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". . . . . until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old
testament (covenant)" (II Cor. 3: 14).
Paul is saying in this chapter of Corinthians that because Moses had a veil on his face
to obscure the reflected glory of God attending the giving of the law etc., they could not
see when in reality the shine went from the face of Moses. So while this veil was still
there (in our Lord's time) at the reading of the law, in symbol there was a veil over their
spiritual eyesight that obscured the fact that the glory of the law was being replaced by
the glory of Christ and His law of the Spirit.
So we come back to John 9: and the healing of the man born blind. The
circumstances related should prevent human misunderstanding of its teaching. First the
man born blind is indicative of his desperate and helpless condition. Then the question of
sin is eliminated and the plain purpose of the miracle is stated:
"Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents (to cause this blindness): but that the
works of God should be made manifest in him" (9: 3).
Christ could have spoken words and healed the blind man but to help the faith of man
in this instance He links Himself with the miracle by making the clay. How necessary
was this action, for the Jews said to the man: "Give God the praise" thus seeking to
eliminate the channel of blessing even though the source was the same. Notice the Jews
demand for a third account of the healing and the man's reply to them: "I have told you
already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again?". Here is a willful
deafness. Look at their impudent comment:
"We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence
He is" (9: 29).
Compare this with their forefather's comment at Mount Sinai about Moses who they
now acknowledge:
". . . . . as for this Moses, . . . . . we wot not what is become of him" (Exod.xxxii.1).
The blind man's knowledge grows from "a man that is called Jesus" (9: 11) to "a
prophet" (17) and finally his faith in and worship of Jesus as "the Son of God" (35-38).
The man's faith enables him to give personal testimony in the face of threats from the
Jewish leaders. Even so the best testimony that any man can offer the world is the utter
conviction from his heart that in Christ is ALL life, hope and truth.
The healing of the blind man was another miracle performed on the sabbath day. The
Pharisees and the other leaders were obsessed with detail of sabbath observance rather
than remembering the One Who ordained it and the meaning behind it--the day of rest
and restoration that the Saviour was there to bring to them. The leaders of the Jews
prided themselves in their knowledge of the law and its interpretation. Thus our Lord
could say: "You say you see".