Have a blessed Memorial Day

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6  Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." 10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. 11He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." 12 "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. 

When I was a child I would play the game Blindman’s Bluff.  The way we played it was much like blind tag. The blindfolded person would try to catch others around him, as they made noises to lead him on.    

The account in the Scriptures today is of a real blindman, but the game isn't played by the one blind, but by those who claim they see. Jesus and the disciples were coming out of the temple and the disciples saw him and asked Jesus a question about sin.  Jesus eliminates the thought that sickness is related to anyone's particular sin.  (It is not uncommon for people to still ask "How come I'm sick, or have a disease?  What sin is God punishing me for?")

Jesus instead shows He can bring healing to one's life because He is the light of the world.  Here Jesus spat on the ground; made clay; placed it on the man’s eyes and sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash.  When he did so the man came back seeing for the first time in his life.   

As is often the case, the true story points to a greater story. The true story of the healing of a blind man points also to the spiritual healing that Jesus provides for us all who are spiritually blind. We are spiritually blind since birth. We can ask whose fault it is and love to point to Adam and Eve and their sin - thinking somehow, we are not responsible. But the Bible says “all have sinned and come short of God’s glory. We all have turned our own way.” (Romans 3:23)           

I heard a fictional dialogue– God created man and woman and put them in the garden. They had all they needed or ever wanted. There was only one thing about which God said don’t.
        “Don’t what?” They asked.
        “Don’t eat of this fruit?”
        “What fruit?”
       “The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
        “Where is it?”

    Of course, they took what God forbidden them to eat. “What did you do?”

        “Nothing”.
      “You took the fruit”.
       “No, I didn’t”
        “I can see it is gone, why did you take it”.
      “I donno"  " She made me do it”
      “Did not” "Did too” “Did not” "Did too”.

    So God punished them by making sure they had children of their own.            

The Disciples were asking about the specific sin of the man or his parents that caused his blindness. Jesus points to the fact that this points to His glory and in taking the mud He applies it to the eyes of the blind and tells him to wash. In obedience, he does what Jesus says and sees.         

Yes, we all have a sin problem. We are all spiritually blind to God and His ways, holiness, and purposes. Faith is trusting Jesus and obeying. Without seeing at first we believe, and in believing we are made to see by a power beyond us. It is Jesus’ power over all our sin and blindness of Spirit and then we come to see.

Dale.