Spit, Mud & Pool - A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 19, 2023

READING: John 9:1-41

1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7 saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10 But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." 12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet." 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." 25 He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26 They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" 28 Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." 38 He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, "We see,' your sin remains.

This story of healing happens

with spit

and mud

and a dip in the pool.

But I don’t think this story is about the miracle per se.

The clues are in the mud

and in the pool.

Have you heard the saying “clear as mud?”

You hear someone explain something complicated

and, it makes sense to them,

but not to you.

“It’s clear as mud!”

Like diving into a giant mud pit in an obstacle course

You can’t see through mud.

Mud stains.

If you fall into the mud,

the mud finds its way into every inconvenient place.

If you get mud in your eyes,

you need to wash them to be able to see clearly.

Jesus is the light of the world.

To accept this,

to believe this,

you have to first admit that,

perhaps you cannot see,

that you are blinded,

that your eyes are covered with mud

that you just can’t see clearly through,

and the mud needs to be washed away,

to see the light.

The mud of this world

makes it difficult for us to see God’s reality;

to see the kingdom of God,

to see Jesus.

So it’s not enough for Jesus to put mud in the blind man’s eyes.

He also needs to wash the mud out.

But it’s not just about washing,

it’s where the man is washing:

The pool of Siloam.

Interestingly enough,

you can visit the pool of Siloam today.

Archaeologists have uncovered the site.

You wont find living water there anymore,

but you can see the actual pool.

It was known as the Messiah’s pool,

located just inside the old city walls,

built around the year 700 BCE.

Jesus has the blind man wash in the Messiah’s pool.

This is no coincidence.

Bathing in the Messiah’s pool is significant…

but there’s more to it.

This pool of living water

was key for the Festival of Booths

or Feast of Tabernacles

or Sukkot.

The festival of booths

was the whole reason Jesus was in Jerusalem.

Some background on the Festival of Booths:

it is a Jewish holiday

celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month -

usually in September or October.

Jewish men would make pilgrimage

to the temple in Jerusalem and rejoice.

This festival marked and celebrated the end of harvest,

and more importantly

commemorated the exodus from Egypt.

This festival is also associated with

the presence of God in the temple.

According to 2nd Chronicles 7,

when Solomon finished praying over the temple,

the glory of the Lord filled the temple

and the fire of the Lord burned the sacrifices.

So as the festival of booths was celebrated

it was expected,

or at least hoped,

that the glory of the Lord would again return

on the last day of the festival.

The pilgrims to Jerusalem would dwell in booths

- like these temporary dwellings -

as a reminder that

God delivered them from Egypt

and provided them temporary dwelling

in the wilderness.

In one of the rituals,

the Temple priest would lead a parade of musicians,

exiting the Temple through the Water Gate.

He would walk a significant distance

- 15 minutes or so -

down to the pool of Siloam

and fill a golden pitcher

with the living water from the pool of Siloam.

They would all parade back up to the temple,

and the priest would pour the living on the altar

where the animals were sacrificed.

This would accompany a prayer

that God would offer rain.

This would happen even in times of drought,

as a sign

or sacrifice

or reminder that it is God who provides.

The prayer would go:

“Please, Lord, save us, hear our prayers.”

After the living water was poured on the altar,

men would go to various places of the temple

and dance and sing;

“Happy is every man on whom guilt rests,

and he who having sinned is now with pardon blessed.” 

Turning back to John 7,

Jesus attended the Festival of Booths in secret.

About the middle of the festival,

Jesus begins teaching and astounds them.

Some want him arrested.

Some wonder if this Jesus is the Messiah.

This is when Nicodemus returns

and stands up for Jesus

while his fellow Pharisees want Jesus arrested.

On the last day of the festival,

the day that the people hope for

the glory of the Lord to fill the temple,

quite possibly at the very time that the priest

is pouring the living water over the altar,

Jesus cried out;

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,

and let the one who believes in me drink.

As the scripture has said,

‘Out of the believer’s heart

shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Wow.

What a bold statement.

Jesus is saying:

you don’t need to follow the priest for living water.

This is not living water.

I AM Living Water.

God provides.

I AM God.

Please, Lord, save us, hear our prayers -

I AM saving you.

I hear your prayers.

You are making sacrifice for your sins,

I AM the sacrifice for your sins.

You ask for forgiveness.

I AM forgiveness.

You thirst for living water?

come to me,

and living water will flow out of you.

After meeting the man formerly blind,

Jesus says

“I AM the gate for the sheep.

I AM the Good Shepherd,

who lays down life for the sheep.

I have others to bring into the fold.”

That’s what this story is all about.

One other detail,

There was a custom in that time

called the Illumination of the Temple ceremony.

There were four large candelabras in the courtyard,

perhaps as high as 70 feet tall.

Each night they were lit

and the bright light would reach the entire city.

You long for light?

I AM the Light of the world.

When (Jesus) had said this,

he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva

and spread the mud on the man's eyes,

saying to him,

"Go, wash in the pool of Siloam"

The Messiah’s pool,

Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

It’s as if Jesus is saying to everyone:

You are blinded to the world,

blinded to the reality of God,

your eyes are covered in mud.

Wash in the living water,

wash in me,

and you will see.

You will see that I AM the gate for the sheep,

I AM the Good Shepherd.

One other detail that’s important with the pool of Siloam.

Siloam means sent.

Clarity in our world,

clarity in the things of God,

clarity of meaning and purpose

comes with being sent by Jesus.

Daily we get mud in our eyes

and we just can’t see the kingdom of God,

right in front of us.

We get mud in our eyes

we can’t see the world for how it really is,

nor for how God intends.

We get mud in our eyes,

and it’s too dark, too painful,

to see Jesus, the Light of the world.

And mud gets everywhere!

maybe mud gets in our ears

and we can’t hear God speaking.

maybe mud gets in our mouth

and we can’t taste and see

the Lord’s goodness.

maybe mud gets in between our toes,

and it’s just to painful to move.

Sometimes we get ourselves dirty and covered in mud.

And perhaps God sometimes sees fit

to rub some spit and dirt together,

to muddy our vision,

so that by washing

we might see.

Friends,

we are the baptized.

We are washed in living water.

we are the baptized,

we are the sent ones.

We once were lost, but now are found.

were blind,

but now we see.

Daily, in the waters of baptism,

the dirt and mud gets washed away,

and we are made new.

Many have prayed for a miracle,

a cure,

or for healing like this blind man,

and the cure doesn’t come.

The story of the man born blind,

I would say,

is not about the miracle performed,

The miraculous cure for the illness might not come,

but with Jesus comes the open gate

into the sheepfold

where healing and wholeness

and new, abundant life

might be found with Jesus,

our Good Shepherd,

the Light of the world.

It’s not about physical blindness

or deafness

or disability,

or any physical limitation for that matter.

It’s not about Jesus’ ability to cure or not cure,

nor who God might listen to and might not listen to.

Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment

so that those who do not see may see,

and those who do see may become blind.”

It is less about sight,

and more about recognizing who Jesus really is.

This story, I believe

is about the invitation God gives us through Jesus

to touch

and hear

and smell

and taste

and see the world

for what it really is:

shining with the brilliant Light of God,

gushing with the living water of eternal life,

touched and cleansed

by God’s forgiveness and grace and presence.

Jesus saw this blind man,

day after day,

begging.

But Jesus saw more than some beggar:

Jesus saw in him a disciple.

And like the Samaritan woman at the well,

he became one, declaring:

“Lord, I believe.”

This belief in Jesus,

led to the man being thrown out of the Synagogue,

just as his parents feared.

Yet the one cast out:

formerly by ability and by class,

and now cast out by the culture and religion;

he is now a sheep in the fold,

a lamb of the Good Shepherd’s redeeming.

He is a disciple of Jesus.

It is the religious insiders who now have mud in their eyes,

and the blind man who can see who Jesus really is.

Today, you and I are the religious insiders.

Perhaps we too can be that sheepfold

for others who have been cast out.

Perhaps we too need to wash the mud out of our eyes

in the fount of Living Water,

to see the world and others

the way God sees,

By God’s grace,

washed in the baptismal waters,

When we look around;

When we see our children playing

or neighbours laughing;

When we see the person running to catch a ride

or standing in line at the food bank;

When we see birds gathered

in a protected green space

or a bull dozer clearing trees for development;

When we see candles radiate and street lights flicker

when we see children running in this sanctuary

or skating at the hockey rink;

when we see water and bread and wine

It’s Jesus.

It’s God.

When mud gets in our eyes,

May we wash in the baptismal waters

and see Jesus.

Illumined by Jesus, the Light of the World,

May we see parking lots

and pools of water

and people through God’s eyes;

redeemed and being redeemed;

reconciled and being reconciled;

restored and being restored.

Like the man born blind,

may we too be bathed and sent

declaring, “Lord, I believe.”

Thanks be to God. Amen.