As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:1-7

Typically I am not a huge fan of unsanitary conditions. This can at times be a problem when traveling into rural, undeveloped areas, or even just into the protected wilderness of a National park. In these types of places I tend to want to be prepared with clean, purified water, antiseptic ointment, sterile Band-Aids, and a hospital on speed dial. The healing accomplished by Jesus seems at times to be a bit counter-intuitive to what we might expect. Illness in the culture of religious culture of the Jews was often considered to be a result of sin, and so there was a natural inclination to assign blame. In this case, was the man responsible or were his parents responsible for the sin resulting in blindness? Jesus simply answers neither and presents an alternative reason for this man’s blindness. The blindness of this particular man is an opportunity to see the works of God displayed, for Jesus intends in healing this man to display the good work of God in restoring broken humanity. To accomplish this He is going to apply mud to the man’s eyes and send him to the pool of Siloam to wash. What is fascinating to me is that the way to restored, clear sight comes initially through the application of mud. Mud is primarily just wet dirt. Smeared over a lens it would tend to scratch and mar the surface. Rather than enhancing vision, mud would seem to do just the opposite. Yet, in the hands of Jesus, mud and saliva become part of His work of restoration.

I find that often the ways and means of Jesus used to bring about my transformation are beyond my comprehension. I have distilled restoration down into neat formulas and principles that to me retain a certain logic. But, in spite of my desire to apply a tried and true principle or formula, Jesus chooses to apply something that is unfamiliar and often disconcerting to my brokenness. This process is one that goes against traditional wisdom. At times it seems to add more to obscure vision before there is a breakthrough of light. All through John’s Gospel the theme of belief is emphasized. Faith is crucial to the saving relationship offered by Jesus to humanity. Faith, in this story, is crucial to seeing. Yet faith in Jesus is not always easy, for to place faith in Jesus may mean I must suspend what I think I know about the way life works and receive Him as the way that makes life work. Jesus was not asking the blind man to trust mud and saliva, but to trust the one doing the work of the Father. I am not called to trust in the ways and means God chooses to use, but to trust the One who stands all-powerfully behind the ways and means. I am, like the man born blind, called to receive what Jesus administers and further follow His word of direction. The journey of faith at times may take me through an obscuring darkness before I emerge into the light. In those places of greater darkness my task is to continue to trust that Jesus is at work to restore and transform me in, and through, the mud applied to my eyes. The question first of all is, when the darkness seems to increase, is my faith increasing proportionately? Secondly, what of my own understanding of how life works is preventing me from receiving the way life works in and through Jesus? As you move through this day I want to encourage you to receive from Jesus the ways and means He chooses to further transform you. Let your faith in Jesus grow in the places of greater darkness, remembering that he is the light of the world. His desire is that you would not only see, but, see Him in all His glory.