I See!

Pondering John 9:6-16.

Multiple miracles. The gift of sight. Freedom from a life of begging. A life changed forever. Jesus revealing more of His identity. But alas, people argued. People were divided.

It started when Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with His saliva, and put it on the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam.” And the man obeyed. He went to the pool, washed, and came home seeing.

Three thoughts to consider:

🔍 Jesus is unconventional and His ways can be unusual. Perhaps we should stop trying to limit Him to only what we think is possible and reasonable.

🔍 Jesus can require trust and obedience before releasing His power. Perhaps we should say “yes” more often, even when we don’t understand.

🔍 Jesus chose to combine His saliva with another source, water from the Pool, to heal. Perhaps in our culture today, God touches our broken places and then requires that we include doctors, rehab facilities, counselors, trusted friends, pastors, etc to complete His miracles. It’s ok to pray AND enlist the help of others.

For the first time, the man was able to say something he never considered a possibility. “I see.” When we trust God to do the impossible in our lives, we get to say things we could never have even imagined. The song from our mouth changes to  one of praise and adoration.

Beautiful! Everyone witnessing this spectacular miracle must surely have sung “Hallelujah.” Oh, but wait, once again Jesus healed on a Sabbath. The Sabbath is holy. Untouchable. No labor permitted. So the crowd became divided. Was He of God or not?

Those who opposed Jesus did not recognize Him as the One who actually created the Sabbath. The One who created the day of rest for mankind’s benefit. The One who knows we need time to regain strength, reflect on all that is good, and to just “be” instead of “do.”

The Pharisees rejected the evidence. They had already made up their minds. And whenever we do that, our pride takes over and refuses us the opportunity to see clearly, learn and grow. The Pharisees seemed to prefer their spiritual blindness. I sometimes wonder if those who adamantly refuse to believe Jesus is who He says He is do so because they made up their minds and don’t want to admit they are wrong. Could they actually prefer spiritual blindness over trusting Jesus?

Thoughts to ponder:

Do I try to “put Jesus in a box,” attributing His power to only the things I can understand?

Am I quick to trust and obey or do I ask too many questions? Why?

Do I pray AND ask for others’ help?