John 9 tells the story of a man born blind who receives his sight from Jesus, and then faces questions from neighbors, religious leaders and his own parents. These questions are for small groups, Sunday classes and personal study. Use the set in order for a full session, or pick one section if your time is short.
John 9 at a Glance
The chapter opens with Jesus and his disciples meeting a man blind from birth. Jesus heals him with mud and water from the pool of Siloam, and the man goes home seeing. What follows is a series of interviews: neighbors debate whether he is really the same man, Pharisees question how the healing happened, and the man’s parents are called in and refuse to say more than they must.
The man keeps telling the same plain story and, under pressure, grows bolder about who Jesus must be. He is finally thrown out of the synagogue. Jesus finds him, asks whether he believes in the Son of Man, and the man worships. The chapter closes with Jesus turning the lesson on the Pharisees, who ask whether they are blind too.
Observation Questions
Use these first to make sure everyone has the facts of the story in view before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask someone to read the passage aloud, then go through the questions one at a time and let people point back to the text.
John 9:1-3
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.
(WEB)
Read this opening to set the scene and to remind the group that the story begins with a real person in need. It also introduces the question about cause and blame that shapes much of the discussion.
John 9:6-7
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
(WEB)
The healing itself is strange and specific, and reading it slowly helps the group notice the physical details. The command to wash and the report that he came back seeing deserve a pause.
John 9:25
He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
(WEB)
This short confession is the heart of the man’s witness. Reading it aloud gives the group a simple statement they can return to when discussing testimony and honest faith.
John 9:35-38
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
(WEB)
This passage moves from rejection to worship and marks the turning point of the chapter. Reading it near the end of the session lets the group feel the weight of the man’s response.
John 9:39-41
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
(WEB)
Jesus’ closing words sharpen the question of sight and sin. Reading them last invites the group to examine their own assumptions before the prayer.
Memory Verse for John 9
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you as people who often think we see clearly, and you know how often we are wrong about ourselves and about others. Thank you for the works you do in the lives of people the world overlooks, and for the light of Jesus that opens blind eyes. Give us the humility of the man who simply said what he knew, and the courage to tell our own stories with honesty. Where we have been quick to assign blame, soften our hearts. Where we have claimed sight we do not have, show us the truth. Keep us near to Jesus, the one who finds us when we have been pushed out, and help us worship him as Lord. Amen.
