John 9:1, 5-7 (NRSV)
Read John 9:1, 5-7 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. Verse 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Verse 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, Verse 7saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
Devotion
John cannot get enough of water stories. In the accounts of the baptism of Jesus (John 1), the wedding at Cana (John 2), John the Baptist (John 3), the Samaritan Woman (John 4), the ill man beside the pool (John 5), walking on water (John 6), proclaiming the rivers of living water (John 7) and now the man born blind, John reveals who Jesus is through stories of water.
In John 9 the blind man receives a double watermark. First, Jesus makes mud out of his own saliva. The man is then sent to wash in the pool of Siloam. The combined waters become the waters of life and healing, showing Jesus as the source of both. The blind man now sees. And we see as well.
We see the Messiah, Jesus, our healer and Lord. We experience the power of a personal encounter with Christ. We are given drink, rebirth, healing, insight, refreshment and new life. Like those who encountered Jesus in person, we are led to the waters. These encounters invite us to view our lives and the world around us in a new light—Christ's light.
Prayer
Healing Lord, in remembrance of our baptism, let our lives serve as witnesses to our new sight.
Amen.