Jesus Made Mud

The gospel reading for this week is John 9:1-41. After reading it multiple times this week, I am incredibly struck by the reality of this story. Jesus tells a man, born blind, to go wash in the pool and be healed. Picking it up in verse 10,

But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

9:11 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."

Just like that. The man washed and received his sight. Can you imagine what it would be like to see life for the first time? Your own hands; the water washing over them. Suddenly you are open to the entire world. Experiencing everything new.

No one believed that he had actually been blind from birth. They called his parents in and they acknowledged the man was their son and that he had been born blind. The Jews were still in disbelief. They continued to ask the man what had happened.

9:24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner."

9:25 He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."

The only thing the formally blind man knows for sure is that he was once blind, and now he sees. After the unbelievers are driven out, Jesus approaches the man again.

9:35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

9:36 He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him."

9:37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he."

9:38 He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.

I wonder what it was like to see Jesus for the very first time; having never seen anything at all. I wonder how I would have reacted had I been one of the Jews seeing this miracle take place.

As we see Jesus in our everyday lives, I hope we would be reminded of our past blindness and the blindness that may still exist. Lord, I pray you open my eyes. For I know that once I was blind, and now I see.