The Way
Eyes Opened at Siloam
Eyes opened with mud and pool water
Story
As Jesus walked along, his eyes fell on a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked, Teacher, why was this man born blind? Was it his own sin, or his parents'? Jesus answered. Neither this man sinned, nor his parents. This happened so that the works of God might be shown in him.
Jesus spat on the ground, worked the mud with his hands, and spread it on the man's eyes, and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Feeling his way, the man went down to the pool, scooped up water, and washed his face. When he lifted his wet eyelids, light poured in for the first time in his life. He came back seeing the road with his own eyes. That day was a Sabbath.
The Pharisees called him in and questioned him again and again. Even his parents, afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue, stepped back and told them to ask their grown son himself. But he would not back down. Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. There is one thing I do know. I was blind, and now I see. When he was finally thrown out, Jesus came looking for him and asked, do you believe in the Son of Man? Lord, I believe, he said, and he bowed down before him.
Walk this scene on the map →His Words
It was not his sin, nor his parents'. This happened so that the work of God might be shown through him.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam.
One thing I know for certain. I could not see, and now I can.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Jn 9:1–41
Background
In 2004, during sewer work in the south of Jerusalem, a stepped pool from the Second Temple period was discovered, and it is thought to be the Pool of Siloam in John's Gospel. Siloam means 'sent.'
Pause and Reflect
Am I missing what the Lord is doing because of ideas I was so sure about?