Jesus Cures on the Sabbath

The Pharisees hated Jesus and wanted to find a reason to arrest him. They said that he should not heal sick people on the Sabbath. One Sabbath, Jesus found a blind man begging in the street. He told his disciples: ‘See how God’s power will help this man.’ Jesus mixed his own saliva with dirt to make a paste, and then he put it on the man’s eyes. Jesus told him: ‘Go and wash your eyes in the pool of Siloam.’ The man did that, and then for the first time in his life, he could see.

People were shocked. They said: ‘Is this the man who used to sit and beg, or is it just someone who looks like him?’ The man said: ‘I was the one born blind!’ The people asked him: ‘Why aren’t you blind anymore?’ When he told them what had happened, they took him to the Pharisees.

The man told the Pharisees: ‘Jesus put a paste on my eyes and told me to go and wash it off. I did, and now I can see.’ The Pharisees said: ‘If Jesus cures on the Sabbath, his power cannot be from God.’ But others said: ‘If his power were not from God, he would not be able to cure at all.’

The Pharisees called the man’s parents and asked: ‘How is it that your son can now see?’ His parents were afraid because the Pharisees had said that anyone who puts faith in Jesus would be thrown out of the synagogue. So they said: ‘We don’t know. Ask him yourself.’ The Pharisees asked the man more questions until he said: ‘I’ve told you all I know. Why do you keep asking me?’ The Pharisees were angry, and they threw him out.

Jesus went to find the man, and asked him: ‘Do you have faith in the Messiah?’ The man said: ‘I would if I knew who he was.’ Jesus said: ‘I am the Messiah.’ Was that not kind of Jesus? Not only did he cure the man but he also helped him to have faith.