Jesus instructed the man who had been blind from birth to "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (John 9:7). Certainly the saliva and dirt that Jesus applied had no direct relationship to the healing, nor did the water he bathed in at the pool. The miraculous power was in Jesus, not these physical items that He used. Of course, had the man not obeyed, then he most certainly would not have been healed at all, despite the fact that Jesus had made such possible.

There is an interesting spiritual parallel to consider here. John states that the pool is translated as "Sent." We know that Jesus is the One who has been "sent" (cf. 9:4). Like the blind man, we today must obey the Lord; we must come and wash in the One "sent" by God (i.e., Jesus)! If we do this our eyes will be opened and our sins forgiven. If we don't, then we will not be saved, regardless of the fact that Jesus loves us and died to make our redemption possible! Jesus saves the obedient (cf. Heb. 5:8,9). When conditions are prescribed they must be met in order to receive the blessings promised. The conditions Jesus has issued for the salvation of a soul today include: faith, repentance, and baptism (cf. John 8:24; Acts 2:38). There is nothing miraculous about the waters of a baptistery, but one cannot be cleansed while refusing to obey the Lord's commands (e.g., Acts 22:16; II Kings 5)! All men and women today must be washed in the blood of Christ if they are to enjoy cleansing and true spiritual sight (cf. Rev. 1:5). Jesus required faithful obedience from the man born blind, and He demands faithful obedience from all today as well.

The narrative continues in John 9:8-12:

"Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was born blind said, 'Is not this he who sat and begged?' Some said, 'This is he.' Others said, 'He is like him.' He said, 'I am he.' Therefore they said to him, 'How were your eyes opened?' He answered and said, 'A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight.' Then they said to him, 'Where is He?' He said, 'I do not know.'"

The confusion of the neighbors is understandable. Certainly the cure would've changed his appearance slightly, but those who didn't recognize him probably just couldn't believe that the man born blind was healed. Their doubt probably lead them to automatically conclude that this couldn't be the same man, no matter how similar they looked. In a spiritual sense, sometimes people won't recognize a person after he has been converted to Christ. Although his physical appearance doesn't necessarily change, other changes are made to bring his life into harmony with God's will. A true disciple will leave his old identity behind when he obeys the gospel and become "a new creation" in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). He will look different!

The interrogations begin in John 9:10 - "How were your eyes opened?" Notice that they question him as to the manner of the miracle and not the fact of it, after he identifies himself. Their inquiry shows that this event was miraculous and not some ordinary, everyday occurrence.

The man answers their question, and the one that follows was inevitable - "Where is He?" Sadly, they don't ask this because of feelings of love and appreciation for Jesus but because of malice and a desire to destroy Him. The man did not know where the Lord was, and he admitted this to them.

It should be noted here that a new convert will never be able to answer all the questions that may be asked of him. He should simply do the best he can by telling others what he does know about Jesus and continue growing in the faith daily (cf. I Pet. 2:2).