JESUS SPIT ON HIM

“Some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him” (Mark 8:22, NLT).

The Bible is filled with anonymous heroes, nameless servants of the Lord who in quiet, faithful service help others have an encounter with God or receive a miracle. Consider the young woman who told the wife of Naaman, the leprous general of the Syrian army, about Elisha and the miracles God was doing through him (see 2 Kings 5). And then there was the little boy who willingly gave up his lunch so that Jesus could take the five loaves of bread and two fish and miraculously feed five thousand men and at least that many women and children (John 6:9). We don’t know the names of these servants but they are truly heroes of the faith because of their willingness to serve.

“Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Can you see anything now?’” (verse 23).

“Some people” persistently asked, even begged, and Jesus responded to their repeated calls for help by taking the man by the hand and leading him out of the village. This is a beautiful picture of salvation and God’s continuing care for us as we grow in Him. 

Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us away from the sinfulness of our past — which is represented by the village. Our responsibility is to keep our hand in His. One night when I was in treatment for throat cancer, I asked the Lord what I should do. I was sick and tired, and anxiety and fear were trying to gain access. As clearly as I have ever heard Him speak, in a very loving and fatherly voice He said, “Put your hand in Mine!” Immediately I knew my heavenly Father was present and He had everything under control. Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us into our future!

What happened next to the blind man is very unorthodox. Jesus spit on the man’s eyes! Yes, I did say “He spit”! In the original language (are you ready for this?) the word used here means “to spit.”

If a preacher were to do this today, he could be arrested for possibly spreading a disease. Then he would be vilified on CNN by Piers Morgan for being an absolutely disgusting human being who had the audacity to propagate Christianity by spitting.

 

Why did Jesus spit on the man’s eyes? I don’t really know but He had done this on two other occasions. Once He spit on the ground, mixed some dirt with His spit, put the mud on a blind man’s eyes — and the man was healed (John 9:6)! The other time a deaf man who could not speak clearly was brought to Him. Jesus spit on His fingers, touched the man’s tongue and he was healed (Mark 7:33). Could it be that Jesus simply wanted to establish the fact that what was going to happen was out of the ordinary, that this was a divine intervention that was beyond any rational explanation? The unregenerate mind is incapable of fully grasping the love and grace of God!

In all fairness, in folk medicine of Bible times it was thought that saliva had medicinal qualities and often was recommended for treatment of eye disease. What Jesus did is shocking to us but it would not have been as shocking to the watching crowd.

“The man looked around. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around’” (verse 24).

Salvation is articulated as “the new birth” (John 3:3). Newborn babies do not see clearly or really know what they are seeing and they don’t talk clearly, either, although that will come in due time. The Bible tells us that newborn Christians are not fully grown up, they are babies! And as babies, they need to be cared for, taught and given the time to grow into maturity. People looked like trees to the healed man because his eyes had not been working before and it would take time for them to be trained to focus and for him to understand what he was seeing.

What is happening here shows the progressive growth of both salvation and healing. We are encouraged to “grow in Christ” (1 Peter 3:18). Most healings are not miracles — miracles are instantaneous but healing is a process.

Jesus said, “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18, NKJV). Recovery is a process that occurs over time. “Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly” (verse 25).
 
The Lord does not just grab us at the moment of salvation, cleanse us of sin, and then let us go out to fend for ourselves. He is with us to help us grow into the man or woman He has destined us to be. He is not done with us just because we have been believers for five years or twenty years or even fifty years. He is still leading us by the hand. And He is still putting His hands on our eyes and helping us to see clearly. “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20, NLT).

“Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Don’t go back into the village on your way home’” (verse 26).

Jesus told him, “On your journey home don’t go back to where you were before. Let all of that go. You are a new man now and the old life, the village life, is not for you anymore.”

Following are statements that only you can make. Are you willing?

“Jesus, I need a fresh touch of You in my life. I need to see more clearly; I need to grow in You. Please, Jesus, spit on me!”