When I was a kid, I thought (irreverently, perhaps, but truthfully) how good it was the man couldn’t see what Jesus rubbed on his eyes or he might not have allowed it. But he did allow it, and he followed Jesus’ directions afterward. What compelled this man to do as Jesus said? Think about the fact that he’d been blind from birth. He’d never seen anything. He’d never expected to see anything. But a stranger rubs mud in his eyes and tells him to go wash, and he does it. Had he heard about Jesus’ ability to heal and so he went to the pool with hope in his heart? Did he go feeling like a fool because he now had something smeared on his face and he only wanted it removed? Did he go because, as a beggar, he had so little sense of self that he did what anyone told him? We don’t know his motivation, but we do know he went, and the Bible tells us he came home seeing. Can you imagine him looking this way and that way, overcome with wonder by everything his eyes took in? Think of the joy rolling through him, and the response of his parents when he ran through the door hollering, “I can see! I can see!”

When Jesus touches us, we can see. We go from darkness to light eternal. That brings joy unspeakable. And it should bring us to an action. We’ll look at that tomorrow.