Wednesday 19th June
Read John 9:4-7
“As long as it is day, we must do the works 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 After saying this, he spat 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.” (NIVUK)
Light and water brought together once more, just as Jesus announced at the Feast of Tabernacles. The blind man is granted sight after washing in the Siloam waters that mark the high point of the Tabernacles Feast. In this way the life that Jesus offers to all is physically and miraculously revealed in the restoration of this man born blind.
The way in which this miracle was performed has drawn much comment through history. If Jesus is the Son of God surely He can restore the sight of this blind man with a mere word? He has healed at great distances previously in just this way. Why then does He spit on the ground, make a mud pie and place it on the man’s eyes? Why the theatre?
The simplest explanation, noted by the early church fathers frequently, is the parallel with creation. In Genesis 2 God mixed the upwelling (spring-fed) waters of life with the dust of the ground to form humanity (cf Genesis 2:5-7). Jesus signifies in the way this miracle is performed that He truly is the One who brings life. Creative, powerful, light-giving life. A small, eye-shaped, mud-salve brings sight to the blind. The pool of Siloam, fed by the upwelling, permanent, Gihon spring powerfully pictures this truth. The Creator Himself, in the works of His Son, is present – the day has dawned.
