Making Space To Be Set Apart

by Petey Crowder, Executive Pastor
February 27, 2020

As he [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. . . . he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.—John 9:1, 6-7 (ESV)

Jesus wants the blind to see. In the season of Lent, as we await the cross and the wonderful Easter morning, we sit in our blindness. We wrestle with our longings, our broken desires, and the things that weigh heavy on our souls.

I love that the ESV uses the word “anoint” for Jesus’ application of mud to eyes which were out of step with their created function. We use the word “anoint” to talk about special things—things that are holy, set apart. But Jesus took the ordinary, broken, frustrated eyes of this man and called out that they were meant for something more. This is what Jesus—the One who conquers sin and death—does for each and every one of us. He says we are meant for more. He looks at us in our broken condition and He sees something beautiful, something set apart, something meant for holiness. And He is the only one capable of setting change into motion.