Jesus Heals Blind Man (Jn 9:1-41)
How do the blind identify people? Science says that blind
people rely extensively on their other senses for spatial
orientation, especially their hearing. They notice sounds
that are often ignored by people capable to see. They also identify
the people around them by memorizing their voiceprint. Blind people
easily identify other people around them from their voiceprint, even
if they spoke different words... The blind do not need to see the
person in order to identify him. They are even capable to decipher
speech from further distances…
If Jesus really healed a blind man and it wasn't a hoax then this "blind" man should have recognized voiceprints. But this wasn't the case: He couldn't recognize voiceprints!
(Jn 9:1) 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?"
If this beggar were really blind from birth, then he would have certainly relied on his hearing in order to identify people around him. As Jesus passed by the beggar he spoke about him to his disciples:
(Jn 9:4) … We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ 6 When he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, 7 and said to him ‘Go wash in the pool of Siloam’…
‘When he said this, he spat on the ground’ which means Jesus spoke about the beggar near him and then later spoke directly to him. This beggar knows exactly the voiceprint of the man who put clay on his eyes. If this were really a blind beggar he would have spontaneously recognized that voiceprint again few hours later. But this was not the case:
(Jn 9:35) When Jesus heard that they had thrown him, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he."…
Jesus spoke to the beggar but his voiceprint did not ring a bell at all. The beggar had no idea who was talking to him. Then Jesus had to introduce himself clearly to the beggar. And all this happened in front of the Jews:
(Jn 9:40) Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him…
In this charade, Jesus and the beggar were trying to act normal in front of the Jews. But they made a mistake. A real blind man would have immediately recognized the voiceprint of the one who gave him his sight few hours earlier. It seems that Jesus and the beggar did not know that blind people recognize voiceprints spontaneously. They miscalculated the capabilities of the people born blind and staged the wrong act. A truly blind man would have recognized the voice of Jesus immediately. Jesus would not have needed to introduce himself any further; actually Jesus would not have needed to finish his sentence. But Jesus and this sighted beggar did not know this fact about the blind when they planned this charade. The innocent bystanders did not notice this and fell for it. This beggar did not recognize the voiceprint of Jesus. He could not have been born blind.
