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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. John 9:1-7, NIV

Perhaps the blind man had his head bowed down. Perhaps he was looking up, awaiting alms. Perhaps.... How would you have positioned your head? 

Would he have sensed Jesus crouching down next to him. A man who didn't drop money from the distance of ability and sight. But a man who was at his level as he sat begging. 

Did Jesus explain what he was going to do? Did Jesus simply put mud on his eyes and say nothing more than, "Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam"? Did Jesus assure him with the same voice that spoke creation into being, "My Father is at work, my son. Go"? 

Why mud? There is endless speculation, from being a symbol of our broken humanity created from dust, to a sign of the curse from Genesis that Jesus was reversing, to simply doing something different each time, to honoring a Jewish medical practice. 

Why mud for this man? Jesus' healings are so varied, so distinct. Jesus and his Father knew that for this man, he needed mud on his eyes. Did the man need to be humbled? Did he need the mystery of wondering about why mud, why Jesus healed in this way? Did this man particularly need to strengthen his faith, choose to take a step of faith and wash? Was it a symbol he recognized as the curse, and felt the years of judgment and of sitting in the dust wash away? Did he need to feel clean? 

Jesus tailored his healing to this man. This same Jesus is tailoring his work to our souls, our journeys, our spots of blindness and closed eyes. 

What is our mud? The place which Jesus is tailoring, inviting us to question, wonder, humility, faith, obedience? The unique touching of Jesus in your life for this season, a sign of what he is doing? 

He will lead us to our own Pools of Siloam--whether that healing, that cleansing is spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, social; whether that pool is in this world or in the presence of our Lord himself after we have gone to him. He is purposeful in his mud and in his commands--as confusing, wondrous, faith-demanding they may be. 

All of us may not have our "eyes" healed in this world, but we will all have them open. And we will see Jesus. 

"Healing of the Blind Man," Brian Jekel