John 9:6

Having spoken these words, he proceeds to spit on the ground, mix the dirt with his spittle in order to make some clay. He then turns to the blind man, takes the muddy concoction and covers the eyes of the blind man with the newly-made mixture.  John 9:6 EFP 

What a scene! Think about the sequence leading up to this moment. Let’s see…it begins early that morning in the temple. He rescues a woman from certain death, he defends his authority to do what he did, He predicts his death, He calls the religious leaders sons of the devil, he claims to pre-date the patriarch Abraham, and narrowly escapes a stoning of his own by passing unnoticed through a frenzied mob.

It is in the aftermath of his sudden departure from the temple that he comes across the blind man. After making his declaration about his light-bearing ministry to the world, he stoops down and mixes some of his spit with the dust on the ground and produces some gritty salve to place on the blind man’s eyes.

Why the muddy balm? Why not simply touch his darkened eyes? Or speak some sight-eliciting words? Either of these would have produced the healing—ether would be a formidable and impressive miracle. Instead his goes through the trouble of either picking up some dirt in his hand and then spitting into his hand or stooping, spitting on the ground in order to mix some clay, which he then uses to cover the beggar’s eyes.

This is intended to be a run-of-the-mill miracle. It is a statement. Jesus is creating something. He is mixing clay just like He did on creation week. He is doing something special for this man—this miracle would stand out among all the others. The following events will shed some light on his motives.