John does not give one explicit reason for every part of the mud-making action. The sign shows that Jesus chooses the means of healing, sends the man to wash and gives sight in a way that becomes publicly undeniable. The use of mud also brings the healing into the Sabbath dispute that follows.
The action may echo God forming humanity from the ground, which would suit John’s presentation of Jesus as the Word through whom creation came. The Gospel leaves that connection suggestive. Its stated emphasis rests on Jesus as the light of the world and on the man’s growing response to Him.
The mud therefore belongs to a sign about physical sight and spiritual vision. A man born blind comes to see Jesus clearly, while confident religious investigators become more resistant to the evidence before them.
“He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.”
John 9:6, KJV
Readers who want to follow this theme through the whole Gospel can continue with the full Gospel of John guide (available to our members also).
The Extra Study below explores the mud, the pool of Siloam and the Sabbath investigation, then follows the healed man’s movement from simple testimony to worship.
Go Further with the Lord
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