John 9v6-7
Operation.
Jesus moves swiftly into action in v6-7.
He turns from the philosophy of a blind world to meet the need of a
blind man and immediately goes into action.
“When he had thus spoken,
He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and He anointed the eyes of
the blind man with the clay and said unto him Go wash in the pool of Siloam- which
is by interpretation “Sent”. He went his
way therefore and washed and came seeing.”
We take time to
grasp the meaning of the wonder of what is here. Each and every step is full of spiritual truth:
only the Lord can open the eyes of the blind-Psalm146v8. The medicinal use of spittle was well known
in the ancient world. Jesus didn't need
to use it, but the man needed to know that his condition was being treated. He would feel the action of the softened clay
on his eyelids-every sinner needs to realise his need and to know that the Lord
is acting upon him.
The use of the dust
of the ground is a reminder that man was formed from the dust in an act of
creation-Genesis 2v7. This man has never opened his eyes and so what is
happening here is an act of creation.
The application of
the clay to the eyes was to target the specific needs of the man. Jesus uses
different means to cure people as He knows the individual need, as He does with
all of us.
The healing was not
complete until the man heeded by faith the word of the Great Physician. “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”-there was
nothing magical in the water, it was obedience to the word of the Physician
that was key. “Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God”-Romans10v17.
However, there was
significance in the location, for there was a constant flow of water from the
spring Gihon which was the primary supply of water to the city of Jerusalem. Due to the incessant attacks by Sennacherib
King of Assyria against Jerusalem, and the fear that they could cut off the
water supply, under king Hezekiah a remarkable feat of engineering was
accomplished where a conduit was cut under the rocks to divert the flow of the Gihon. Thus fresh water supply was assured to the
city, free from the threat of the invaders.
This spring fed into the pool of Siloam-the details are found in 2nd
Chronicles 32v2-8, and v30; also 2nd Kings 20v20, and it is referred
to in Isaiah 22v9-11. The waters of
Shiloah are mentioned in Nehemiah 3:15 and Isaiah 8v6. According to legend, there was a steady flow
of water from the spring which trickled softly, gently, and continually through
the rocks for a distance of over 2000 feet. This speaks of the source of the fountain
of constant supply of refreshing sustenance of God’s provision. During the feast of Tabernacles, the water was
taken every day from the pool of Siloam.
The meaning of
Siloam is stated as “Sent”. This is significant. Because it was God who sent
the streams of water to the pool, underground, in a never ending supply. It was also His Son whom He sent for
the preservation and provision of His people. This is a major topic in Johns Gospel. We must, at this point underline the mission
of Christ into this world to do the works of God: the Greek word is apostello
and refers to one sent on a specific mission. This is applied to the mission of Christ to
the world, which is found in 3v17, 3v34, 5v36, 5v38, 6v57, 7v29, 8v42, 10v36,
11v42, 17v3, 17v18, 17v21, 17v25, 20v21.
Each case is
different as is indicated of this as follows: Mark 8v22-26, Jesus spat on the
eyes of the blind, then touched them-the
healing was gradual; Mark 10v 48-52, He healed blind Bartimaeus by speaking
only; Matthew 20v29-34, there were two blind men, and He simply touched their
eyes; Luke 18v35-43, He spoke and the healing was immediate; Matthew 12v22-23, two
men both blind and dumb, and He healed both of their conditions. Not all the
same way, not all at the same pace. But every one of them was cured. Here in
John 9 He used the spittle, the clay, and the washing in the pool. We are all different, but He will meet each
individual need.
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