His Spittle Cleanses And So Does His Word — There is a blindness resulting from sickness which obscures the vision and is remedied by the passage of time. There is a blindness which is caused by some fluids and this, also, when the trouble is removed is generally cured by the skill of medicine. From this you may know that when one is cured who has been blind from birth it is not a case of skill but of power. The Lord gave health and He used no medicine, for the Lord Jesus healed those whom no one else had cured . . .
What did He wish in that He who gave back life at His command bestowed health by His Word saying to the dead: ” Come forth” and Lazarus came forth from the tomb; saying to the paralytic: “Arise, take up your pallet” and the paralytic arose and began to take up the pallet on which he was carried when he was paralyzed in all his limbs. Why, I say, did He spit and make clay and spread the clay over the eyes of the blind man and say to him: “To wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is interpreted “sent”)? So he went away and washed and began to see. What is the reason for this? An important reason, unless I am mistaken, for he whom Jesus touches sees more.
Notice at the same time HIs divinity and his sanctity. As the Light He touched and shed light; as Priest He fulfilled in the figure of baptism the mysteries of spiritual grace. He spat so that you might realize that the things within Christ are light. One who is cleansed by the means which Christ uses truly sees. His spittle cleanses and so does His Word.
Saint Ambrose of Milan
Saint Ambrose lived from about 340 to 397 A.D.
Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church