Good morning…
As I prayerfully consider the story of Ginny Owens, this beautiful singer/song writer who lost her sight at age three, I can’t help but wonder, “God, why would you allow an innocent child to go completely blind?”
I’m not the only one who has struggled with this question. In John 9:1-7 (TPT) we meet the disciples of Jesus as they wrestle with similar thoughts. Afterward, as Jesus walked down the street, he noticed a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused this guy’s blindness, his own, or the sin of his parents?”
Jesus answered, “Neither. It happened to him so that you could watch him experience God’s miracle.”
The footnote offers another possible translation: “Jesus answered, ‘This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him” (WEB translation).
“While I am with you, it is daytime and we must do the works of God who sent me while the light shines,” Jesus continues to teach his first followers. “For there is coming a dark night when no one will be able to work. As long as I am with you my life is the light that pierces the world’s darkness.”
The footnote for verse four reads: “The Aramaic can be translated ‘The One who sent me is the day, and we must do his works. But the night (of mankind) will follow when no work can be accomplished.'”
Then Jesus spat on the ground and made some clay with his saliva. Then he anointed the blind man’s eyes with the clay.
The footnote for verse six reads: “The picture here is the mingling of spit and clay, a picture of the Christ who is God and man. The saliva comes from the mouth, the spoken Word, God incarnate. The clay is always a picture of man, for our human vessel is a jar of clay. No doubt, the blind man had heard people spit as they walked by him, as a sign of disgust, for in that day they believed blindness was caused by a curse (Deut. 28:28). But this day, as he heard Jesus spit on the ground, it was for his healing.”
And he said to the blind man, “Now go and wash the clay from your eyes in the ritual pool of Siloam.”
The footnote for verse seven reads: “Or ‘the pool of apostleship.’ Siloam is a Hebrew word that means ‘to be sent’ or ‘to be commissioned’—the Greek word for ‘apostle’ or ‘apostleship’ is the closest meaning. The apostle of our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ who was sent from the Father. To wash in the Pool of Apostleship is to recognize the healing that flows from the One who was sent from heaven.”
So he went and washed his face and as he came back, he could see for the first time in his life!
The final footnote for this passage reads: “In the context of Jesus’ teaching on the light of the world and mankind being in the dark, this miracle of giving sight to the blind man is a powerful proof of Jesus’ words. Christ, in his birth, became a man of clay. When he applies this clay over our eyes and we wash in the water of his Word, our spiritual sight is restored.”
“Just wanted to be sure you’d found this additional information and another life-giving song by Ginny Owens,” generously shares a loyal reader. “What an amazing gal. Thanks for introducing me to her work. https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/not-by-sight-ginny-owens-story-i-know-a-secret.”
The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes (2 Corinthians 5:7, VOICE).
…Sue…
