baptism, John 9:6
This is in response to a question regarding yesterday's post....
In this Story, the spit which comes forth from the mouth of Jesus must be a sign of living water springing up from the heart of Jesus--the Spirit. The soil represents the human heart in the parable of the sower. They are mixed together.
I propose that when the Spirit is mixed with the human heart, it's a very good sign! If the Spirit is mixed with the heart it means to me that the man welcomes the words of Jesus and puts them into practice. He certainly witnesses to his new faith, with new "sight," to the Pharisees in this Story.
The ritual continues with this very good sign placed over the man's eyes by Jesus with the words: go wash in the waters of the one who has been sent. Why on the eyes? To have "sight," in the gospels is to believe in the words of Jesus. "Blindness" is to choose not to believe in Jesus' words. Believing in the words of Jesus is a sign of a baptized person.
The waters are named after Jesus. He is the one who has been sent. Baptism is a washing in the living waters. The pool of Siloam is stream fed. They are living waters. The man follows Jesus' commands to wash, he does, and his "eyes were opened."
The man acknowledges that he had been blind before and is no longer blind. When one "sees," the person is in relationship with the Lord. He believes in his words. When one is blind, one is not in relationship with the Lord...and therefore he is not in relationship with others. This is my definition of sin. To be no longer blind is to have one's sins forgiven.
The man now calls himself a disciple, for he says to the Pharisees, "Do you want to become his disciples too?"
All this happened on the Sabbath day...I can't think of a better day on which to be baptized.
In this Story, the spit which comes forth from the mouth of Jesus must be a sign of living water springing up from the heart of Jesus--the Spirit. The soil represents the human heart in the parable of the sower. They are mixed together.
I propose that when the Spirit is mixed with the human heart, it's a very good sign! If the Spirit is mixed with the heart it means to me that the man welcomes the words of Jesus and puts them into practice. He certainly witnesses to his new faith, with new "sight," to the Pharisees in this Story.
The ritual continues with this very good sign placed over the man's eyes by Jesus with the words: go wash in the waters of the one who has been sent. Why on the eyes? To have "sight," in the gospels is to believe in the words of Jesus. "Blindness" is to choose not to believe in Jesus' words. Believing in the words of Jesus is a sign of a baptized person.
The waters are named after Jesus. He is the one who has been sent. Baptism is a washing in the living waters. The pool of Siloam is stream fed. They are living waters. The man follows Jesus' commands to wash, he does, and his "eyes were opened."
The man acknowledges that he had been blind before and is no longer blind. When one "sees," the person is in relationship with the Lord. He believes in his words. When one is blind, one is not in relationship with the Lord...and therefore he is not in relationship with others. This is my definition of sin. To be no longer blind is to have one's sins forgiven.
The man now calls himself a disciple, for he says to the Pharisees, "Do you want to become his disciples too?"
All this happened on the Sabbath day...I can't think of a better day on which to be baptized.
posted by Anne and Mike at 9:39 PM
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