John 9:1-12 New International Version
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
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 works of God might be displayed in him. 4 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 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 asked.
11 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.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
They Come Across A Man Born Blind
The disciples see a man who was born blind, and they assume that his blindness is someone’s fault.
This was a common way of thinking about suffering in those days. Sickness and disability were often believed to be a result of sin somewhere in the family line.
If we think about it, we can see how people could fall into that kind of thinking.
It has happened in many cultures.
If a person has a disability or a terrible disease, if they are mentally challenged or if they are down and out in some kind of hardship too, it can be convenient to point fingers, blame them or their family or even their friends or community.
It calms our fears if we can state a reason or a cause for something we don’t understand—or don’t want to, or gives us a sense of “I am glad I am not like that” or gives us the sense that we are better than others, we are the strongest.
In this story Jesus complicates things even more by implying that God allowed the man to be born blind so that through his healing by Jesus, could help people see the miraculous works of God being done, that God is indeed in their midst.
This is a very hard teaching to understand—there is no getting around that.
Human suffering is a lot more complicated than we would like to believe.
Sin has broken this world in ways that goes way far beyond our understanding.
But at the same time, this story offers comfort because we see that God can and will work to bring good out of challenges and suffering. God works for our good in all things (Romans 8:28)—and he has redeemed us in Christ (Isaiah 43:1-7).
When the works of God shine through all manner of conceivable adversity, he shows in a unique way that he is good and merciful and loves us without limit.
A Prayer to Help Us Understand How Jesus Heals Us
God’s ways and thoughts are not the same as ours (Isaiah 55:8-13).
We can can expend every available ounce of energy and money to try and ‘work’ life out all the time and we’ll run the danger of missing what’s really important.
Healing is a case example.
Prayer for the miraculous can be boxed in, and we may have an agenda for it.
Line up this way, kneel that way, read these words, worship with these tunes, come forward for prayer IF you have true faith, and hold your hands out, etc.
It almost sounds like a pharmacy prescription!
And if nothing supernatural happens, some believers think God has not lifted a finger or a thought to relieve that person’s ordeal. They may refuse medicines in their own lives, too, seeing hordes of tablets, pills, and injections as worldly.
Yet our passage in John 9:1-12 seriously challenges this view.
Let’s take some time here to contemplate what happened.
Jesus rubbed clay into a man’s eyes to heal him!
Why?
What an unusual thing to do.
Other blind men in the Bible were healed by the Lord instantly, without mud on the eyeballs (Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-42).
Jesus said this particular healing would bring glory to God by the works of the Holy Spirit in this man.
That was destiny.
But why did he use mud?
What was Jesus saying by doing this?
He always did things for a reason.
Is there an underlying message here?
I believe there is.
The same Lord God who formed the first man “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) used dust, dirt, of the ground to bring life to this blind man’s eyes.
Jesus is reminding us that he is the Creator.
The image of the invisible God with the authority to create and recreate.
He is the master sculptor who uses ordinary things like mud to regenerate.
And, of course, if Christ used clay to heal – how can that be interpreted by the world of modern-day medicine?
If ethically developed, it means that medical treatment is approved by God for our welfare here and now.
Antibiotics, cancer drugs, insulin – all these things are like clay used by God to bring healing to our temporary earthly bodies.
Medicine is essentially the stewardship of the fruits of all God’s creation from the earth reshaped for healing purposes.
That is why we can expend ceaseless amounts of our praise the Lord for non-supernatural, ordinary medicine, as well as miraculous healings from prayer.
So, if your doctor is suggesting a certain medicine today – respect his or her wisdom! Praise the Lord for using clay, the fruits of His creation to bring you healing! And if or as you are healed through prayer – praise Him for that too!
Lastly, whatever your health struggles, never forget the bird song.
Jesus once said (Matthew 10:29) that “not one [sparrow] will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” Trust Him.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Proverbs 3:5-8 New American Standard Bible 1995
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body
And refreshment to your bones.
Father God – dearest Creator,
Healing can seem like a subject too big for my understanding. Thank you for the truth that you look after us here and now through prayers and miraculous healings and via ordinary medicine. I marvel at the fact this body I wear cannot be compared to my future state when you return. 2 Corinthians 5:1 compares it to moving from a tent to a house! What a thought. Your grace is sufficient for me with any thorns in my flesh, here and now. I trust you for your goodness to me. Thank you for your ever-present lovingkindness. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 
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