Jesus Sees

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).

 

Born blind, he spent his days sitting beside the road, hoping for charity from those who passed by.

He knew those who passed by, even the charitable ones, saw him as a sinner deserving of his affliction. Those who called themselves righteous in his day believed a person’s physical ailments were a result of the sins they or their parents committed. They didn’t question what his sin might have been. His blindness was the proof that God was punishing him.

It must have been hard for him to beg for his existence from those who unfairly judged him.

Day after day, he sat in the dust kicked up by the feet of the passing travelers and their livestock, dressed in worn and shabby clothes, gaunt from hunger, alone with his thoughts.

Have you been there? Maybe not left to beg on the side of a road, but condemned just the same? Abandoned to sit in the dust and filth, starved for a word of truth or hope, dressed in the rags of your shame while the righteous pass by and pass judgment?

And asking yourself what you did to deserve this?

Sometimes we know the choices we’ve made that led us to this place. The guilt hangs around us like a noose, slowly choking us.

But maybe the sin was started with something that was done to us when we had no way to stop it. It distorted our view of ourselves and made us learn to survive any way possible. We’ve been given a label and expectations have been set. It feels like there’s no escaping the injustice.

In many ways, we’re like the blind man. Whether by sin we chose or by sin cast upon us through circumstances beyond our control, we’ve been blinded to the presence of the only One who can restore and redeem us–Jesus.

Until one day we find ourselves choking on the dust of defeat, wearing our rags of unworthiness, and starving for something that will save us while those who should be bringing us hope offer nothing but condemnation.

Although we may suffer painful and permanent consequences for our sin, these things are not a punishment from God. Jesus’ words and actions in the passage above dispel that notion and give us cause for hope.

The blind man sat in the dirt, begging for charity from people he couldn’t see—and who didn’t want to see him.

He certainly didn’t see Jesus coming.

But Jesus saw him.

And Jesus sees you. He sees you in your despair, frustration, doubt and disbelief. He sees you in your darkest moments. He sees you even when you don’t see Him.

Jesus had compassion on the blind man. He placed mud on the man’s eyes then told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. Jesus could have completed the act of healing right there with nothing more required. Was Jesus testing the man to see if he had faith? Or was He revealing a bigger truth through His request?

Something made the man allow this stranger to put mud in his eyes. He was desperate for a healing.

Did the man close his eyes before Jesus applied the mud? Either way, it would have been painful. How far was is it to the Pool of Siloam? It was certainly more than a few steps away. A long journey for a blind man with mud in his eyes.

John 9 tell us Siloam means “sent.”

In Luke 4:18 Jesus states, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…”

In effect, Jesus told this man to go and wash in the One who was sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovering sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free.

Is that you, friend?

Perhaps it’s hard to believe God created you for His glory because you, like this blind man, have heard the whispered, sometimes shouted, accusations of others. The disciples even went so far as to ask Jesus who sinned, this man or his parents, within hearing distance of the man.

While the disciples tried to decide who to blame, Jesus focused on healing.

“…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Jesus removed the label of shame and turned it into a canvas for God’s glory.

He wasn’t looking at the past. He was focused on what the future could be–a place where the works of God might be displayed. 

No matter how far we’ve fallen or how dark our world, Jesus is always there, asking if we’re willing to let go of our past and wash in the One who was sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovering sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free.