Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
John 9:1-3
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
In John 9, Jesus and His disciples are in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles when on the steps outside the Temple they encounter a man who had been blind from birth. Then in a most perplexing display, Jesus spits on the ground, makes some mud, puts the mud on the man’s eyes, and says, “go, wash in the Pool of Siloam.” He obeyed, and he came back seeing for the first time in his life. This sounds like a head scratching way for Jesus to heal someone, but when you dig into the context a little further this account bursts with meaning. First, why spit on the ground and make mud? Jesus is proving here that he can create “Ex Nihilo”, which means “out of nothing”. Just as he took dust from the ground and formed the first man Adam, here he takes mud from the ground and creates something this man never had before, sight. This makes the miracle a messiance miracle, something only the true Messiah could have done. Second, when you study the layout of Jerusalem at that time you find that the Pool of Siloam was half a mile from the Temple Mount and down a very steep grade. Jesus was calling the man to real faith, to put his faith into action, by calling him to make a treacherous half-mile hike down a mountain. To take even that first step was an incredible confession that he believed he would be healed by the power of Jesus if he obeyed. On top of all that, as I stated earlier, this is during the Feast of Tabernacles. Jerusalem would have been filled with people celebrating the feast, so there was most likely a large crowd around the Temple and the path leading down to the pool. So, not only was this a step of faith, this man also became a walking billboard proclaiming Jesus as the one and only Messiah! I can just imagine him stumbling down the path, people having to pick him up off the ground and help him along, and the crowd asking all kinds of questions about the incident. Then in a most amazing display that same crowd saw him run back up that hill crying, “I can see! I can see!” The moral of the story is that we have no idea why we face some of the difficult circumstances in life that we face………but God does! These hardships are simply opportunities for His glory to be displayed in and through us. All Christ asks of us is to put our faith into action by obeying Him. If you’re facing an incredible trial today just know that God wants to put your life on display for others to see His transformative power. The process may seem a little perplexing, but if you’ll just obey He will turn your trial into triumph and stand you up as a billboard of grace.