When did you last walk along Oxford Road, Manchester?
Did you lift your eyes above street level?
High up on the front of a building is a remarkable
mural. Look closely and you realise it’s Jesus healing a
man born blind, as told in chapter 9 of John’s Gospel.
Why should such a mural be decorating our city
streets?
The building in question is the Royal Eye Hospital, originally
established in 1814 as the Manchester Institution for
Curing Diseases of the Eye. Dr WJ Wilson was appointed
surgeon and governor and initial premises were on King
Street. In 1886, the MREH moved to occupy a newly built hospital
on Oxford Road. That building and it’s mural are now listed, as
an important part of our civic heritage.
The presence of such a mural on a modern city street raises some
questions:
Why is this Christian healing miracle on the front
of a modern hospital?
Hospitals throughout Europe were originally Christian
inventions and a direct outcome of Christian belief and
practice. In their origins, they are closely associated
with many of the first universities, such as Bologna and
Padua – other Christ-inspired institutions. Moreover,
Bethesda, in the United States, is home to a group of
world-famous hospitals. The name derives from the
pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, the site of the healing
of a paralysed man (John 5: 1-8). Some of these
institutions, and their staff, might be forgetful of their
Christian origins, but that doesn’t alter history!
How does Jesus’ miraculous healing relate to
modern ‘scientific medicine’?
Our human eyes consist of more than 2 million
working parts and are the second most complex organ
in the body, able to process 10 items of information
every second! Yet, like other parts of our bodies, they
are subject to disease, injury and birth defects. Jesus’
healing of the blind man would be simply unbelievable
if he was just an ordinary human being, but not so, if he is
God incarnate. For the creator of the universe healing a defective
eye is an entirely consistent wonder. Not only does he alone
have the necessary power, it’s also an act of compassionate
love. For the ultimate realisation of that power and love,
Christians await Jesus’ return and the life of the world-to-
come (John 5: 19-30). Meantime, scientific endeavour and
medicine are pleasing to God. When a consultant surgeon
uses her laser equipment for eye surgery she is working with
the grain of (God’s) laws of biophysics. A successful outcome
is an extension of the ministry of the risen Christ.
So what did Jesus mean by spiritual blindness?
In the remarkable narrative of John 9, Jesus first
affirms that the man’s physical blindness was not due
to anyone’s sinful behaviour; rather it’s an opportunity
for God’s work in his life to be seen (v. 3). By the close of
the chapter, the theme of spiritual blindness takes
centre stage when onlookers persist in unbelief
despite what has happened ‘before their very eyes’.
None can remain neutral about Jesus! And if we realise
that spiritual blindness is our problem, then we must
apply urgently to the Great Physician for his gracious
gift of spiritual sight!