Fourth Sunday of Lent
1 Sam 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5: 8-14; John 9: 1-41
Dc. Larry Brockman
So, how is it that you and I are blind? We are still in the midst of Lent; a time for meditation and reflection on our lives; a time for purification and change, so that when the Resurrection occurs, and the Light of the World, the resurrected Christ, shines his pure light into our hearts, we will be ready- ready like Paul challenges the Ephesians to be ready: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light.” And the chances are that each one of us, yes, each one of us, is still blind. We cannot see as God sees, and we would do well to reflect on that, so that on Easter, we can live as light, fully comfortable and joyful.
In today’s Gospel, the blind man goes through a miraculous transformation physically; he is cured of his physical blindness in a flash. But he also goes through a second transformation: He is cured of spiritual blindness. We can see that this second transformation is slower. Notice that, as the multiple dialogs in our Gospel unfold, the blind man begins with spiritual ignorance. First, we hear: “I don’t know what happened, all I know is that Jesus did this to me and now I can see”. He was probably so shocked, so taken by what happened to him physically, that the implications of it all hadn’t had a chance to settle in. But then, as the later dialogs develop between the blind man and the Pharisees and between the blind man and Jesus, we see that he has a different attitude. So, he describes Jesus as a prophet- an explicit recognition that something exceptional happened, because he had a chance to reflect on the miracle. Yes, indeed, something profound happened and that meant to him that there was something special about Jesus. But then, after he meets Jesus again and Jesus tells him that He is the Messiah, the blind man tells Jesus that He believes. Ah, yes, he believes that Jesus is more than a prophet, and goes so far as to worship Him. Indeed, this blind man went through a spiritual transformation.
Now there are some of you who might think: “Well, that is all very interesting, but it happened to this one man. Certainly, I cannot identify with that blind man personally; after all, I am here, already a believer, a real believer. It’s the people like the Pharisees and the others in today’s Gospel story who are blind, not me.” Well, consider this. Samuel was one of the greatest Prophets and Judges of the Old Testament. And yet Samuel was still blind, unable to see as God sees. The proof of that is today’s story of the choice of David. Samuel is ready to choose the handsome older son of Jesse because, he saw differently than God. But God says basically, “don’t judge by appearances”. Samuel, you see, was blinded by appearances. And yet, ironically, once David is brought from virtual exile, away, hidden from sight by his pastoral duties as the family shepherd; indeed, once David is brought into the light, our reading tells us that David is “a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance”! Wow! Once Samuel’s eyes were truly opened, then he could really see. All of us who think that we can see need the same kind of transformation. And Lent is the perfect time for us to stop what we are doing, take time out from the brilliance of the world and all it has to distract us, and to step back in such a way, that the hidden wisdom of God can transform us- transform us so that we can see, see the way God sees.
So, I ask again, how is it that you and I are blind? What is it that you are not seeing that is affecting your life, your relationship with God? Is it something that is in your background, something that’s been there all along but you just haven’t seen it- a person, a circumstance, an opportunity, a problem? Is it something that you are hiding, keeping locked up inside of you? Perhaps it is something even suppressed because you don’t want to come to grips with it; or perhaps something that needs attention right now, but you think you are too busy to deal with it? Then again, maybe you’ve been praying for something, and you don’t recognize that God has already answered your prayer because you are judging by your ability to see, and can’t see as God sees.
Our second reading ends with a great piece of advice. It is thought to be lifted from an ancient Baptismal hymn. It is something all of us Baptized Christians would do well to ponder as we try to see things in our life rhe way God sees them. The advice is this: “Awake, O sleeper and arise from the dead. And Christ will give you light”.