Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam." John 9:6-7 (NIV)
And so Jesus came upon a man who'd been blind since birth. The man was begging on the streets of Jerusalem. Then, this stranger knelt next to him and, perhaps, said quietly, "If you do exactly what I tell you to do, you'll be able to see. I will heal you."
The blind man was desperate to be healed; he was desperate for change; he was desperate for a sign from God, desperate to know his life counted for something.
The blind beggar may have turned toward the voice, expecting the one speaking to command his eyes to open, expecting this man to speak light where there had only been darkness for a lifetime.
Just speak, Lord, so it will be done.
But Jesus didn't give such a command. Instead, he was working his saliva into the dirt, creating mud to spread across the man's eyes like a mask.
And only then did Jesus give a command. An unexpected one that required the blind man to get up and walk in faith.
"Go," Jesus told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam."
Jesus is never subject to our expectations of him, but we are subject to his expectations of us.
Our faith begins with a real and tangible step of obedience. In other words, being a disciple of Jesus doesn't mean simply agreeing with him or even heading in the same general direction as Jesus. We're called to sever the ties to our current lives so we can follow after Jesus into our new lives -- our real lives (Colossians 3:3) - toward our destiny and purpose.
“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” John 9:7–8 (NIV)
"Jesus uses your desperation to push you toward your purpose."
Then Jesus said, “Go . . . wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:7 NIV).
At first, the blind man may have hesitated, confused about how going to Siloam would give him sight. He may have been wondering, “Why would Jesus make me do this when he could have simply healed me back there?”
But his desperation pushed him toward the Pool of Siloam, just as Jesus uses your desperation to push you toward your purpose.
The blind man may have heard the laughter and ridicule as people watched him stumble toward the pool: “Look at that fool with the mud on his face.” “Even we can’t see with mud in our eyes!” “Are you crazy enough to think you’ll really be healed?”
But the blind man could not be shamed from doing whatever it took to be healed. Jesus told him what to do, and if that meant washing his face in the Pool of Siloam, then that’s what he’d do, no matter what anyone else said.
Siloam means “sent”—Jesus sent and the man went, and once he’d washed his face, the man could see!
Faith means doing exactly what Jesus says to do. When Jesus finished rubbing mud into the blind man’s eyes, he didn’t say, “Now quickly wipe away the mud.” He didn’t say, “Go to the nearest well for water and then wash your face.” He said. “Go to Siloam.”
When Jesus tells us what to do, we need to pay close attention to the details. Otherwise, we may act according to our assumptions -- according to what the Jesus we imagine in our minds might tell us to do. You want to follow the real Jesus, who not only knows what he is doing, but also has your best interest at heart.
