John 9:7

And said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

The big thing in this verse, aside from the loving mercy of the Saviour's awesome power, is the blind man's obedience. Let it be supposed, for a moment, that this blind man exhibited the same attitude prevalent in our own times. Suppose he had said, "Now look, Jesus, this pool of Siloam business is not really necessary, you know. I believe in you and will just take my eyesight right here where I stand; and, after I am able to see clearly, then I will go and wash, like you said, just to show I trust you. Certainly, water cannot cure eyesight; so I'll just take it here and now by faith only! Of course, I'll go and wash later to show I trust you."

What would have resulted from such an attitude? Can anyone doubt that he would have died as blind as he was born, if he had responded with any such proposal? To his honor and exceedingly great reward, he did not claim a blessing while denying the condition upon which it was promised. "He went away, therefore, and washed, and came seeing."

The analogy in the foregoing will not be lost on a student of the word of God. Blindness, from the most ancient times, has been held as a type of sin. This does not mean that a blind man is a sinner but that the terrible handicap is a forceful illustration of sinful condition. Jesus said, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Luke 6:39). See also 2 Peter 1:9 and Revelation 3:18. Thus, blindness is a Scriptural type of sin; and the detail of this sixth sign's deployment upon the sacred page compels the conclusion that this blind man's healing must be construed as typical of the far greater wonder of healing men of sin. Most of John's signs are thus to be understood in their dual significance in both the physical and spiritual sectors. Therefore, we shall note the bearing of this sign upon the forgiveness of sin.

Salvation from sin is specifically promised by Christ, thus: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). This is as simple and easily understood as "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." Why then should Mark's record of Jesus' promise be hard to understand, and why all the quibble about whether water can wash away sins? Of course, it cannot; and, since the Dark Ages, no one has ever believed that it could, But, if a man can understand why the blind man received his sight after washing in the pool of Siloam, and wholly apart from any power of those waters, and without in the least supposing that the waters of the pool had anything to do with his healing, then such a person should have no difficulty with the analogy of the way one is saved in the washing of the waters of baptism, when he is baptized into Christ, and yet without supposing the water had any efficacy.

The blind man was healed in the act of washing in Siloam. He did not go seeing and then wash; but he went and washed and came seeing.

THE POOL OF SILOAM

Go wash in the pool of Siloam ... Peloubet identified the name Siloam with its earlier name Shiloah (Isaiah 8:6).[5] John's interpretation of the name as "one sent" makes it a reference to the Messiah who was the "one sent" from God. Therefore, the word Shiloh (Genesis 49:10), which was the name Jacob gave the Messiah, appears to be the original form of the name Siloam. Thus, in Scripture, this name had three forms, Shiloh, Shiloah, and Siloam, all of them laden with an immense weight of symbolism pointing to the Saviour of the world.

"Shiloh" was the poetic name of the Messiah; and Isaiah had made the soft waters of this humble water hole a metaphor of the peaceful government of the Lord as contrasted with the rapacious government of Assyria, the latter being compared to the rampage of Euphrates at flood stage. It was from this pool that the golden pitcher of water was brought to pour out in the temple court during the feast of tabernacles (John 7:37); and, in the presence of those waters from Siloam, Jesus invited all to "come unto me and drink!"

The filling of Siloam came through an underground conduit that entered at the bottom, causing the waters to rise silently, hence Isaiah's reference to "the waters that go softly." Jesus' choice of this pool as the scene of one of his mightiest deeds more than justified the Messianic expectations so long associated with the sacred word Shiloh and its derivatives.