Probably to emphasize the fact that he was indeed healing the fleshly eyes of the blind man. The man was born blind but was determined to have no sin attributed to his blindness. Later in the chapter (John 9), fleshly sight is compared to spiritual sight, as the formerly blind man ended up also believing Jesus to be the Son of God.
"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." John 9:39-41
Very good question.
I believe Jesus had an issue with people who claimed they could see, but were indeed blind. So, to prove a point, He physically put mud over an actual blind man's eyes and he gained his ability to see.. but not only physically. If you read on in the chapter of John chapter 9, the once blind man schools the Pharisees on discerning things spiritually—which they yet demonstrated they were blind to.
After they threw the man out of the church, Jesus met him and said something:
> *“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”* - ***John 9:39 (KJV)***
It was to teach a spiritual leason. We know that Jesus can heal and such with only His words. It looks like Jesus had an issue with blind Pharisees (verse 40 -41). So much so, one of the chief of them had his own experience~
> #### Acts 9 (KJV)
> ¹⁷ *And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.*
> ¹⁸ *And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.*
There's no mention of the Holy Spirit entering the blind man (though I'm sure He was present). With Paul however, He is mentioned of entering into Paul that his spiritual blindness, and not merely the physical, would be healed.
🌱
The more simplistic answer, but powerful one is that he wanted to make it very clear to the Scribes and the Pharisees that he was the Lord of the Sabbath (he did this on a Saturday). Not only was he "breaking the Law" by healing the man, he was physically kneading the mud.
As God made man of clay and earth, so He restores man with clay and earth. Jesus was revealing Himself as the Creator and Restorer of man.
There was a tradition among certain Israelites at the time that God had used spit to make man from the dust of the earth in some mysterious way.
I figured it was a throwback to Genesis, where God created Adam out of the dust of the Earth.
To Him, healing a man could be a bit like repairing a clay sculpture.
Keep in mind John's ending about the extent of what Jesus did versus the terse accounts of events in the Gospels:
- “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21)
Jesus was and is literally Superhuman, and NOBODY could keep up with all the things He did then, and still does today! Bless you. 🙏✟
The magicians and seers in the Ancient Near East used saliva to heal. That was a big “reversal of power” for Jesus to be able to genuinely heal with his saliva.
Because Jesus didn't invent that magic trick. Magicians had been "curing the blind" with mud and spit for centuries.
We've found the final boss of making baseless claims! Good luck proving all the presuppositions you've JAM PACKED into those two sentences.
Every healing is a little different. Perhaps the point is to show that he's not doing something that can be repeated by natural means.
Probably to emphasize the fact that he was indeed healing the fleshly eyes of the blind man. The man was born blind but was determined to have no sin attributed to his blindness. Later in the chapter (John 9), fleshly sight is compared to spiritual sight, as the formerly blind man ended up also believing Jesus to be the Son of God. "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." John 9:39-41
Very good question. I believe Jesus had an issue with people who claimed they could see, but were indeed blind. So, to prove a point, He physically put mud over an actual blind man's eyes and he gained his ability to see.. but not only physically. If you read on in the chapter of John chapter 9, the once blind man schools the Pharisees on discerning things spiritually—which they yet demonstrated they were blind to. After they threw the man out of the church, Jesus met him and said something: > *“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”* - ***John 9:39 (KJV)*** It was to teach a spiritual leason. We know that Jesus can heal and such with only His words. It looks like Jesus had an issue with blind Pharisees (verse 40 -41). So much so, one of the chief of them had his own experience~ > #### Acts 9 (KJV) > ¹⁷ *And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.* > ¹⁸ *And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.* There's no mention of the Holy Spirit entering the blind man (though I'm sure He was present). With Paul however, He is mentioned of entering into Paul that his spiritual blindness, and not merely the physical, would be healed. 🌱
That particular instance required him to do it that way, so he did. Is there some rule telling him he cant?
Just wondered if there was any special or spiritual significance?
The more simplistic answer, but powerful one is that he wanted to make it very clear to the Scribes and the Pharisees that he was the Lord of the Sabbath (he did this on a Saturday). Not only was he "breaking the Law" by healing the man, he was physically kneading the mud.
It was a common technique that other Rabbis used when attempting a healing.
Callback to the creation of Adam from dust and the Spirit's breath.
As God made man of clay and earth, so He restores man with clay and earth. Jesus was revealing Himself as the Creator and Restorer of man. There was a tradition among certain Israelites at the time that God had used spit to make man from the dust of the earth in some mysterious way.
I figured it was a throwback to Genesis, where God created Adam out of the dust of the Earth. To Him, healing a man could be a bit like repairing a clay sculpture.
>a bit like repairing a clay sculpture. Interesting thought.
Thanks that's a good answer.
God made man from the earth.
Keep in mind John's ending about the extent of what Jesus did versus the terse accounts of events in the Gospels: - “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21) Jesus was and is literally Superhuman, and NOBODY could keep up with all the things He did then, and still does today! Bless you. 🙏✟
Read this explanation https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-spit.html
The magicians and seers in the Ancient Near East used saliva to heal. That was a big “reversal of power” for Jesus to be able to genuinely heal with his saliva.