The healing of the man born blind
in John 9 likewise has obvious
similarities to the healing miracles in the Synoptics and thus carries the same
formative theological content. But John makes the overtones of re-creation
unmistakable in his detailed recitation of the event. He sets up the reader for
this with Jesus’ declaration in 8:12, ‘I am the light of the world,’ such that the
healing of the blind man in chapter 9 becomes the proof of this assertion (note
the reiteration of the statement in 9:5). The allusion to Genesis 1 is of
paramount importance or us. Strictly speaking, the identification of Jesus with
the light does not necessitate that he is the creator. There are a number of
exegetical and theological steps which need to be traversed before that
conclusion can be drawn. . . . There is, however, an underappreciated allusion
to creation in the mud used to heal the blind man. Few modern
commentators have Jesus in the role of creator. (Adv. Haer. 5.15.2) The
chief problem is that the creation of Adam in Genesis 2 uses ‘dust’ (χους/עָפָר) rather than ‘mud’ (John
9:6: πηλος/חֹמֶר). But a look at the use of πηλος in both biblical and
extra-biblical literature shows that it would have been readily understandable
as the stuff our of which humanity was made. As far back as Aristophanes
humanity could be described as πηλος.
(Birds, 686). In the Bible, πηλος
is the ‘clay’ in the repeated assertion that God as creator is the potter, with
humanity being the clay (Isa. 29:16; 45:9; Jer. 18:6; Sir. 33:18; Rom. 9:21;
cf. Job 10:9; 33:6). The lexical analysis supports Irenaeus: John portrays
Jesus as standing firmly in the place of the creator God, fashioning from the
earth new eyes for the man born blind bringing his portion of the creation to
its intended fullness. (Sean M. McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a
New Testament Doctrine [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009], 34, 35)
