Siloam

John 9:1-7

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he annointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

As the disciples came upon a suffering soul, their response was to analyze the situation. It doesn't seem to me that they were approaching him in a critical way, but rather, it is as if they thought understanding might be the key to his freedom.

Understanding is a gift from God, and is even one of the named Spirits of God; but John recalls how Jesus demonstrated that understanding is not the precedent for the workings of God, nor is it the goal of ministry. The Power of God is the only route to His desired destination for our endeavors on earth: His Love made manifest.

As we go about our lifelong discipleship after Jesus, learning and growing in understanding will happen, but we must be careful that we do not become so deeply philosophical with our understandings of the Gospel that we neglect to administer the one and only meaningful thing we have to offer the world, the Power of the God, which is the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit to change lives through my yeilded hands.

Father, help us, your church, to be the hands that will administer your mercy and healing to a broken world, unhindered by our pursuit of understanding. Help us, by your grace, to continue to grow in our knowledge of you, even seeing the marvelous and extravagant intricacies of your ways, and while we grow, let us not forget the sovereign source of the Power we carry. Not our understanding, or our religious tenure, but Your very nature at work in us by your Spirit. Let us be hands, not just heads, for your Glory. For your honor.

Love,

Manasseh