Day 20: Friday in the Third Week of Lent
John 9:15
“He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
There is a baptismal image floating around the edges of this story of the man born blind. Like everything in John there are layers. Repeatedly we hear that it was in the washing that he began to see. And repeatedly we will hear about washing when John gets to the story of the Last Supper, when Jesus bends to wash his followers’ feet. In that story, Peter will resist his washing and Jesus will say, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8). Baptismal imagery floats there, too.
It is in washing that we share in Christ. It is in washing that we ‘see’. It is in washing that we are filled with light. It is in washing that we experience the depths of heaven’s love, willing to bend to serve, willing to take up shame for our sake. And it is in washing we are given the command to love.
It is in washing that the darkness is pulled out of us. In washing that we become children of light. It’s not about water or ritual. It is about being immersed in love.
It is standing in the ocean and feeling its waves lift you up. It is diving into the depths to be enveloped by stillness and power. It is the warmth of a shower pouring over your head, rinsing away all sweat and tears. It is love pulling out from us all darkness and fear leaving only light. It is wounded hands stretched wide in an inexpressible mercy to wash away all resistance.
I cannot imagine the moment when the blind man gropes his way to the pool of Siloam, kneels to wash the mud from his eyes, and rises blinking at the brightness of things he’s felt but never seen. But it is a profound metaphor for the encounter with God in Christ. “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
Gracious and ever-present God,
whose mercy knows no bounds,
and whose arms are ever open to your world:
Grant us freedom from every shame and sorrow
And make us joyful in your service.
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Image: dkbonde