The Man Born Blind.

I love people watching, and sometimes it just amazes me, how we can have similar blood types, eye colour, grey hair and our hearts beat every single day, without missing a beat!

Yet as people we can look SO different. I remember years ago I worked with a slim person who wasn’t very tall and a regular height person who was very plump, and there was a person who was very very tall! There was a great photo taken at work, with the petite person and the tall person standing next to each other, with one looking up and one looking down.

Many times, I look at people those I work with and strangers and wonder what it must be like to be in their shoes. Sometimes I think my life, would be happier if I were them, or sometimes I think I’m glad I’m not them! Would I be able to cope if I were them; some people cope well with their difficult lives and some don’t?

I once met someone who didn’t like Victoria Beckham, I said to that person, “I like her a lot, I admire her, just because she is rich, it doesn’t mean her life is easier, than ours, for she like us have everyday worries like health, aches and pains, and unlike us she has negative talked about her in the press, where most of it is untrue, different things in private will make her cry and different things I cry about too in private, from those I work with.

Jesus was walking along the road with his disciples when they noticed a man who they knew who had been blind from birth and they asked Jesus, “Was he born blind because of something he did, or was it something his parents did?” I love Jesus’ reply, “Neither, he was born blind, to show the power of God.” When I read that I thought WOW! And put the palms of my hands over my eyes to blot out any light to try and imagine what that must be like, to be in a world and not see, how can you make sense of it? To not know what you look like, or not know what the Queen look like, or their own child, Partner, or pet. How would they form a ‘picture’ in their mind? But if they have never seen in their lives, with good people around them they have to cope. But to be in a part of the world where there is poverty, it must be very hard.

Then Jesus spat on the ground and made mud and placed the mud over the blind Man’s eyes. Now personally, I wouldn’t like that, someone’s gob rubbed into my eyes, but this man just sat there and let Him do that. Maybe he’d had worst things happen to him, after all he was a beggar, maybe in his life people have spat on him, and maybe he’d walked in horse poo or worse vomit, for he wouldn’t have known what’s ahead of him. I suppose in such an arid place, where everything was bone dry, spit was handy, anyway enough spit was put onto the ground and a paste was made and Jesus put this muddy paste onto his eyes and told him, “Go and wash it off at the nearby pool,” He would have known where the pool was, as he’d lived there his whole life, so off he went, but why did he go? Surely, he’d want to stay where the Man was, so he could be given something, or maybe he thought to himself, if I do what He asks, he may give me a penny, as maybe he was giving Him pleasure for this latest sport? Well he had nothing to lose, for something like this hadn’t happened to him before, someone was taking notice of him, there were no sniggers that he could hear, nor was he in any pain with the spittle mud on his eyes. So off he went, he washed the mud off his eyes and he could see! Boy, that spity mud was worth it, I probably would have missed out though, for I am sure I would have said, “No, thanks no spit on my eyes, face or any part of me.”

The Man that had been born blind now ran to the square, and everyone could see him, some said to each other, “Is this the Man that was born blind?” Some said, “It looks like him, but it can’t be him.” He piped up, “I am he,” The people at the square said, to him, “Who healed you?” The Man replied, “The Man called Jesus, he made some mud, and smoothed it over my eyes and He told me to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash off the mud, and when I did that, I could see.” The people there, asked him, “Where is Jesus now?” The Man replied, “I don’t know.” The now crowd of people marched him off to their Holy Men, for this was done on a very holy day, a day when no work was allowed.

The Holy Men asked him. “Tell us what happened,” The Man could see this was a serious situation, no laughing matter. He told them what had happened. The Holy Men said to him, “This Jesus fellow, is not from God, he proved this by breaking the Law, for he shouldn’t be working today.” But some of the Holy Men said, “How can an ordinary man do this?” This caused a deep division between the Holy Men.

Again, the Holy Men gave him the third degree, and demanded, “This man who opened your eyes what do you think of him?” He replied. “I think He is a prophet.” The Holy Men were still not convinced and so they had his parents come to their place of Worship and said to them, “Is this your Son, was he born blind, if yes, how come he can see now.?” His parents said to the Holy Men, “He is our Son, he was born blind, how he can see or who did it, we don’t know, ask him, he is old enough to speak up for himself.” Sadly, they said this for they were fearful of the Holy Men, who had made it very clear, “Anyone recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, would be banished forever from the place of Worship,” This added shame the parents, would not be able to take, it was bad enough they had a Son who was blind and a beggar! So, his parents left, knowing they were still accepted in the community. It was more important to please the Holy Men, than to rejoice in their Son receiving his sight.

Again, the Holy Men grilled him and added, “Tell us what really happened, give God thanks, for we know Jesus isn’t from above, he is just a man like us, a sinner.” The Man replied, “I don’t know if He is a sinner or not, I just know, that I was blind and now I can see.” The Holy Men asked him, “But HOW did he make you see, WHAT did he do?” The Man replied, “Why do you keep asking me the same thing over and over again, do you want to be His disciple too?” If they had been drinking their tea, they would have spat it out! The Holy Men, then used choice words, their true colours were now showing, for some of the Holy Men cursed him! The Holy Men said to him, “We know God spoke to Moses, but as for this Jesus, we don’t know anything about him.” The Man said to them, “Isn’t that strange, for He healed my eyes, and yet you know nothing about Him, never before in history has a Man been able to give another Man his sight by healing him, if Jesus was not from above, He wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Disgusted at his words, the Holy Men said to him, “You are an uneducated nobody, how dare you try to teach us!” They threw him out of the place of Worship.

Jesus heard what had happened to the Man, (a day that should have been joyous) and went and found him, Jesus said to the Man, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The Man replied, “Who is He sir, for I would like to,” Jesus said, to him, you can see Him, it is Me, speaking to you,” What a privilege, for the Man who was born blind and was a beggar, he replied, “Lord, I believe,” And he worshiped Jesus.

Jesus then said to the Holy Men who were looking on, “I have come to give sight to the blind, and to those who think they can see, that they are the ones who are spiritually blind. The Holy Men didn’t like that, that Jesus, was able to speak with such authority as to say they, the Holy Men are the blind ones in the story.