The Man Born Blind (5)

The blind man from birth has heard the words of the Lord Jesus, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me.” He feels the clay wherewith the Lord Jesus has anointed his eyes. He has only heard, not seen. His blindness is the obstacle which hinders him from seeing. From a human perspective the whole situation has only been made worse by anointing his eyes with clay. Yet, the clay was in the hands of Him who of the Father has appointed to make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, yea, for the dead to hear His voice.

Now the blind man receives a personal word from the qualified Healer. The Lord Jesus instructs him to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The words have clear direction. It is a prescription from the heavenly Physician. The first word sheds light on the whole healing, “Go.” This word signals a departure. The blind man must leave to go to the pool of Siloam; he cannot stay here; he has to follow the command of the heavenly Physician. The Lord Jesus did not heal every sick person in the same manner, but His power was manifest in the same way in every healing. So, the Lord will not convert every person in the same manner, but His divine power will be manifest in the same way in every conversion.

The Lord glorifies His power in the midst of the assaults He receives from the Pharisees; look especially in the previous chapter and what will follow in this chapter. The Lord Jesus sends the blind man to the pool of Siloam to display an Old Testament truth. The Lord Jesus has said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.” For the Jews Abraham is their beginning of being a special people, and now He who declares to be the Messiah says to them such strange things. However, in this miracle He confirms that He is sent to show mercy to the house of Israel. He sends the blind man to the pool that has been the testimony to Israel of the mercy that there is water high in the mountains around Jerusalem. The interpretation of “sent” was that the spring sent up water, and the aqueduct sent the water to the pool—it had a living source. So, Christ is the living God, manifest in the flesh, sent to merit and apply salvation.

The Bible clearly records that the waters of Shiloah go softly (Isaiah 8:6). Softly means gently but also a smooth whispering sound which adorns this water. That men refuse the God-given mercy is in light of their refusal to trust according to the warnings of Isaiah. Instead, they rejoice or go up in the strength of Rezin and Remaliah’s son. This is compared to the strong river which will flood them, which is figurative of King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria. The king of Assyria will take them captive. The people of sent mercy will have to be put to shame for their refusal to trust and believe in the Lord who provided for them in the sent source of His mercy which always was the undeniable adornment of His people. It is also remarkable that the Bible records in Nehemiah 3:15 that the pool of Siloah is repaired. That is, after the captivity the mercy of the Lord will be again the source of refreshment; again, His people will be adorned with mercy.

He went—that is the record of the blind man here. It is the mark of obedience. This obedience points to the obedience of his faith in exercise. When the Lord converts a person, He plants faith, and the obedience by faith becomes evident. Then he will listen to the divine commands. No one has to tell him to pray, to read, or to go to church. To apply one word God’s people will experience how powerless they are. The way to the pool of Siloam must have been a certain distance. The blind man had to be led to the pool. By faith he went, but we clearly read that he also came there to fulfill the command to wash.

The life of true faith is full of trials, but here is a clear testimony that the Lord brings His people where they need to be. “The work Thou hast for me begun shall by Thy grace be fully done.” Between the promise and the fulfillment God’s living Church will receive much strife and many trials regarding the fulfillment of the words He has spoken. Notice, however, that the life of faith is maintained by the Lord Himself. The blind man went but also came to the pool. When he came to the pool, he did not wonder what he had to do. Clearly it rang in his ears that the clay wherewith he was anointed had to be washed off. By faith he went, but also by faith he washed in the pool water of Siloam. The life of true faith is the life which has its beginning in God but will also have the power of God manifested, “and came seeing.”

Dear reader, we have pointed out that Siloam is the pool to which the blind man was sent. The Bible records that this command was not for the seeing but for the blind. This command was for the miserable and the helpless. So today, the blind shall come to see by the power of Him who has been sent by the Father, who is appointed to merit and apply the mercy which is forfeited. The pool of Siloam was closed, but the Bible recorded a restoration, so through this Mediator there is restoration into fellowship and communion. Outside of true conversion true faith will be missing, but in true conversion true faith will reveal itself in the fruits. May the fruit of the words of Psalter 368 be graciously evident, “Messiah’s power shall be revealed.”

(To be continued)

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