Faith To Heal With Spit, Mud, Or Just Plain Words

Faith To Heal With Spit, Mud, Or Just Plain Words

He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! John 9:6-7

If a man complained to you that he had something in his eye and couldn’t see, what would you do to help him? You might take a look to see if you could remove whatever was obstructing his vision. Or maybe you’d help him flush his eye with water.

Chances are good that you wouldn’t say, “Hold still while I spit on the ground, make some mud with my saliva, and apply it to your eyes. That’ll fix you right up!” Yet that’s exactly what Jesus did.

This seems like such a crazy thing for him to do. In so many other cases when he healed people, either he reached out and touched them, or he simply healed them with a word. But in this case, Jesus used two very unlikely, and very unlovely, things to help the man see.

When analyzed chemically, both mud and spit have some medicinal properties. Saliva comes from one of the more bacteria-infested areas of the body. Its purpose is to sterilize the dirty food (and sometimes even dirt itself) that finds its way into our mouths. The enzymes in our saliva begin to break down the food, disrupting the cells of the bacteria.

If the man’s blindness were due to something on the surface of his corneas, it might make sense to utilize the abrasive properties of mud by rubbing it on his eyes. As doctors, we often must debride diseased tissue from an area before we will see new and healthy growth. That’s essentially what laser procedures do, and we use them all the time for treatment of various eye conditions.

Jesus knew exactly what this man needed and treated him with the most appropriate—though unlikely—elements. But the healing was no less miraculous. We could not simply repeat his actions and expect the same outcome, but we can be certain that Jesus could have healed the man’s eyes with a word—and that the same healing is available to us.

TODAY’S RX

Consider that Jesus may use unusual methods, tools, or people to heal you.

Father, your power is made perfect in our weakness, and you continue to show that power in numerous ways. Thank you for healing our sicknesses and disabilities through whatever means necessary.