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Jesus Came So That All Might See (Part I)
From John 9:1 As he walked along, 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?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed 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 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7 saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10 But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." 12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."
Some of us have often wondered why some people have this or have that, or don't have this or don't have that. This is especially true in seeing some people who have a physical limitation, and with all that we know today, we usually seek an answer in science or genetics. The disciples did not have that sort of disposition, they had the one taught them, that someone who had a limitation of some sort was the result of sin. As they walked along with Jesus they came upon a man who was blind from birth. The appropriate question they thought to ask was, "who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" In second reading, a man born blind had not had time to sin, so the obvious answer had to be that his parents sinned. Jesus uses the question to prepare them for something that He was going to do that would reveal the workings of God in this man. It was not a matter of sin but of seeking to do the works of God who sent Jesus. Jesus considered the days when He was on earth as a timed with great light, such as a day; night, a time without Him physically here, was coming soon. Then His declaration, "I am the light of the world."
Jesus then spits on the ground and makes some mud with His saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes and tells him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man does as he was told, washed, and received his sight. Immediately his world changed from being a beggar asking people for money to a man who now had sight. Our world can change immediately when we finally put full trust in Jesus Christ, who will take us and show us what we did not see before. What's awesome is that this man received this without asking, and that sometimes happens to us as well; without knowing to ask, God blesses us with something incredible, like vision to see what was right in front of us the whole time. This man did not ask for his vision to be restored, it was not even in his thinking that such a thing was possible, but Jesus blessed him with sight. Immediately the neighbors and all who knew him as a blind person were asking, "Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg? What happened to him?" Some said, "Yes, that's him!" Others, "No, but it looks like him!" The man kept saying to all, "Yes, it's me! I am the man!" Then came the questions, "Then how were your eyes opened?" All the man knew to say is "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They then asked, "Where is this Jesus?" The man replied, "I don't know."
God still has that power to do the unexplainable and sometimes, the things not asked. God is the author of life and we still call Him the Divine Physician, working in us and our needs trying to bring us to wholeness. Sometimes, this wholeness is not easily defined by the world's standards, but one day, like this blind man, we will see what God had been seeing all along and we were not. That, my friends, is faith, and it is faith that keeps us moving forward even when others try to hold us back or hold us down. While others may laugh at the mud being spread on our eyes, just wait and then wash; you will see, for the One who is the light of the world does not want us in darkness.
PRAYER: Awesome God, if it's mud you need to spread on our eyes, then by all means do so. We want to receive that which You only can share for our need at this time. Wash us and make us whole. Give us sight to see what others cannot, so that we might invite others to come and receive that which You have shared with us. Thank You for being the light of the world! We pray in the name of He who paid the price for our wholeness, Jesus the Christ, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Prayer Update: Dear friends, thank you for your prayers for Rev. Harlene Sadler and her son, Stevo. Stevo left this life on Saturday and has left his mother and family grieving. But the promises of Jesus are on their heart. Stevo's funeral will be Wedneday. Please continue to pray that God comfort the Sadler family. Thank you for praying for one another.
