Day 10 of 49
Sixth Sign: Jesus Heals a Blind Man. John 9:1-41.
This narrative contains many facets which will be mentioned in several of the upcoming devotionals. Today I want to focus on verses 9:1-12.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”
12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
Jn 9:1–12.
Jesus passed by and saw a blind man. His disciples asked a question which revealed the belief of many first century Jews. “Who sinned?” Illness, especially extreme illness was considered a result of sin. I think it’s interesting that they would think the man could have sinned since he was blind from birth…hard to sin in the womb.
Jesus told them this blindness wasn’t because of sin but so that God’s works would be displayed in him. That man suffered blindness a long time before God’s works were displayed. He suffered the humiliation of people thinking he had sinned before he was born. His parents suffered accusation of sin, causing their son to be born blind.
Too often I have judged another unfairly.
Jesus made mud out of his saliva and put it on the man’s eyes, told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did, and once he could see, the people at the temple were amazed and wondered how it happened.
Some things to note. John is the only gospel to mention this healing.
It took place on the Sabbath. Kneading clay (making mud) fell under the thirty-nine forms of work which violated the Sabbath.
The obvious sign of Jesus as Messiah, he will open the eyes of the blind.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
Ps 146:7–8.
In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
Is 29:18–19.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
Is 35:4–6.
Comparison of blind man and lame man:
- Jesus approached both of them. He did not wait for them to seek him out.
- The blind man sat at the temple gate, the lame man lay down by an asclepion pool.
- The blindness not a result of sin, the lameness probably a result of sin.
- Both healings were on the Sabbath.
- The blind man washed in the pool of Siloam, the lame man did not wash in the pool.
- Both men went to the temple after the healing.
- The blind man knew the name of his healer, the lame man did not.
- Both did as Jesus commanded.
- The blind man proclaimed faith in Christ, we don’t know about the lame man.
The man at the temple needed Jesus just as much as the man in the asclepion. Jesus reached out to both of them because neither could change their circumstances without his intervention.
That young kid in church needs Christ just as much as the young kid who carries a gun into school. The mom who prays every morning with her children needs Christ as much as the mom who is passed out from drink. The man who serves as an elder in his church needs Christ as much as the man whose job is his god.
We do not know the background of the people around us, but we need to love them as Christ did. Whether they come to believe in Christ or not is not our story, our job is to share the love of Christ with them. Jesus reached out and showed his love, even to those who would spit in his face, betray him, nail him to the cross, and mock him on the cross.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:1–10.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 Jn 4:7–11.
Lord, thank you for reaching out to me before I knew I needed you. Show me how to love the people you created, even those who see things differently than I do. Help me to show mercy and grace to all that cross my path.
TRICIA LATHROP 