City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

John 8:58-9:12 ESV

⁵ When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ⁶ and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Genesis 2:5-7 ESV

Reflection

I find it striking that for this miracle Jesus explains that the purpose is to show us who God is.  The opening of one man’s eyes is used to open the eyes of all men.  So, it is a play on words in a miracle.  But in showing us who God is, it means that he must also show us who He is, since He is also God.  Look at the wording of John 8:58. Jesus says, “…before Abraham was, I Am.” This seems like a grammatical error, but it is not.  Jesus is pointing to the fact that in reality, that is the real of the real, He stands outside of time.  So, Jesus is able to see the creation of the world and the creation of man at the same instance that He is interacting with the Jewish leaders, and at the same instance that He sees all of the Saints judged.

In this saying, I wanted to use the word “time” instead of the word “instance,” but it would not work.  This underscores the problem we have with understanding what is going on here.  It is as if we were two-dimensional creatures interacting with a three dimensional being.  Because our language is limited to our experience, we do not have the proper tools to explain what is going on here.  But we can think of examples that point in the right direction.

Now, what of the man born blind.  This is a very important point.  Given that he was born blind, and that everyone knew of him, his healing would not be some kind of trick.  It was something that no one had ever even conceived of.  When Jesus heals this man, there seems to be a parallel to it in the creation story.  When God makes man He uses the substance of the Earth and the substance of His mouth.  So, when Jesus heals this man, He also uses the substance of the Earth and the substance of his mouth.  In Genesis, there is a mist, or a spring, that watered the ground, but in Jesus’ miracle His spittle provides the water.  And Jesus’ explanation of the miracle seems to indicate that this man’s creation was not quite complete, and that Jesus was here to complete it. 

I supposed you can think of it as that furniture kit you bought at IKEA but didn’t complete the final step.  Without that last step, the furniture could not be used correctly.  Once complete, the table can fulfill its purpose in life.  And so goes our lives in this fallen world.

Application

Can you think of a step in your life that is not quite complete?  Are there things in your life that have been left undone?  Perhaps it is that way because you have just put it off.  Or maybe there is something in your life that prevents you from moving on to complete the step.  Let this miracle encourage you, that this step can be completed, and you can be released into a new freedom of life in Christ.  Turn to God and ask Him to lead you into that next step.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I confess to You that I have not loved You with my whole heart, and that I have not loved my neighbor as myself.  Please forgive me for what I have done and for what I have left undone.  Renew me and change me into the image You have planned for me.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.