Shiloach: Story of a Former Blindman — Behind the Scenes

The idea for doing an adaptation of John Chapter Nine goes back before I even finished the Graphical Epistles book. I was compiling the appendices for The Graphical Epistles, when I came across this incredible story in John's Ninth Chapter and immediately I knew that it should be illustrated. No where else in the Bible was a whole chapter dedicated to a story such as this! This story was full of real life.

A man is born blind into a community of religious Jews. One day Jesus walks by him on the street and heals him by putting mud on his eyes. He is told by Jesus to go wash his eyes in the pool of Shiloach (Greek, Siloam) and when he does, he is completely healed from his blindness! He then is recognized by his neighbors who don't believe that this was the same blind man that was always begging in the streets. So, his neighbors take him to go see the Pharisees to see what they think. Well, needless to say, the Pharisees, once they hear that it was Jesus who healed this man, don't want to admit that there was any miracle that took place. They bring in his parents to determine if he really ever was blind. His parents confirm the fact, but show no support of their son's testimony that Jesus healed him. They didn't want to be excommunicated from the temple. This man is humiliated and is rejected by his fellow neighbors, the Pharisees and finally, even by his parents all because he said that Jesus healed him. He gives an extended testimony to the pharisees and they promptly excommunicate him for even hinting that Jesus is indeed the messiah. Jesus finds him later in the day and asks him if he believes in the Son of Man. After being rejected by the rest of the world, what else could he say, but "Yes!" He worships Jesus. Jesus was willing to take him even if no one else wanted him.

There is so much symbolism that is woven throughout this story: the blindness, the water, the mud, the healing, the temple, the rejection; it truly is an awe inspiring story. It reminded me a bit of my own life, that is why I wanted to adapt it to illustrations to give it a new medium to be in, but I didn't know that this was going to be my follow-up book to GE. (Note: It actually wasn't. Broken was the next published book after Graphical Epistles)

After the Graphical Epistles was published in July 2001, I took six months off to work on other projects. It was in January of 2002 that I began sketching out the entire Ninth Chapter of John.

It was in this period that I was working on Flash movies, that I thought a Flash movie would be the perfect medium to adapt the story to. So I began to draw these pictures, fully intending to make a Flash movie that would be given away for free, but God had other plans.

It was around March of 2002 that I found it increasingly difficult that this story should be a Flash movie. The project was taking way too long and if I was going to be putting this much effort into it, it might as well be a full-fledged book rather than a freebie Flash movie. So, I started drawing it in a more professional and appropriate style for a children's book.

It was in this time that I was hired as a graphic designer, after being unemployed for almost two years. I no longer had time to work on the project, so I just wanted to sort of finish it and get it done. But God stopped me from making a terrible mistake. He didn't want me to do a sloppy job on it and therefore kept me from touching it again for the next four months. He kept me busy at work so I never had time to work on it.

Four months later I was ready to redo all my work that had sloppily started to do. I re-researched the background of the story. I wanted it to be wholly first-century Hebrew in nature and set in Jerusalem in that time. I asked my dad to design a 3D model of the temple for me to use for the background of the Second Act.

For the next year and a half I would redraw, re-sketch, redesign all 59 watercolors for the book. I have spent countless hours in Photoshop, researching, at the light table, scanning and sketching which has made this project the longest and most intense project of my life. And I'm still working on it! I am finally at the stage of doing the final watercolors for the book, with still a lot of final drawing to do. Please pray that God will use this book mightily for His glory.

—July 2005

Note: Well it's 2007 and the end is in nowhere in sight for this project. I'm still working on it, albeit slowly, but I'm done trying to set publishing dates for this project.