In many of our cities today, we are presented with a statue depicting justice. It is a woman who is blindfolded and armed. Blindfolded and armed portrayals of justice are far from what Jesus offered as one who came into the world ‘for judgement’ (cf John 5:22, 27). Jesus’ judgment took the form of healing, not condemnation, and the ability to see was essential for Jesus’ judgment.
So, why would Jesus want to make some one blind, as he says in John 9:39?
Here is a story that might illustrate what Jesus did. There was a village, where the people of that village would not organize themselves to protect the spout of their water pump from contamination. The people were moved to action, only after the village priest enticed the children to enthusiastically ‘annoint’ the pump with mud. On seeing the work of the children, it became obvious to the villagers that the pump needed to be protected some how to stop it from getting dirty. The ‘naughty’ children had opened the eyes of the whole village.
Jesus put clay on the eyes of a man, drawing attention to his blindness even at the conclusion of their encounter (v 6). The man would later testify before those who would judge him, with the words, ‘I was blind. Now I see’ (v 25). The witnesses of both of his conditions were abundant.
In our reading of the Scriptures, we can hear Jesus, but are we blind?
Has anyone anointed our eyes with clay?
In this anointing, are we ourselves convinced of our blindness?
Can everyone around us see that our vision is impaired?
Have we been so uncomfortable and exposed that we are desperate for some one to tell us where we can wash?
In our blindness, would we have our eyes anointed with clay by some one who does not abide by the rules we ourselves follow? Perhaps they can describe our blindness better than we can.
Could we be guided to healing by this person?
When the works of God are revealed in our healing, how do we present them in our testimony before the judges of purity and righteousness?
Perhaps Jesus would make us blind so that we might bear witness to the works of God in the lives of all people.
Written by Greg Manning
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