Following Jesus' Instructions: A comment on today’s gospel reading by Maggie Cox

Today’s gospel reading in John 9: 1-17 describes Jesus bringing sight to a man blind from birth.

Two lessons come to me in this passage. One, the blind man follows Jesus’ instructions without questioning. The other, Jesus used what was a hand to heal--mud, the earth.

I often wish for the Holy Spirit’s instructions in such clarity. But would that keep me from saying “I’m not the one,” or “That’s not the work I’ve chosen?” We could say that the blind man had nothing to lose. He didn’t have sight. He was a beggar. The story doesn’t tell us that Jesus said to him, “Come over here and let me put mud on your eyes, and if you do what I tell you, you will see.” Jesus just makes mud with his saliva, puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam--simple instructions. Go and do as I say. I will provide the results. That is one message I take from this reading. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Pray and discern. Don’t explain to God, as Moses did (several ways) when God told him he was to lead the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3), that we can’t do what he asks of us.

The other piece of this text that speaks to me is Jesus use of mud to heal--a piece of the earth. Nature, the beauty of this earth, provides me with nourishment and healing each day. Last week, hiking near Estes Park, a friend and I saw this season’s first pasqueflower blossoms. Small delicate lavender flowers easily overlooked, nestled in dead grass and pine cones, they are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. The earth’s beauty opens in small ways as God’s love blossoms in us in small ways. Today’s prayer: “God, give me ears to hear your voice, eyes open to your love, and faith to follow your path.”