Healing the blind with mud made with spit. Kneeling to the ground amidst an angry crowd demanding an answer and writing with his finger in the dust. Sticking his fingers in a deaf and mute man’s ears and tongue.
These are all actions that Jesus performed during his earthly ministry as described by the Bible.
Okay, let’s be honest … do any or all of these actions strike you as … odd?
By reading the stories in context of the gospels, it is clear to me that they struck not only the crowds of witnesses as odd, but often they strike the disciples as odd too! The Twelve were constantly being exposed to Jesus’s surprises – his words, his parables, his actions – that they weren’t expecting, and didn’t know what quite to make of at first.
Let’s take a closer look at these three stories and see if we can figure some of it out:
In John 9, Jesus and his disciples encounter a man who was born blind. The disciples ask if he was blind because he had sinned, or because his parents had sinned. They assumed the physical ailment was a consequence of sin, but Jesus assures them that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with sin.
In verse 6: After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam.” So the man went and washed and came home seeing.
In other gospel accounts, Jesus has healed people simply by touching them, or even not touching them at all. So why these particular accounts of using spit?
While researching this topic, I came across an article by Bob Yandian Ministries entitled, The Miracle of Spit and Sight. I liked his interpretation of this topic, so I’ll include it here.
“In the Bible, spit is a dirty topic. No matter where you look in the Bible, you will find it is a great insult to spit on someone, or to be spit upon. Anyone under the Law of Moses who was spit upon had to wash themselves and their clothes. Even after washing, they were considered unclean until the evening (Leviticus 15:8). Other scriptures deal with the insult of being spit upon (Numbers 12:14, Deuteronomy 25:9). Jesus was spit upon as a great insult before He was crucified (Matthew 27:30).
When Jesus spit into the dirt to make a mud poultice to put on the blind man’s eyes, he was spitting on the blindness. This was the ultimate insult to sickness and disease.
In Luke 4:39, we see Jesus being brought to Simon’s house because Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Jesus rebuked the fever and it left her immediately. So if Jesus could speak to sickness and rebuke it, then apparently sickness can hear. If sickness and disease can hear, it can also be insulted. Jesus released all of His contempt for Satan and his works when He spit on the blindness.”
Interesting theory! It could also help explain the next story I identified, in Mark 7:32 - 35: Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!) At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Following the previous interpretation presented by Bob Yandian, in this healing story, Jesus utilized his own spit to insult the evil that had taken a grip on the man and combined with calling on his Heavenly Father’s help, the man regained his hearing and speech.
Another part of this story that I love is, Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd. This was a kind act showing respect for the man’s privacy. A website called Heartlight interprets it like this, “Jesus' concern is clearly to bless and heal this man, not to make a name for himself. He has power over disease as well as demons. His desire is to use that power to bless and deliver, not to amaze or bewilder the crowds. As God's Son among us, Jesus is personal and intentional with his care. He will not exploit another's misfortune to receive praise just as a miracle worker. What a powerful lesson for all of us who call him our Lord and example.”
Hallelujah. I have one other “odd thing” to examine, and it has nothing to do with spit!
In John 8:6, Jesus was in the temple courts in Jerusalem. As often happens wherever he went, people gathered around him and he began to teach them. It was dawn, which is interesting to me. Who would just happen to stroll by at dawn and see him and come over? No, these people had gotten up early with the hopes of encountering him so they could listen and learn.
But the Pharisees had secured a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. I don’t know whether she was leaving a man’s home at that early hour, or if a Pharisee actually walked into the room to catch her in the act. But they had dragged her to where Jesus was and used her as a test to see what Jesus would recommend they do with her.
John 8: 4 - 6: They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
Which brings us to our third “odd thing” example! There’s a crowd of peaceful followers around him. They’ve been interrupted by a frothed-up group of Pharisees dragging a woman against her will and using her to trap the Messiah in an answer they think will be wrong and justify arresting him. Can’t you just picture it?
What would I do? Probably stand up, raise my voice and say, “Let go of her. Stop trying to trap me!”
But Jesus calmly bent down and started to write in the dust.
The story continues in verse 7: When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
It’s long been a mystery about what exactly he was writing. John’s gospel doesn’t tell us. Here are some theories:
· He was writing down the 10 Commandments.
· He was writing the text of Deuteronomy 22:22 which is the law they are referring to.
· He was writing down all the names of the Pharisees trying to trap him.
But in my research, I came across a theory that I love so, hey, let’s go with that!
Dr. David Kyle Foster writes in his article, What Did Jesus Write on the Ground? “The scribes and Pharisees had demanded that Jesus sentence the woman to death, as taught in Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22-24.
[The NASB Study Bible notes that “they altered the law a little. The manner of execution was not prescribed unless the woman was a betrothed virgin. And the law required the execution of both parties, not just the woman.”]
If Jesus had said to stone her, they would have charged Him with hypocrisy, because He was always teaching about mercy. If He said not to stone her, they would have charged Him with breaking the Mosaic Law.
Spotting their trick, He stooped down and wrote something on the ground, saying: If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. (John 8:7) He then proceeded to write something else on the ground, after which they dropped their stones and walked away.
Jeremiah 17:13 (which all the Pharisees would be familiar with) says: O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.
I would like to offer that this passage seems to indicate that Jesus first wrote their names in the dust and perhaps then wrote a sin that they had committed next to their name.”
Mic drop! Dr. Foster picks up on the fact that he wrote in the dust, then asked he who was without sin to be the first, then went back and wrote a second time! Here’s the actual verse (8:9): At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
It isn’t documented, but what if Jesus wrote a list of the names of the Pharisees present, then offered his challenge to them to cast the first stone, then using his omniscient knowledge, wrote each man’s sin – and one by one, the religious leader looks at the ground, reads what Jesus had written, and knowing it was true, left quietly.
Remember God wrote the Ten Commandments with his own finger. The same finger that had written the Law back then was also the finger that was writing on the ground now. Therefore, since He was the author of the Law, He was the One to properly interpret and execute it (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10).
He was showing the Pharisees exactly who he was. But as we all know if we’ve read the gospels, they don’t believe him, do they?
But in the final verses of this story, the accused woman believed him. Verse10 – 11: Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
After learning more about what some of these odd things Jesus did actually mean, it makes me even more amazed at this man who was also God, and how he interacted with his fellow humans on earth.
Leave me a comment if you have other examples of “odd things” Jesus did that don’t make sense to you and we can research them together for a future blog.
Meanwhile, let’s pray: Dear God, thank you for your word. Thank you for providing us with a wealth of knowledge and guidance contained in the Bible. It’s so much that we’ll never learn it or understand it all. But the more we grasp, the more we understand. Amen.