YOU DON’T KNOW SPIT!
"As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'
Having said these things, He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then He anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing" (John 9:1-7).
If anyone really understands the words to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody I wish he would speak up, but one of the iconic phrases is "So you think you can stomp me and spit in my eye?"
Can you think of anything worse than having someone spit in your eye? That's the ultimate expression of disgust and disdain. And that is one of the most revolting, disgusting things anyone can do to you. The only thing I can think of that would be worse is having someone spit in the dirt, make mud with the saliva, and then rub it in your eye. Mud made out of spit and rubbed in your eye. What is worse than that?
Unbelievably, Jesus didn't save the blind man from the bully who was going to do that to him. Jesus IS THE ONE who did it to him! Wait, Jesus didn't do it to him. He did it for him.
And here is the interesting thing. When Jesus did it to him, nothing happened. The man was still blind. Jesus did His thing, but the miracle wasn't complete until the blind man did his thing.
Jesus said, "Now, go and wash in the pool of Siloam." It wasn't a given that the blind man would do that. He had never met Jesus. He couldn't see Jesus. He was blind. My response would be to come up swinging and cursing. It certainly would not have been "blind" obedience.
The man already had reason to be bitter. He was born blind. Life wasn't fair. Then the One who supposedly created him and allowed him to be born blind, literally adds insult to injury by spitting in his blind eye.
Jesus spoke the worlds into existence, but He spit in this man's eye. Couldn't He have done it without the spit? I guess what I'm really asking is, "Lord, can't you do it without the spit in my life?" I don't want You to do it that way. I want the clean way, the instant way, the way that maintains my dignity, the way that makes me look good and feel good. But Jesus has a different path. He wants to humble us and test us.
It was not until the blind man accepted the spit as his means of healing that the miracle took place. It was not until he responded in obedience to the step that he was capable of doing, that the miracle took place. Jesus applied the miracle spit, but it didn't take effect until it was combined with faith (I will trust the One who just spit on me) and obedience (I will wash in the pool of Siloam just like He told me).
This reminds me of the story of the donkey that fell into the well. It was too deep to get him out, and he was too heavy to lift up. The only thing left to do was bury him alive. But the donkey had other ideas. Every time a load of dirt was thrown into the well he would just "shake it off and step up." When enough dirt was thrown, he was out of the well.
Jesus uses the dirt, He uses the spit, He uses the pain. Those are the things that bring me strength, and healing, and deliverance. Oh Lord, please heal my blindness so that I can see these things that I have been viewing as insults from Your perspective.
