Justin J. Petrick

The more I study God’s Word, the more I am blown away by how detailed our Creator is.  In the Word, every detail is significant.  Everything has meaning.  To me, these are the secret treasure’s of God’s Word that literally makes the Word “come to life” to those who fervently seek Him.  And the more of these secret treasures you find, the greater eagerness you develop to study God’s Word, the more passionate you become, the more addicted you are.  It becomes your bread, your nourishment, your LIFE because it GIVES LIFE!  If you can not tell, I am getting excited already!

An example of detail is the story of the blind man who was healed when Jesus placed mud on his eyes.  This is one of the stories of Jesus that can perplex readers.  And I get it, why mud?  If everything in the Word has significance, then why mud?  I mean, obviously there is meaning because mud has absolutely no healing properties, it is actually a detriment to healing because of the bacteria it carries that can cause infection in wounds.  Also, mud is especially harmful to the eyes because if you have ever had mud or sand in your eyes, it is quite unpleasant and can even cause damage to your retina.  So, why mud?

To understand, we will look at the story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind in John 9.  But first, we must understand the context of what was happening before Jesus came to the blind man in the previous chapter.  In John 8, a significant event happened.  This event was that the Jews ultimately rejected Jesus.  In John 8:52, they claim Jesus is demon possessed because of what He was speaking and were literally picking up stones to kill Him. This is the ultimate form of rejection, and to me, is similar to the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  They rejected their Savior in the flesh.

Before they had a chance to stone Him, Jesus left and came across the blind man.  Immediately, the disciples asked Jesus who sinned in order for the man to be born blind.  This shows us immediately that the disciples were sin conscious.  They put sin in the center of their life, they were focused on it.  Instead of seeing the need for a saving and healing God, they focused on the fleshly nature, the sinful nature of man and attributed it as the cause of the man being born blind.  This is the same reason why the Jews rejected Jesus.  They saw the flesh and not the divine Savior.

Jesus spit on the ground, made mud and placed it on the blind man’s eyes.  What is the significance of the mud?  Well, what did God make man from?  God created man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 1).  God created flesh from mud.  As long as you focus on the flesh more than you focus on Jesus, you will live life blind.   As long as you focus on your sin, you will never experience the healing nature of Jesus. How do I make this connection?

Jesus told the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam.  The Greek word for Siloam is Silōam (Σιλωάμ), and means “sent One”.  When you see the sent One, you will see past the flesh and into the healing nature of God.  Remember, Jesus, being the sent One, has freely given us salvation.  In salvation we have inherited being saved, healed, delivered, prospered, protected, preserved and made whole.  This, is the finished work of the sent One.  Focus on Jesus, and you will not be blinded by your flesh, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, or the sinful nature, but you will live LIFE ABUNDANTLY through the Spirit! AMEN!