Mensa Otabil - An Unusual Intervention
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We’ve been looking at John chapter 9, the encounter between Jesus and the blind man. The man was blind from birth. The disciples of Jesus asked him, «Whose fault is it? Is it the man’s sin or his parents'?» Jesus said, «Neither of them, but that the works of God will be done.» Now Jesus takes the step to remedy the situation. So, John 9:6 states, «When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and he anointed the eyes of the man with the clay.» Primarily in the Gospels, Jesus healed people either by speaking a word of healing to them, telling them to be healed, rise up and walk, or by touching them with his hands. These were the primary ways that Jesus healed people. But on this occasion, Jesus did something unusual: he used clay to touch the eyes of the man.
So, I want you to pay attention to three things that stand out from this passage. First is that Jesus made clay, and he made clay with saliva. The big deal is not about the saliva because, in the days of Jesus, that is how people normally made clay- a small piece of clay was made with saliva. So, it wasn’t unusual for Jesus; it was a normal thing. The important thing is that he made clay. Clay comes from the earth; it’s a natural product. Interestingly, God created man from the same ground, so there is something Jesus is demonstrating about using natural elements as part of the healing process. He’s using natural elements in the healing process, showing that God can sometimes use them.
Secondly, Jesus touched the man’s eyes. Why do I say Jesus touched him? Because the clay didn’t lift itself from the ground to touch the man. Jesus scooped the clay from the ground and used his hand to touch the man’s eyes. Here, we see the hand of Jesus and the clay working together. So, two things are happening: the natural element and the supernatural; the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ is being used to apply the healing.
The third thing we learn is that Jesus anointed the man’s eyes with the clay. His hand and the clay anointed the man’s eyes, and that is how he executed the healing process. There are lessons to learn from this. The lesson is that sometimes, when we’re sick, God can use natural elements. Today we may call them medicine, because all medicines come from nature-they come from plants, or from the earth, or from processed chemicals or minerals. God can touch it, and anoint it, and use it to bring healing to us.
So, Jesus is very intentional and deliberate about this: sometimes God can use natural elements with his hand and with his power to touch us where we are, and we will be healed. The other thing to notice is that Jesus touched the place of the problem. He didn’t touch his leg or his arm because the man’s arm and leg were not sick; what is sick is what he touches. That’s a clue about how God works. When he is working to bring wholeness to us, he touches the place where we hurt. Sometimes, when God touches the place where you hurt, you may feel more pain; you may feel discomfort. You may feel that he is worsening your situation, but if you trust God, he never touches you to hurt you; he touches you to heal you.
So, he uses natural elements; the hand of Jesus anoints the eye of the man. Tomorrow, we’re going to find out what happened as a result of this process of using the hand of Jesus and natural elements to touch people. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, touch my life with your healing hands. I receive the healing anointing in my body, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.»