Blindness

John 9: 1, 6 – 34

             As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth . . . He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, ‘Sent’). So the man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

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            Knowing and seeing the truth can be hazardous to your lifestyle. It can lead to behavioral changes that maybe we’d rather not make. So sometimes we resist the opportunity to know; we pretend not to see; we try real hard not to understand, not to feel.
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            Jesus’ curing of the blind man is a wonderful story. While it appeals to us on one level, it’s really calling us to action on another. In the story Jesus gives a precious gift. This man, who has never seen, opens his eyes for the very first time. The appeal is in the magic, the joy, the miracle that happens; but that’s not the end of it. Jesus brings this man out of the darkness and into the light for a purpose. He calls him forth and sends him into action: “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means the one who has been sent).

            The man’s life gets very complicated from that point forward. No one is happy for him. For some reason society is threatened by him now. Everyone is hostile and using him as a reference point to attack Jesus. Even his parents distance themselves from him. As a blind beggar, at least he belonged; but now society chews him up and tries to spit him out. The more he stands up for Jesus, the more he is degraded and abused until finally he suffers bodily harm. The Gospel writer doesn’t tell us the man’s name. Perhaps he is meant to represent everyman, everywoman. Perhaps he is meant to be you and me.

            Where Jesus used spit and mud to give sight to the blind man, he uses the Gospel — handed down through the centuries — to give sight to us. But once we are brought into the light, our life too can get complicated, for the Gospel calls us to action.

            What exactly is it that we Christians are called to do? Jesus tells us in one special parable, the story of the Last Judgment. He tells us about the confusion among those people who are not being admitted into heaven: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and not offer you food; naked and not offer to clothe you? When were you lonely and we didn't spend time with you. When did we see you cry and not try to wipe away your tears?” The Lord answers: “I tell you, each time you neglected to do these things for the very least of your sisters and brothers, you neglected to do them for me.”

            What complications has Jesus’ gift of sight caused in our lives?

             Seeing as Christians in the light of the Gospel: how can we climb over the bodies of homeless people as we commute each day to work, and avoid seeing the face of Christ in each one of them? And once we do see, what do we do then?

            Seeing as Christians in the light of the Gospel: how can we fail to recognize Christ in the lonely and hurting eyes of the spouse we have neglected in our quest for self-fulfillment; the children who’ve grown up while we were out building our career or doing our thing; the relative or friend we haven’t spoken to for years over some incident we can’t even remember? And once we do see, what do we do then?

            Seeing as Christians in the light of the Gospel: how do we miss the Christ standing in the shadows who listens and watches with sadness as we buy into gossip; as we accept, by our silence, the racially or ethnically degrading joke, the anti-Semitic or homophobic remark? And once we do see, what do we do then?

            The answer to these questions is very personal and different for each one of us. But once we recognize conflict between our lifestyle and the Gospel, once we see Christ present in each of our sisters and brothers, we are called to make decisions, to act — to fail to do so is to pretend not to see. And everyone knows that, thanks to Jesus, we Christians can now see.

            If someday in our world being a Christian were to become a crime, let us hope that there would be enough evidence to convict each and every one of us, and to put us away for eternity.

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Readers of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on Amazon.com:

Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life

Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry