Jesus-The Best Bible Teacher I Ever Had

It's taken me a few days to process what I got out of our first Lenten visit to the Blessed Sacrament. My husband and I sat in the front pew in the darkness. I brought my Kindle which has my Bible in it. Now, I've been meditating on this scripture for quite a long time:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Silo'am" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.” John 9:1-7

The part about Jesus spitting into the clay and anointing the man’s eyes in particular has been tripping me up for a while. I always wondered why in every other instance Jesus would heal people with just a word, or command; I wondered why would He decide in this case to do something so formulaic.

I have been thinking back to the second story of creation in the book of Genesis, and figured there was a connection there:

“…a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground -- then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:6-7

So there before Jesus, after deeply praying Psalm 51 (a very effective prayer for Lent), I returned to this passage in Genesis. I asked the Lord to teach me. Something suddenly became illuminated:

“…a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground”—WATER

“…and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”—SPIRIT

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:5-6

The formula for our creation is water & clay for the flesh; the Breath of Life for the Spirit. Can it be MORE logical that the formula for our REBIRTH, or our being born again has to do with WATER AND SPIRIT--BAPTISM & CONFIRMATION? And as if that weren't enough, Jesus demonstrates the power of creation upon a man born blind--working "the works of him who sent me".

Of course this is my own private revelation, and you may have a different take on these stories (and it would be very cool if you shared). In my mind, though, I suddenly see everything Jesus did--even spitting into the dirt and making a paste in this one story--as a powerful message that the Catholic Church is His Church. It's as if Jesus anointed my eyes with clay and made me see.

I can't even put into words the rest of what I've gained from just this one little granule of information; I'm going to spend the next two days with this story and discover what else He taught me.

I can't wait until my next lesson.