Jesus leads the blind man aside, so different from what He usually does, and then He works His miracle in two stages, almost as if He were not quite sure what He is doing. This is also very different from what usually happens. We might apply this to ourselves. If we really wish Jesus to heal us or to change us in any way, we need to go aside with Him, to spend time alone with Him in prayer or at least in reading or spiritual conversation. We need to retreat from worldly concerns and place ourselves entirely in His hands. And Jesus does not work His healing in us all at once. Like a teacher, He takes us some distance on one day, and then, when we have grown from that, He takes us a further step or two on the next day. We will spend our entire lives growing and maturing in different ways as He loves us, heals us, teaches us, and draws us closer to Himself in all things. |