Jesus answered… ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 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, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. (John 9:3 passim)
Jesus sees a man who had been blind from birth. He puts a mixture of his saliva and dirt on the man’s eyes and then tells the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man’s blindness is washed away, and he sees.
When the Pharisees notice Jesus making mud, they see that He was working on the Sabbath, but they’re blind to a blind man being healed.
The Pharisees next bring the once blind man before his parents. They ask: “Is this your son, who was born blind?” Even though they see that their son can now see, their fear of being ostracized by the Pharisees blinds them to their son’s healing.
Jesus has no problem healing the man who was blind. Jesus does, though, have a difficult time healing the willful blindness of the Pharisees and the fearful blindness of the man’s parents.
Blindness comes in several forms. First, there’s actual blindness. Second, there are “blind spots,” which are things we don’t see in ourselves. Third, there’s willful and fearful blindness.
Willful blindness kept the Pharisees from seeing the miracle right before them. Do we have some willful blindness that’s preventing us from seeing some of the miracles in our life?
Fearful blindness kept the parents from celebrating their son’s healing. Do we have some fearful blindness that’s keeping us from seeing some things we need to face?
Jesus anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mixture of His saliva and dirt, and the man was healed. Jesus still walks around with that same healing mixture.
I encourage us to ask for Jesus to anoint our own eyes and heart with His healing mud. We need Jesus to heal our blind spots. We need Jesus to heal our willful and fearful blindness. We need His healing so that we can see that He is indeed the “Light of the World.”
Reflection Questions:
- Have you ever been willfully blind like the Pharisees or fearfully blind like the blind man’s parents? If so, what were the circumstances?
- How might you need Jesus’ healing mud right now in your life? What might Jesus want you to see about Him or about yourself?
- Jesus is the “light of the world.” With His light in your life, what have you seen, and what do you see?
I invite you to hear a most beautiful song: Click here: “Light of the World” by Lauren Daigle