THE WORKS OF GOD
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
To this writers mind, this is THE most glorious miracle that the Lord Jesus ever set forth! It, without doubt, reveals himself to be very God! It shows him to be the very Creator God who formed all things at the beginning! For speaking of his dear Son, the scriptures state in Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. The Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, IS Creator God!
And then remember what he said! John 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. And this is truly one work that undeniably equates him with the essence of God! Let us look into just what occurred!
First we are told that a miracle such as this had never been accomplished since the world began! John 9:32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. But it is on the line of exactly what occurred at the beginning of the world’s creation! For he shall once again form human organs from the ground!
Our passage begins with our God revealing himself as The I AM! (8:58). This is how he identified himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Moses had asked who he should tell the Hebrews in Egyptian bondage had sent him to deliver them. The answer came back, “Tell them I AM THAT I AM has sent you!” (Ex. 3:14). Then he repeats this in the ears of the blind man in verse five, where he states, I AM the light of the world!
Next we see him coming forth from the temple to look upon one who could not look upon him! And it was long ago prophesied that he would come suddenly to the temple professing his immutability (i.e. being incapable of change!). For “I AM” never changes, no matter in what period of time it is stated! Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Notice that the phrase passed by is listed twice. It was given first when he hid himself, and then, secondly, when he reveals himself to deal with the man born blind! And our Lord was first hidden from visibility in the eternal essence of the Trinity, dwelling in the very glory of the Father! John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. And at that point he was completely submitted in the attitude and concept of his being the sacrifice of God to redeem those chosen in him from the foundation! Revelation 13:8 … the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, …
But by Incarnation he came out of those ivory palaces into this world of woe! And the Apostle Peter tells us that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1 Peter 1:19,20). – And there he was – born of a woman – now passing by that which is blinded from his natural birth, poor, fallen, beggarly man! O How sin has left us destroyed and forsaken! And how thankful we should be for God Incarnate passing by!
The exchange between our Lord and the disciples as listed in verses two and three is very telling of the two mind sets! Religious man seeks to assert blame to those stricken in any manner with whatever malady! They wanted to look backward to see whose fault this was. But our Lord said in effect, “That’s not the important thing! The important thing is that you realize that this unique individual has been place here at this specific time (Acts 17:26), in order that the works of God should be manifest in him!”
The Father had predestinated this uniquely needful individual in the path of his dear Son in order to infallibly reveal Him as the very Incarnated Word! Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, (Christ), so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Forming the Eyes
Psalm 94:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
This poor man did not have a farming accident and lose the eyesight he had enjoyed up to that point! It was from his birth that his eyes had not been formed! He evidently had hollow sockets where his eyes should have been, as his condition necessitated the Savior’s forming more human flesh, just as he had done in forming Adam!
That word, formed in Psalm 94:9 is the exact same word used in Genesis 2:7,8. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And it is also the same Hebrew word listed six times as the potter in Jeremiah 18:2-6! Jer. 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. Have we not oft times sung, “Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will?”
But more than just the physical is being addressed here! For the Lord Jesus is also the Creator of our spiritual life! Listen at that Hebrew word, “formed” in Zechariah 12:1: The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. For the Lord Jesus not only created the physical universe, but he is also the Creator of the spiritual life within his believers. Eph. 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. The natural birth from the first Adam, presented this man with darkness. But here, the last Adam comes saying, I am the light of the world! (John 9:5). And he proves it by creating this man eyes in the exact same manner as he created man to begin with!
For in John 9:6, listed above, he is seen doing what he did in Genesis 2:7,8, also listed in this article. As he breathed on his disciples in John 20:22 for them to receive spiritual life by the Holy Ghost, so this same Son breathed on the clay formed to make the first man. And as he formed Adam by the moisture and breath of his mouth, so he here forms eyes by the same life giving moisture from his lips! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me!
Go Wash!
Now you have the second moisture required in the creation of this man’s eyes. The moisture of the Creator’s mouth is essential to the “forming” of that created. God breathed into the clay nostrils he had formed and life was given! So here the moisture of the Son’s mouth is applied to the same substance used in the creation of all the organs in the body of the first Adam. Since then, in the natural procreation, the infant is even surrounded by water before the birth.
Then the second moisture is required. In the natural it is the mother’s milk, or even water itself. So it is in the spiritual! (Rom. 1:20). The man is directed to a specific fountain, to accomplish a specific task! And every believer is to be sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word, (Eph. 5:26). He washed away all that remained clay, as in the hearing of the word, we wash away the fleshly influences from our spiritual man.
And the Prophet Isaiah informs of the waters of Shiloah that go softly. (Isa. 8:6). For it is there that the Good Shepherd leads his flock. They lied down in the greenest of pastures, beside the still waters!
And John takes the trouble of revealing to us the meaning of that word, “Siloam.” He says it means, “Sent!” It is the same Hebrew word, sent him forth, in Genesis 3:23 when the first Adam was sent forth in death out of the presence of God. And in doing so he brought all those birthed from him into death! (1Cor. 15:22). And here it is used when the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), has been sent by the Father as Life for all the elect! John 7:29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Then Nehemiah 3:15 reports that Siloam is by the King’s garden! Read in Song 4:12-5:1 of the delights provided the church there!
Pastor Gene Breed
August 13, 2010