Forming Faith Blog

Light, Sight, and Transfiguration (John 9)

Posted on February 3 2026 by Gregory Rawn
  • Date: February 15, 2026
  • Bible Reading: John 9:1-41 
  • The Point: Jesus draws us into relationship even through our brokenness and disbelief.
  • Unit Theme (January 25—February 15): Invitation to Abundant Life

This Transfiguration Sunday, use this opportunity to compare the story of the transfiguration and the healing story in John 9.

A close-up of a brown eye. Jesus healed a man's eyes in John 9.
Photo by Ishika Manchanda on Pexels.com
Invitation to Abundant Life

We are at the end of the season of (or after) Epiphany. These last few weeks, we have been hearing Jesus challenge Nicodemus, invite a Samaritan woman, and heal a child and a man. In all of these, Jesus offers the people something more than they could even imagine: abundant life. On this last day of Epiphany and our theme, we witness Jesus give another person what he did not expect.

Transfiguration Sunday

If your congregation follows the liturgical/church year, then this Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. As the season of Epiphany reveals Jesus to us, we now celebrate a climax when three disciples get a glimpse of Jesus as they had never seen him before. Jesus gets a literal glow-up.

The problem is that the Gospel of John (our Narrative Lectionary focus Gospel) doesn’t have a transfiguration story like the other three do. So, the developers of the Narrative Lectionary decided to assign the story of Jesus healing a man who was blind from birth instead.

It would hardly be an effective Transfiguration Sunday if people didn’t hear the transfiguration story. However, I propose that, instead of replacing John 9 with Luke 9 (or Matthew 17 or Mark 9), you tell the two stories side by side.

The Transfiguration Story

The basic story of Jesus’ transfiguration is as follows:

  1. Jesus brings Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray.
  2. Jesus starts shining like a light bulb.
  3. Moses and Elijah speak to Jesus.
  4. Peter makes an offer he doesn’t understand.
  5. God tells the disciples to listen to Jesus.
  6. The disciples go back down the mountain, not telling anyone anything.
Healing Blindness

The story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind goes something like this:

  1. Jesus’ disciples use a man’s disability to question the connection between sin and disability, but Jesus denies the connection.
  2. Jesus proclaims that he is the light of the world.
  3. Jesus heals the man with saliva, dirt, and a good washing.
  4. Instead of being happy for him, the man’s neighbors don’t believe him and bring him to the Pharisees.
  5. The Pharisees have a trial of sorts to figure out what happened.
  6. The man proclaims his faith in Jesus more and more. 
Comparing the Two

On their own, there isn’t much of a reason to connect the transfiguration story to this healing story in John. But since John 9 is assigned to Transfiguration Sunday, we have the opportunity to make the comparison. And it does make for an interesting comparison.

Where? With Whom?

Transfiguration: Jesus takes three of his disciples (Peter, James, and John) up to a mountain to pray. It’s a solitary place with no one else to witness this extraordinary event.

Healing: In contrast, the healing story takes place in the middle of Jerusalem (Jesus had just left the temple in John 8:59), likely during the Jewish festival of Sukkot. Jesus might have been with all of his disciples or just some, but they (generically) point to this man born blind and ask Jesus a question. 

Light

Transfiguration: On the mountain, Jesus’ face and clothes were temporarily transfigured (a fancy way to say “transformed”) to shine with his true nature. 

Healing: In John, he just makes a statement:

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

John 9:5

This is actually the second time Jesus claims this; the first is in John 8:12-18. Interestingly enough, in that passage, Jesus and the Pharisees discussed testimonies and testifying, much like what happens later in chapter 9.

Believe (or Don’t)

Transfiguration: The disciples are amazed when they see not only Jesus’ transfiguration but also the figures of Moses and Elijah standing with him. From what they have experienced with Jesus so far and with the testimony of their own eyes, they believe (even if they aren’t sure what they are believing yet).

Healing: After Jesus makes a statement about being the light of the world, he makes a paste out of spit and dirt, and then smears this on the man’s eyes. [I dislike just writing “the man” over and over again, so I’m going to call him Blepon, which is Greek for “one who sees.”] Blepon believes Jesus enough to follow his command to go wash, though he’d probably want to wash the mud off his face anyway. He goes from mere obedience to acceptance to enough faith in Jesus to worship him.

On the other hand, most of the other characters in this story are defined by their disbelief. Blepon’s neighbors don’t even believe it’s him. The Pharisees eventually accept that Blepon is who he says he is, and that he was blind, based on the testimony of his parents. They even seem to believe that Jesus did the healing, but they don’t believe that he is from God and doing God’s work. After all, Jesus worked (healed) on the Sabbath in clear violation of the Torah, so he was a sinner. And sinners cannot possibly do God’s work!

Listen (or Don’t)

Transfiguration: After Jesus’ transfiguration and Peter’s ignorant—though enthusiastic—offer, God’s voice spoke from a cloud, reiterating the main point of God’s statement at Jesus’ baptism while adding a command: listen to Jesus! And the disciples listen, believe, and follow Jesus.

Healing: The Pharisees listen to Blepon, but they certainly don’t believe what he says about Jesus. They hear Jesus accusing them of not being able to see (believe), and they certainly do not listen to and believe him.

Stay Silent (or Tell)

Transfiguration: After their experience on the mountain, Peter, James, and John might have wanted to tell others about what they had seen, but they stayed silent (after being ordered to by Jesus in Matthew and Mark). This story wouldn’t be told until after Jesus died and rose again.

Healing: In contrast, Blepon immediately tells his neighbors and the Pharisees what Jesus had done for him. He even argues with the Pharisees about their wrong conclusions about Jesus. While the passage doesn’t give us any more information on what Blepon did after his last encounter with Jesus, I have a hard time believing that he stopped telling others what Jesus had done for him.

Seeing Jesus

What about us? I know that I haven’t experienced anything like the transfiguration, and I don’t expect to. I also haven’t experienced or seen a dramatic miracle (sign) like a healing. But Jesus has worked in me and within people around me. In the end, the healing story is a bit more “practical” for me.

While it is difficult for me to do, all of us can do what Blepon did and tell others what Jesus has done for us. And this is something that you can challenge your faith formation participants to do. It can be a three-step process:

  • Personally reflect on what Jesus has done for them. 
  • Practice telling “safe” people about this, including people in their family, class, small group, or church.
  • Look for opportunities to share with others.

May you see Jesus around you,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

Lent is upon us! Order the Spring Quarters of our various resources and download them immediately. Our Narrative Lectionary (Year 4, 2025-2026) and Revised Common Lectionary (Years C & A, 2025-2026) resources are online, ready to order, and available for immediate download! If you don’t have much time for full-length children’s Christian education, then check out our Kids Mini Lessons for the NL and RCL. If you don’t use a lectionary, check out our non-lectionary Living the Word: Classroom (PK-2nd, 3rd-6th).

Brand new RCL faith-at-home resource!

I’m excited to announce a new product series for Spirit & Truth Publishing: Taking Faith Home. Taking Faith Home is a set of weekly devotional resources (often distributed as worship bulletin inserts) that follows the Revised Common Lectionary. Originally published by Milestones Ministry, they handed it off to us as of January 1, 2026. We offer it as a Church Year (Dec. 2025 to Nov. 2026) and a Program Year (Spring & Summer 2026 and Sept. 2026 to May 2027). You can also purchase by quarter (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall). Learn more here!

Lent, VBS, and More!

Are you looking for resources for Lent, VBS, topical Sunday school, family/intergenerational events, retreats, and more?

Learning Together is a series of five-lesson units on a variety of topics. Our faith formation resources are easy to use, theologically sound, and inclusive. Each unit can be used at any time in many different settings, but here are a few suggestions:

+ Lent: The I AM Statements of Jesus (free!), Travelers (Immigrants and Refugees), Do Justice
+ VBS: Paul’s Adventures (NEW!), Celebrations, Created to Care, God’s Gift of Water, Heroes of the Bible
+ Education/Events: Women of the Old Testament, Bible 101

Our unit Celebrations is a recommended VBS curriculum by Building Faith (and the only curriculum they reviewed from a small, independent publisher)!!! You can read outside reviews on both our Do Justice and Created to Care units!

I am very honored to announce that I was a guest on the premiere episode of season 3 of the Around the Table podcast! The topic: how faith formation is different than Christian education. Check it out at Around the Table S03E01.

Our Resources

At Spirit & Truth Publishing, we might have exactly what you are looking for:

Stay updated by liking our Facebook page, subscribing to our e-newsletter, or following this blog!

Leave a Reply