Why Jesus Made the Blind Man Grope

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You grope your way to the light. That’s Kingdom principle. It may seem difficult but you get Jesus’ special touch. That’s worth more than all the general blessings God gives to both the good and evil worldwide combined.  But it’s no ordinary touch, mind you. It's a touch that will make you kinda different.

Jesus was in the vicinity of the Mount of Olives when he passed by a blind man. He said this man was blind from birth because his disability was reserved for God’s glory. It had been planned. It had a special design. Now, that makes us grope in the dark, doesn’t it? Being blind from birth was for God’s glory? Can you imagine how it is to be unseeing that long, from birth to being a man, seeing nothing every day for years and decades but total black?

It’s easily read than fully comprehended. Often we just read past passages like this and take them for granted. We never stop to empathize. Often, the Holy Spirit teaches you and reveals a lot through empathy—if you have the time to stop and reflect and experience the Word. Put yourself in the situation. Wear the shoes of the people involved. Be there where it’s happening and be part. See, feel and partake. That’s the spoken Word. It’s live, in real time. The present move of God.

I can’t even manage closing my eyes all day. After about 15 or 30 minutes I will need to open my eyes to see. This man wasn’t able to do that for decades. Imagine all the things he missed—and suffered. And all that was for displaying God’s work in his life.

To be used by God, you need to be blinded. It happened to Saul of Tarsus. God blinded him before using him. Servants must become blind before they can see and lead the blind out of blindness. Another way of looking at Isaiah 42.19-20 is see it reversely and get an important Kingdom principle. Seen positively, it tells how no one can be blinder than God’s servants because they pay no attention to what they see or hear in the world.

It’s better to be blind and then see than claim to see but actually be blind. And seeing in the spirit is really predicated on admitting your blindness. How can one pretending to see still see? There’s nothing else next to that except getting a blurred sight and then going blind. So it’s better to admit you’re blind because the next thing you can expect is see.

And in a sense, we’re all blind. You don’t get to see everything each step you make. Faith means stepping out into the unknown, though you have some idea what it is. Abraham went out of Ur not knowing where he was heading, but he knew it was something good because God was behind it all. The same with Moses. He didn’t know where the promise land was exactly but he knew it was going to be great.

You know its end will be good but for the time being, everything looks ugly and uncertain. And it seems all will redound to your busted image of being a failure. You grope first before you see the light.

So this blind man believed Jesus. And it was something radical, something only a deep, extreme down-to-earth follower (or fan) would do. He didn’t just believe—he let Jesus put mud made of dirt and saliva on his eyes. It was disgusting grime, to say the least. Think of all the germs. I mean, that was plain stupid even if you were totally and crazily sold-out for Jesus—indeed, something only a blind man would do.

Would you allow me to put grime on your eyes, made of filth and my saliva? I mean my saliva?

What’s more amazing was that this blind man didn’t know who Jesus was and yet he allowed Jesus to do it to him. He didn’t even know if Jesus had brushed his teeth that day. When asked what happened, here’s what he said (and this made me laugh):

“The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said. [John 9]

All he knew was that “the man called Jesus” did it to him. He made “some mud” 😄. He knew exactly what that “some mud” was all about. He may be blind but I’m sure he heard Jesus spit on the ground (Scripture says Jesus spit on the ground). He knew exactly what Jesus put on his eyes and he willingly took it. He just let Jesus do it to him. I can even image him grinning while Jesus was doing this—and probably Jesus was grinning, too. I’m sure the disciples saw all this and I wonder what went on in their minds. Did they grin, too? I would have.

I’ve always wondered why Jesus had to do this. Did he have to do it? Why not simply touch the eyes and declare healing? Why the mess? Yup, I said a while ago here that this was something stupid. Religious folks would raise eyebrows and say I’m being heretical. And what would they call it? Sound doctrine? Propriety? Then let me spit on them and see what they’d say.

Here’s the truth—God often chooses the “stupid” things in this world, the despised things, to nullify the things that the world considers decent, acceptable and proper. And he still does it today, so watch out. The Pharisaical spirit would be offended by this but those who know Jesus personally and radically would enjoy it all. They’d even laugh. Paul said it as plainly—God chooses the foolish or stupid things to shame the wise.

That’s why I don’t like being wise. I just want to laugh.

Some smart Alecks would probably say the chemical composition of Jesus’ saliva was different from ours because Jesus is Lord. His saliva had “healing essence” or “curative extracts” in it. But Jesus came as an ordinary human being. He didn’t consider his being equal with God a thing to be grasped or insisted on. Instead, he emptied himself. In other words, he forfeited himself of God-powers for a while. He did everything by faith as a man—to show us what we, mere human beings, can also do with our faith. That made his saliva just like our saliva, and just as dirty and slimy. Nothing special.

“Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. And greater works shall he do.”

Actually, it was the act of extreme trust that did it, not the mud or saliva. The mud and saliva were mere tools for testing faith. Jesus could’ve chosen manure and urine and it would do the same miracle. Would you let Jesus do something weird and stupid on you? Would you radically trust him still? I remember how God told Ezekiel to cook his food using human manure as coal. He protested, insisting that he wouldn’t use anything that was unclean. “Okay,” God replied, “use cow manure instead.” And Ezekiel did.

Hosea was told to marry an adulteress. Joshua and the Israelites were told to do nothing but march around the city to demolish Jericho’s walls. Abraham was told to offer his son Isaac. You know the stories, of course. So, compared to these, mud and saliva was a piece of cake. It was easy testing. No big deal.

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In the middle of serious hardships, God will tell you to do something weird, something funny or disgusting, to test you. It will let you see how far you would go with God. And he will arrange well for this, taking years or decades, even from birth. If you are destined for displaying God’s glory, he will set you up for it. And as we see in Scriptures, often it’s not something you’d like. It would all seem like a big, cruel joke. Often, you'd look kinda different.

When finally your time comes and Jesus touches you to turn your life into something powerful, he does it with “mud and saliva.” Who would want mud and saliva? No wonder the world will hate you the moment Jesus turns your life upside down. And there’s no other option but to have your life upside down in Christ. 

Now, here's what I really want you to see. Jesus didn't heal the blind man at once. He made him grope his way to the pool and wash there. After doing so, only then was he able to see miraculously. Why the trouble of making a blind man grope helplessly to the pool? And why didn't Jesus even hold his hand and help him get there? He just told him to go. 

If you really want to see the light, you must go through obstacles and overcome. God will provide the touch you need to get assurance, but getting mud and saliva in your eyes is not the point. It's not the cure. It's a test if you'd really go for it. Some people celebrate when they get God's touch but don't realize the touch is just go signal. Unless you go to the pool and wash, you will remain blind---yes, touched by God but still blind.  

The eerie touch (with mud and saliva in the case of this blind man) and the released word from Jesus' mouth are vital favors you need for your success. You have to get them first for inspiration and direction. But they are not it. You have to grope your way to the pool, so to speak, and wash there. In short, the promise is completed with your obedience. Well, it's all by God's grace, of course.

Present MOVE: Seeing the UNSEEN in real time.