John 9:6-7, Jesus Heals the Blind Man

6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Faith means passing from darkness to light. Through Jesus, the light of the world, God is at work in those who, apart from him, would be as devoid of spiritual sight as the blind beggar is of physical sight. Jesus now heals the man of blindness. Why he used dirt mixed with his saliva is unclear—he heals at other times and places with words—but perhaps he is somehow referencing the first man, Adam, who was created from the ground. Here in the power of God Jesus is recreating from the ground that which is marred by the fall, perhaps prefiguring our future resurrection.

The well for the pool was outside the city gate and pipes “sent” the water into the city, giving it its name. Siloam was a rock-cut pool on the southern ridge of the mount upon which Jerusalem was built. It was part of the water system King Hezekiah built. Having put the mud in his eyes, Jesus, the one sent by God, sends the man to wash in the pool, perhaps as an act of faith. And he returns, seeing for the first time in his life.

I was on a medical mission trip to Guatemala when a young girl, deaf from birth, received her first heating aid and heard sound for the first time. I expected her to say something or laugh, but of course she didn’t because she didn’t yet understand sound. What will the reaction of this man be to seeing for the first time?

Spend some time thanking the Lord for the senses he has given you to experience and understand his created world, going through them one at a time.