Disgusting Miracles?

 

“After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” John 9:6

 

Throughout the Bible, God uses unusual ways to get things done; crows to deliver food to Elijah, then later a widow woman with next to nothing to eat, a donkey to correct a Balaam, 300 to defeat a multitude, etc. There are a lot of them, some of them funny but most ironic is some way. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Jesus takes it to a new extreme. Sometimes, it’s a little disgusting. You might find it humorous, or at least humorous that I get a little queasy thinking about it.

Consider this: “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” (Mark 7:33). Jesus stuck his fingers in the guy’s ears (didn’t wash them before or after, either), then spits (I’m assuming on his fingers). Finally, he touches the man’s tongue with fingers that were just in his ears and spit on. Yuk (for me at least).

Yes, I know there are reasons Jesus did what he did and that he was using the miracle as a parable but it is still unsettling for this guy’s weak stomach.

At the end of the day, I still trust God and if Jesus has to spit on me to be blessed then I need to be willing to accept it.