is due only to God, not to human beings.
In that last action of the formerly blind man he has gone from a state
of abject blindness as a beggar to that of a disciple who sees the reality
behind the physical presence of Jesus in a way that the more hardened Pharisees
never could. He has flipped the tables
of the religious world of Jerusalem, seeing what they are unable to see. He truly can say “I was blind and now I
see”.
And, in this he is the model for every Christian, as we struggle to clear our vision from the things of this world and truly
see. And this is why the Church reads this to the catechumens
every year.
Artists have represented this scene for many centuries. Most have followed the story pretty closely,
especially the moment of the miracle.
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Half of an Ivory Diptych
Italian, c. 800
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
Presumably one of a pair of plaques, this panel, which at some time had been used as a door (note the keyhole), shows Christ in Majesty, the Healing of the Man Born Blind and the Healing of the Paralytic.
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Healing of the Man Born Blind and of another man, possibly a leper or mute
From an Ivory Book Cover
Carolingian, c. 870-880
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
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Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind
From a Book of Hours
Flemish (Liege), c. 1250-1300
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 G 17, fol. 20v
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Many have shown both aspects of what one might call the
mechanics of the miracle. They show not only Jesus anointing the eyes of the blind man with the mixture he had made but also a second scene of the man washing in the pool of Siloam.
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Healing of the Man Born Blind and the Encounter of Jesus with the Woman at the Well
From Orations of Gregory Nazianzene
Byzantine, c. 879-882
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Grec 510, fol. 316
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Christ Healing the Man Born Bind
Italian, c. 1080
Capua, Church of Sant'Angelo in Formis
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Duccio, Healing of the Man Born Blind
From the Predella of the Maestà
Italian, c. 1307-1311
London, National Gallery
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Painted Glass Window Roundel, The Healing of the Blind Man
Dutch, c. 1510-1520
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
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Jacob Corneliszoon van Oostsanen after Albrecht Altdorfer, Healing of the Blind Man
Dutch, c. 1520-1521
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
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Healing of the Man Born Blind
Albanian, 1631
Goranxi, Church of Our Lady |
Others restrict the image to the moment of the miracle
itself. This eventually became the dominant
image for this narrative.
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Healing of the Man Born Blind
From The Hamilton Lectionary
Byzantine (Constantinople), c. 1080-1099
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 639, fol. 33r
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Healing of the Man Born Blind and the Raising of Lazarus
Spanish, c. 1129-1134
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection
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A few included some of the aspects of the portion of the
story relating the interrogation of the man and his parents or his expulsion from the
synagogue.
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Master of Death, Jesus Anoints the Eyes of the Man Born Blind
From Histoire de la Bible et de l'Assomption de Nortre-Dame
French (Paris), c. 1390-1400
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 526, fol. 36v
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Master of Death, The Man Born Blind Washes in the Pool of Siloam
From Histoire de la Bible et de l'Assomption de Nortre-Dame
French (Paris), c. 1390-1400
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 526, fol. 36v
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Master of Death, The Healed Man Born Blind Is Expelled from the Synagogue
From Histoire de la Bible et de l'Assomption de Nortre-Dame
French (Paris), c. 1390-1400
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 526, fol. 37r |
One charming series of scenes, covering the entire
narrative, can be found in the
Book of Hours illuminated by one of the greatest
manuscript painters of the early fifteenth century (a century that abounded in
great manuscript painters).
Known as the
Bedford Master, after a
Book of Hours created for the Duke of Bedford, he was a
French painter working in the Paris region, which at the period in which he
worked was occupied by the English and controlled by John, Duke of Bedford, a
brother of King Henry V of England, who was Regent of France for his nephew,
the young Henry VI of England.
The
series of tiny paintings is spread over many pages and tells the complete story
from beginning to end.
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Bedford Master. Jesus Encounters the Man Born Blind
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 85r
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Bedford Master, Jesus Anoints the Eyes of the Man Born Blind
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 85v
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Bedford Master, The Blind Man Washes His Eyes in the Pool of Siloam
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 86r
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Bedford Master, The Blind Man Relates His Cure
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 86v
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Bedford Master, The Parents of the Blind Man Are Questioned
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 87r
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Bedford Master, The Former Blind Man Before the Pharisees
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 87v
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Bedford Master, The Man and Parents Proclaim the Miracle
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 88r
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Bedford Master, The Formerly Blind Man Is Cast Out of the Synagogue
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 88v
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Bedford Master, The Formerly Blind Man Worships Christ
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1430-1435
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 359, fol. 89r |
Some other manuscript painters, and later engravers, also included additional
scenes from the full story in their illuminations.
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Benedetto di Silvestro, Healing of the Man Born Blind
From Vita Christi
Italian, c. 1500-1550
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 508, fol. 5v
While the principal image of this illumination is the moment of the miracle, there is a tiny image of the moment when the man worships Jesus as Son of Man in the background.
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Johannes Wierix After Gerard Groenning , Jesus Cures the Man Born Blind
From Thesaurus Novi Testatmenti elegantissimis iconibus expressus continens historias atque miracula do(mi) nostri Jesu Christi
Flemish, 1585
London, British Museum
Several parts of the story are included in this image. In the center is the moment of the miracle. In the right foreground, the man washes his eyes in the pool of Siloam, while in the right background we see him offering worship to Jesus as Son of Man. On the left side we see the man and his parents being questioned by the Pharisees.
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Some artists depicted alternate moments in the story, such as the first encounter between Jesus and the man born blind.
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Master of Delft, Christ Heals the Man Born Blind
Dutch, 1503
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
In the foreground the blind man is presented to Jesus by a friend. In the background Jesus anoints his eyes.
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Hirschvogel Workshop After Sebald Beham, Christ Encounters the Man Born Blind
German, c. 1517-1527
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection |
As manuscript illumination waned and panel painting and engraving took over, artists tried to include some of the additional
details in the backgrounds of their principal image. Engraved prints, in particular, offered some
didactic material with their pictures, often accompanying the image with
explanatory written descriptions.
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Antonie Wierix II After Bernardino Passeri, Christ Healing the Man Born Blind
Flemish, 1593
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
This complex print includes nearly every portion of the story and provides a letter key to identify the scenes.
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Boethius Bolswert, Christ Healing the Man Born Blind
Dutch, 1622
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
This image depicts only three episodes, the moment of the miracle, the expulsion of the man by the Pharisees and the blind man worshiping Jesus.. These are items 1 and 2 in the Latin paraphrase of the Gospel that appears below the picture. Number 3 refers to the separate image at the top of the page, which is the contrast between the hireling shepherd who runs away when the wolf threatens the sheep and the Good Shepherd who stands and defends the sheep.
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Most artists, however, focused on the moment of the miracle,
when Christ anoints the eyes of the blind man. As time and techniques permitted, artists began to expand the breadth of their vision, placing the miraculous event in wider and more elaborate natural and manmade settings.
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Hans Schaeufelein, Christ Healing the Blind
From Das Plenarium
German, 1517
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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El Greco, Christ Healing the Man Born Blind
Greco-Spanish, c. 1570
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
There is another, slightly different version of this painting in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma.
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Crispin van den Broeck, Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind
Flemish, 1577
Windsor, Royal Collection Trust
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Joos de Momper, Christ Healing the Blind Man
Flemish, c. 1610-1630
Private Collection
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David Vinckboons, Jesus Cures the Man Born Blind
Flemish, c. 1600-1633
Princeton (NJ) Princeton University Art Museum
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Follower of Jacob Jacobszoon de Wet. Healing of the Man Born Blind
Dutch, c. 1670-1700
Inverness, Museum and Art Gallery
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Christ Putting Clay on the Eyes of the Man Born Blind
Dutch, c. 1700-1725
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
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Sebastiano Ricci, Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind
Italian, c. 1712-1716
Edinburgh, National Galleries of Scotland
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Francesco de Mura, Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind
Italian, c. 1750-1780
Reading, Berkshire, Basildon Park, National Trust
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Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, The Miracle of Christ Healing the Man Bor Blind
Italian. 1752
Hartford, The Wadsworth Atheneum
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Attributed to John Martin, Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind
English, c. 1830-1850
New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection |
Late in the nineteenth century, the French painter James
(Jacques) Tissot traveled to the Holy Land to prepare two detailed series of watercolor
paintings illustrating multiple scenes from both the Old and New
Testament. They were published by him in
two volumes of reproductions and have been used extensively in illustrated
Bibles since then. He chose to avoid the
moment of the miracle and to focus on two later scenes: the blind man washing his face in the pool of
Siloam and his response to the questioning of the Pharisees.
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James Tissot, The Blind Man Washes in the Pool of Siloam
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum
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James Tissot, The Healed Blind Man Responds to the Interrogation of the Pharisees
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum |
Tissot’s work represented the end of the line for easily
readable Biblical images by major artists.
The last of Tissot’s work was published in 1902. Thereafter, high art became more definitely
abstract and less involved in narration.
© M. Duffy, 2020
Excerpts from the Lectionary
for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second
typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights
reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without
permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture texts in this
work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986,
1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by
permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New
American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the copyright owner.
