Does the Bible Support THIS Behavior?!

The Holy Nope

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He doesn't spit in her mouth, he blows in her mouth. Here's episode 319 of the Holy Nope. I asked in the caption of this episode if people think

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John 9 supports this behavior. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man. He spits on the ground and makes mud with his saliva and then rubs the mud on the man's eyes.

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I asked this question about John 9 because on previous episodes that feature some questionable behavior, I've had people comment telling me that I would nope

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Jesus when, for example, he made mud with his spit and put it on the blind man's eyes. I got this exact comment when

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I nope Mike Todd for rubbing his spit on his brother's face. So I thought it would be helpful to take a brief look at John 9 in order to understand why

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Jesus did what he did and whether or not his actions give us the green light to do similar things today. Now as I started looking at John 9 a bit closer,

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I realized that there is a lot that can be said, sermons upon sermons of information regarding significant details in the text like the pool of Siloam and other such things, but I want to boil down the essentials for you.

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We notice that in verse 3, Jesus recognizes that this is a divine encounter meant to display the glory of his ministry as the

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Messiah. This is an action that the apostles never repeat. It is designed for Jesus and contributes toward the forward momentum of his going to the cross.

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So why does he make mud when he could have just commanded the blind man's eyes to open? There are two reasons I wish to highlight.

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First, it is to instigate conflict with the Pharisees. Jesus makes mud on the Sabbath. The Pharisees consider this a violation.

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Secondly, Jesus's instigation of this conflict with the Pharisees has a purpose. By making mud, not only does

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Jesus violate the Sabbath in their view, but he depicts the nature of the blessings of his ministry of which they are not partakers.

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This is an acted out parable in which the blind man represents the darkness of man's fallen condition and sin and need for a savior.

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And Jesus, who in the previous chapter has been proclaiming himself as the light of the world, gives him his sight so that he is no longer in darkness.

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He is no longer blind. His physical healing is a picture of the spiritual healing that Jesus was sent into the world to accomplish.

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Siloam means sent. At the conclusion of this scene, the Holy Spirit gives us insight into Jesus's purpose here with his own words.

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For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

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Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them,

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If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say, We see, your guilt remains. Jesus's point here is that while the blind man did not know who had healed him but believed in the

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Son of Man, the Pharisees claim to know for sure that he is not the Christ and refuse to acknowledge their own need.

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They are those who say, We see, yet they are blind to the truth standing in front of them. Therefore, their guilt remains.

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They will not experience the spiritual healing that the formerly blind man now enjoys. Yeah, I probably would have been a little grossed out if I saw

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Jesus do this. But that's not the point. The idea that Jesus did this, therefore we can't say that this or this is wrong is shown to be foolish once we understand what the text actually means.

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It's never as simple as copy and pasting the ministry of Jesus onto your life. There are purposes to his actions that are unique to his

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Messianic office. When we understand the text, we can safely say that this and this is a holy act.