Sent by the Father

When Jesus healed the man who was born blind, He gave these instructions according to John: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent)” (John 9:7).  Why does John include this detail that Siloam means “sent”?  John doesn’t include any unimportant information, and I think here he is emphasizing that Christ is the one who is sent from the Father and that when the man is healed in the pool of Siloam, he is really healed by He who is sent from God.  The testimony that Christ was indeed sent by the Father is not emphasized in the synoptic gospels, but it is found all over the book of John.  The beloved apostle recorded that the Savior testified again and again and again that He came not of Himself but because the Father sent Him.  Here is a sampling of the many witnesses that He gave that He was sent of the Father: “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23).  “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).  “The same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me” (John 5:36-37).  “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me” (John 6:39).  “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).  “I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me” (John 8:16).  “The Father that sent me beareth witness of me” (John 8:18).  “For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me” (John 12:49).  “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24).  “Thou, Father, art in me… that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21).  “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21).  The Savior clearly wanted those in His day and us to understand—with no chance of misunderstanding—that He was sent by the Father.  He did not come to do His own will or to aggrandize Himself: He came because the Father sent Him.