Fifth Sunday in Lent (1)
John 9:1-17
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His
disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this
happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is
day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can
work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying
this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the
man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means
“Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and
those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who
used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only
looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were
your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 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.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I
don’t know,” he said.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been
blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes
was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received
his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I
see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not
keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So
they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you
to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a
prophet.”
In today’s assigned readings John 9:1-17, the writers of
John tell the story of Jesus and how he heals a man born blind. It illustrates several points about “Wait for
the Lord”. Firstly, it settles the
original sin arguments in that Jesus was asked whether the blindness from birth
was as a result a sin of the baby or a sin of the parents. Jesus answered the question simply “Neither
this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God
might be displayed in him.” Jesus did of
course cure the man through using salvia infused mud spread on the beggar’s
eyes and having him bathe in the Pool of Siloam. This was clearly a miracle and thus another
example of “Wait for the Lord”. As it
happened however, the dissenters of Jesus, and the Pharisees, noted that this
act was done of the Sabbath, which of courses was a sin. Not so said the former blindman, for he could
now could see Jesus. “He is a prophet”
A friend of mine for many years recently related a story to
me of how over the past couple of years he noticed his eyesight growing dimmer
and much of what he looked at taking on a dull yellowish hue. It seemed it was progressing to become
worrisome to my friend. All through this
however, he never lost his sight of God and of course Jesus. What bothered him the most was the fact that
his main form of recreation was golfing, and he could no longer see the ball.
That and of course that reading was becoming a strain. He felt like the
blindman in the story, he had lost his sight but not his faith.
My friend was diagnosed with cataracts and subsequently
received an operation for his eyes. He was relieved at regaining his sight and
very thankful. For now, he again could
see for which he truly praised God. Apparently, his golf game improved, but
more so, he saw the light of which Jesus spoke. Where there had been cloudiness
as in darkened glass, there was now a shining brightness. As Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.”. My friend
reaffirmed his faith and his understanding of biblical readings, and in turn,
in the telling his story, my faith, beliefs and understanding became
reaffirmed. Praise be to God.
- Michael Larsen