AUDIO MEDITATION:

Carl Bloch (Danish, 1834-1890), Healing of the Blind Man. Public domain.

FULL TEXT:

Jesus told his disciples that he was healing the blind man because “we have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day… While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spat on the ground and made clay and smeared it on the man’s eyes.

Jesus, the light of the world, corrects the man’s vision with clay—the substance with which God created Adam. He makes the man new, in a sense—the man had only known darkness his whole life and has a new life opened up for him.

Notice the interplay of light and dark in this painting. Jesus, the light of the world, has stepped into the darkness to approach this blind man and bring him light. He does the same for us in our sin—he enters the darkness of our shame and brokenness to bring us light and healing, to make us new.

Especially when we are troubled and burdened with sin, how can we reach out to Jesus, as the blind man in this painting reaches for the Lord?