Welcome back. John chapter 9 verse 3 is a classic text for us at Desiring God when it comes to understanding God's good design in human disability.

In six ABJ episodes, we've talked about the man born blind and Jesus' explanation for why he was born blind.

Just a profound story, a profound revelation of God's purposes.

But today we're looking at a different part of that story. You'll remember that Jesus spit on the ground, mixed his saliva with dirt, made mud, applied that paste to the man's blind eyes, and then he sent him off to wash it all off in a pool.

And that's where his eyesight was restored. Let me read this account for us in John chapter 9 verses 1 to 7.

As he Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sent this man or his parents that he was born blind?

It's got to be a reason why, right? And Jesus answered, it was not that this man sent or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

There's the key text, why does disability exist?

Profound response with wide-ranging implications.

Then we read this, having said these things, Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva, then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him,

go wash in the pool of saloam, which means sent.

So he went and washed and came back, seeing, unquote. Here's Pastor John.

Healed him with mud, why? Could have said eyes open and they would have opened. He's done that.

He used mud and spit. I have a lot of ideas why I'm just giving the one that's most obvious in the text, least controversial.

I think it's manifest. Namely, he used mud because he knew it was Saturday, Sabbath.

And it's against the law to need dough or clay or mud.

One of the 39 interpretations of the Pharisees as to what it means not to work on Sunday was you can't need dough.

And the word for dough is identical, paylon, to the word mud or clay.

Like brick mason's, give you some more mud. All they mean is a big clump of moldable cement.

And women working with their bread, they could call it mud, they usually don't.

But it's the same word. He knew exactly what he's doing. I'm going to break the law.

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