Jesus’ heart melts me. His kindness. His willingness. His sacrificial love to go the greatest lengths necessary for us when we’re in jeopardy.

He sees our mess and He dives in with us. There is no mess He won’t jump into.

In the John chapter 9, Jesus is walking along with His disciples and notices a man who can’t see.

“As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.” John 9:1

Jesus always notices where there is a need. Jesus tells his disciples that this man was not born blind because of anything He had done wrong. But He will do something so that “the works of God might be displayed in him.” (verse 3)

When your condition seems messy or broken, it does not mean you did something wrong. Our world is broken and misfortune finds us at times. And Jesus is working.

Calamity only increases Jesus’ ability to come close and display His works in our life.

“We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

When we possess Jesus’ light within us, we also possess power to heal and make a difference in this brokenness we see around us. Jesus acts as a teacher and mentor to His disciples in everything He does. Thus, He utilizes this as another lesson to show them the time to do something for others is always “now.”

Jesus is continually on alert for how He can restore broken situations. He does that for this man as he proceeds to heal him.

What’s different yet wonderfully moving about this story is how Jesus heals the man.

Jesus bends down.

Grabs a handful of mud from the ground.

And wipes it on the man’s eyes.

“Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud.” John 9:6

I can see Jesus wiping the mud on His own garment after he touched the man.

How it would have dirtied Him and left Him stained until He was able to change…But Jesus was not concerned with His own cleanliness… He is concerned with ours. He loves us so much that he will get dirty so that we can be cleansed instead.

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).” John 9:7

When I read this passage, I wonder… how did the man know how to get to the pool of Siloam if he was blind? Why Jesus are you asking a blind man to navigate his own self to the place of healing?

When I asked this, God said… he knew the way.

I got goosebumps.

He knew the way. Wow wow wow…

Not only did he know the way to the pool… but he knew the way to salvation was Jesus.

As I think about it, the man knew the way to the pool… because he was used to being blind and he familiarized himself with his surrounding environment enough to know the way to everything around him. It reveals he had resolved to do the best he could being blind and had made peace with that. This is why he never asks Jesus to heal him. Jesus had to initiate. Jesus had to come to him. Sometimes we settle into our dysfunction when we have had no opportunity for healing.

Secondly, the man knew the way to salvation… Jesus. This is so good… Something within him just knew that Jesus was truly able to heal him and he believed that if he listened it would work. That’s why he obeyed the way He did. That’s why he trusted like he did. His soul knew the way: Jesus. Jesus is the way. The way to healing, salvation, life, rescue, everything…

This blind man is showing us what perfect vision looks like.

What pure trust looks like.

What yielded obedience looks like.

What contentment looks like.

What fullness of life looks like.

What goodness looks like.

He trusted Jesus so much…

He was willing…

Even to the point where he let Jesus put mud on His face.

If I was in his position, I would asking jesus why mud? Let’s pause Jesus and think about this… I don’t know if I want my eyes covered in mud right now. I’m already blind as it is. I don’t need anymore humiliation. But he acquiesces. He lets Jesus touch him with mud.

dirt mixed with wine

dripping from the mouth of God

holy ointment

in the hands

of the love who opened my eyes

Jeuss often uses mud-like methods when he comes close to heal us…

It probably won’t be physical mud, but it will be something that makes you feel stunned, maybe uneasy, confused, blind, uncertain, shaken… so often healing comes through methods of discomfort. But when we know Jesus is the healer, we know any method He uses can be trusted.

The mud only amplifies the healing mechanism here… that it’s not about the mud. It’s about Jesus’ hands. Jesus can use anything to heal. Nothing is too dirty for him to use.

Anything Jesus touches becomes a healing agent.

Anything Jesus touches turns to goodness.

And he comes back from the pool of Siloam seeing.

It turns out this man wasn’t blind after all… Yes his eyes were physically shut and darkness clouded the vision in front of him but make no mistake… this man was not blind.

His heart had 2020 vision.

His soul had perfect sight.

my eyes cant see You

yet I feel You

here

like honey on my lips

like sunlight dazzles in the mist

I felt by the pools

where You sent me to meet

the day

please come again

and stay

until You do I’ll see You

with

my heart

in every way

This blind man knew Jesus when He encountered him and He did not need to see Jesus to know who He was.

When asked how he was healed by the townspeople who could see but still would not believe, the man said…

“He 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.”

John 9:11

Jesus chose mud of all things to make him clean. And he will take the messes we are in and transform them into beautiful testimonies of restoration if we let Him do his work even when we cannot see what He is doing. As we let Jesus touch our messy places we will find the healing we need.

Right now as the world rests in crisis, but God is doing something.

Right now the world is in self preservation mode. But our Jesus… the one who moves with relentless love… He is in saving mode… because you are His. As we wash our hands, Jesus is willingly touching these unhealed places… these dirty places… He subjects Himself to contamination so that we can we can be whole.

When the mess is ever apparent, Jesus’ hands are getting dirty to create a healing agent for us.

His sacrifice makes us clean.

His words make us clean.

His love makes us clean.

He will always be the God who dives into our mess to make us clean.

Thank you to the ones who are showing the love of Jesus with how they are subjecting themselves to sickness for the rest of us… doctors, nurses, policemen, hourly workers, etc. Thank you for how you keep the world running. Thank you for taking care of us. You show us what it looks like to love like our God… sacrificing your well being so that others can be well. Blessings over you all.

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” – Jesus

John 15:3

Questions for Today:

1. What does Jesus use to heal the blind man?
2. What can we learn from this man’s response to Jesus?
3. How does Jesus show up in messy situations?
4. What do I see Jesus doing in the middle of my messy and broken situations?
5. How does Jesus express selfless love?
6. How do you see Jesus’ love at work right now in the world amidst the coronavirus?