What You Didn't See About the Blind Man and the Pool of Siloam

The Miracle

John 9:1-39 tells us of Jesus and His disciples encountering a man who was born blind. When His disciples asked whether his blindness was punishment for his sins or those of his parents, "Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him... When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing" (John 9:3; 6-7).

While the story is well-known, Jesus tucked a beautiful, hidden message into the incident for this man and for future believers, which we can discover with a bit of historical digging and insight from the Holy Spirit.

The Old and New Pools of Siloam

King Hezekiah ordered that an underground tunnel be dug under Jerusalem at two points, one inside the city, and one outside its walls. The two crews met in the middle and dug through bedrock so that water from the Gihon Spring could be siphoned into the city (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30). That way, if Jerusalem was cut off from the outside world due to prolonged invasion, the people within its walls would always have access to living water. This reserve became the pool of Siloam.

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The water source that we know as the Pool of Siloam from the book of John is located near this original enclosure, and was used for the libation offering during the Feast of Tabernacles. The two pools bear the same name, Siloam, which means "sent," and were fed by the same source of living water, the Gihon Spring. This symbolizes the Lord being the same yesterday, today, and forever; the source of living water for those in the old covenant and the new. But we must reach out for Him. We must go where God sends us, even if it is lonely and uncomfortable, in order to obtain the fullness of what His living water will give us.

Separation and Living Water

By sending the blind man to the Pool of Siloam, a place associated with cleansing and provision in the midst of turmoil, Jesus was subtly giving him a message about what was to come. In effect, because of his faith, this man was about to be cut off from the outside world, and Jesus would be his source of life.

An encounter with the Most High God would change his life irrefutably, and he would have a testimony to share of God's mercy, grace, and glory. After hearing him testify, the religious leaders would reject him, excommunicating him from the synagogue, the center of life and community for the Jewish people. His own family would effectively disown him, refusing to speak on his behalf in order to protect their own standing in society. This newly restored man was about to lose everything that most Jews counted on for a full life.

But Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the ultimate source of Living Water, came to give him new life, outside of the expectations of others. Just as his early ancestors depended on the Pool of Siloam to sustain them when they were isolated from the outside world, the formerly blind man chose to turn to the spiritual source of Living Water, and cling to Him in spite of the rejection of others, knowing that the Lord would sustain him through adversity. "When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me" (Psalm 27:10).

Jesus did not abandon the man when everyone else forsook him. When the religious leaders threw him out and his parents hid behind their fear of man, Jesus sought him and encouraged him by revealing Himself as Messiah. The man who previously could not see with physical eyes now saw clearly with his spirit what the religious leaders where too blinded by pride to acknowledge. Real life, real sight, real security, could only be found in Jesus. "'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:37b-38).

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.