Jesus and the Blind Man
Fourth Sunday of Lent
John 9:1-41
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031526.cfm
In today’s gospel, like in other readings from John, Jesus mixes real world experiences with parallels within the spiritual life as if they are one and the same. Today’s gospel begins with the discussion about disability coming from one’s sin or the sin of one’s family. This appears to be a common belief of people in Jesus’s time, and Jesus challenges this way of thinking.
Jesus says, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” This passage had me thinking more about suffering in general. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says that whatever you do for people suffering, you do for him, after referencing feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty drink, welcoming the stranger, providing clothing to the naked, and taking care of the ill and in prison. I don’t believe that God wants us to suffer, but suffering and can be used to reveal God amongst us. When others have need, it’s a call for us to serve, revealing the divine nature within us.
The gospel then goes through a long journey of the Pharisees trying to get to the bottom of who cured the man. At the end of the gospel, there’s an encounter between the Pharisees and Jesus where Jesus says,“I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind. If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
This passage makes me think about my social media feed and how much judgmental religious conviction this is out there disguised as certainty about God. These messages come mostly in the form of accusations about the sins and wrong doings of others. This gospel goes directly against that. The Pharisees were demonstrating that same type of judgment we see from a lot of overtly religious people today. In today’s story, the Pharisees were obsessed with the blind man and Jesus. Their focus is more on disproving the righteousness of others versus looking for continually improving themselves.
When we accuse, we act as if we are the only ones who can see. This is the sight that Jesus says will be made blind at the end of this gospel. It’s Jesus’s poetic way of saying, those who think they have certainty about God and faith will find out that they truly don’t, and those who feel as if they are blind to it will find out that they have sight. But we still feel the need to judge others and approach God with a sense of certainty. The more certain we are about God, the more likely we are worshipping an idol and not God.
We limit God to various images we’ve constructed. In a way, Jesus is saying in today’s gospel, “Those who think they know God, actually don’t.” God wants us to continually expand our thinking. It’s the desire and need for certainty that keeps us exploring and reaching for God more, but it can also be what makes us put God into our own certainty box. God challenges us to love more, not love less. This process is never done and finished, but is ever-expanding. Certainty, especially with condemnation, should always leave us questioning its validity. We should question anyone that speaks about the sins of others, whereas, someone speaking of their own redemption and transformation is an entirely different story. Sharing one’s story is far different than accusing others. God is pushing us to help and serve the suffering regardless of who they are. Regardless of what they did or didn’t do.
Thus today’s gospel Jesus says that suffering is to reveal God’s work in the world and that the blind shall see and those that see shall be blind. Part of our journey with God is a cyclical process of thinking we see to reveal that we are blind as we gain further sight. This should make us compassionate and empathetic to one another.
May our journey to God continue to lead us into sight by helping us see where we lack in love and moving us to it.
