A Wonderful Thing

A Wonderful Thing
Words of Faith 11-16-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 9
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.

The healing of the man born blind is striking in its directness, mercy, and simplicity. After talking with the disciples a bit about why this man was blind, Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He then put it on the man’s eyes.
This must have seemed strange even in the ancient world. Spittle was sometimes used for healing in pagan circles but it was still more widely considered vulgar and gross. Its application would have made the man uncomfortable if he knew what it was and he probably did!
Some have suggested that the use of mud or clay indicates that the healing was a creative act (Genesis 2:7) rather than reparative. Jesus may have actually created out of dust whatever biological mechanism was missing. The application of the mud may also have simply been a way to focus the man on following through with washing.
Interestingly, Jesus did not even tell the man he would be healed. The man must have heard the conversation regarding the cause of his blindness. In his world of darkness, the man had likely heard this debate a thousand times as religious people walked by. “Did this man sin or did his parents sin?” But for the first time ever he heard the tone of mercy rather than judgment. He heard the voice of Jesus say that there was a reason for his suffering and that this was so that the work of God might be seen.
There is no indication that the man born blind had any idea who Jesus was much less that he had faith in Jesus. But he heard the voice of Jesus, he was obedient. He was obedient to the directive given by Jesus to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.
It would have been no easy task for the man to find his way to the southern end of the city and wash there. The trip to the pool itself would have been something of a venture in faith. Exactly what the man expected upon washing we do not know, but a wonderful thing happened there.
A miracle happened that day in Jerusalem. The man washed his eyes in the pool and came home seeing. Most of the rest of this chapter is spent with the reaction of parents, neighbors, and religious people. Most striking is that the man receiving the miracle still had no clue of who Jesus was.
The miracle was not in response to the man’s request. The miracle did not come as a result of “faith” as we think of it. There was no particular sin to be forgiven. There was no formula to follow. The miracle happened simply because… God wanted it to. It was purely an act of mercy intended to reveal the work of God.
We often get very involved in trying to understand the work of God rather just receiving and enjoying it. We tend to look for patterns that we can turn into rituals. We think that if we repeat the patterns then we can reproduce the work of God or make it appear at our request.
Sometimes we fail to see that the work of God is exactly that, the work of God. He chooses when, and where, He will heal. He chooses for what purpose He will heal. He chooses the manner of healing. He chooses what sort of faith will be “required”. Why? Because He is God. It is His job to be God. He is much better at His job than we are.
Scripture calls us to stand in awe and wonder of the Lord. We give thanks for His mighty works of compassion and mercy. We lift our prayers for the hurting. We offer our hands and hearts for His use. But most of all we trust that He is God and that He knows exactly what He is doing.

You are Lord. You have everything under control today. Show me what You want me do to. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.