Miracles

One of the miracles that Jesus did, was to give sight to a blind man who was born blind. The whole of chapter 9 in the book of John is dedicated to this event. 

Firstly, the question on everybody’s mind, was asked: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents?” (John 9:2), because surely there must be a root cause for this problem? But Jesus answered, “Neither this man, nor his parents sinned, this happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” (John 9:3)

Secondly, Jesus used an unorthodox way to heal the man - He spat on the ground, and made clay with his saliva, and the Bible said: “He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay” (John 9:6). On top of this, Jesus told the man to go and wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. To crown it all, the miracle was done a Sabbath.   

Thirdly, an entire drama unfolds as the neighbours ask the man how his eyes were opened, then he was brought to the Pharisees who asked the same question twice, the pharisees called his parents to confirm that he was blind and just to make sure, they asked him again, because they could not believe that a man, Jesus, a sinner in their eyes, could do such a miracle. 

And then John writes in verse 32 “Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind.” And this statement perhaps, shed some light as to why the people could not believe that such a thing could happen. 

For me, there are two timeless truths we can learn from this event:

1. When we are in an unfortunate, sometimes perhaps an extraordinary situation, sin might not be the cause, but it might just be a setup for God to work in our lives so that He can get the glory…

2. God wants to do miracles in and through our lives so that “Ever since the world began, this miracle has never been seen…” 

May we be a people of faith that expect the unexpected, dream the impossible, and live with faith-expectancy. After all, it is only faith that can please God…