As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”).
So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
“Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.
If my kids at The Baby Fold were asked what their favorite scripture was, they might go with, “Jesus spit…” They love this story, because they get what Jesus was doing here. He intentionally broke the Sabbath- spitting was not allowed because it could roll downhill and make mud- which would be considered work by the Pharisees. Jesus could have healed the man with a touch of his hand or even from a distance. But He didn’t. He had so little time on earth to teach, so He often gives us two lessons in one. He heals and he teaches us about priorities in one compassionate event. He declares that he is the light of the world, and then he opens the eyes of the blind and shows us our need for spiritual enlightenment. And he does it with a bit of saliva….