Year A - Lent 4

Once I was Blind, But Now I See

Liturgy of the Word:
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

Background

• Jesus was in Jerusalem
• The Synoptics have Jesus going to Jerusalem only once
• John tells us that Jesus went back and forth from Jerusalem many times
• He has been teaching in the courtyard of the Temple
• The Jews were astonished at his teaching
• He tells them not to judge by appearances

• Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart.

• Jesus says to them,

• I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness

• And he says,

• If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

• The Jews accused him of being possessed by a demon
• They picked up stones with which to stone him
• But Jesus slipped past them in the crowd and left the Temple

What does it mean to see

• It is the sense of sight
• To see the world around us
• To see the beauty of God’s creation
• But it also means to understand
• I see what you mean
• Jesus is the Light of the world
• He is the agent by which God makes all things known


• When we see Jesus
• We have seen the Love of God
• We have seen the salvation of God
• We see hope for the world
• We see hope for ourselves

Jesus and the Blind man

• Who sinned, this man or his parents?
• Infirmity and illness was the result of sin
• It could be the sin of the person who is ill
• Or it could be the sin of the parents, grandparents or other ancestor
• Jesus puts to rest the notion that illness or calamity is the result of sin
• Our human condition is not the punishment of God
• Our condition is the consequence of the cumulative choices we make in our lifetime
• Sometimes we make good choices
• Sometimes we make bad choices
• The man was blind from birth
• He had never seen the light of day
• Modern science has been successful in restoring sight to a once sighted person on certain occasions
• Modern science has not been able to give sight to a person who has never ever seen
• They cannot make an artificial eye that will send light signals to the brain and duplicate the sensation of sight
• What Jesus did here was truly remarkable
• The Jews didn’t believe that the man who could see was in fact the same man who had sat on the street begging

I was blind but now I see

• The Jews interrogated the parents, twice
• They wanted them to say that this man was not their son
• They wanted them to praise God for the miracle
• They wanted any statement that would discredit Jesus with the performance of this miracle
• They interrogated the man himself


• They interrogated him twice
• They accused Jesus of being a sinner


• Meaning he was incapable of performing miracles because of his sin

• I do not know if this man is a sinner, what I do know is that I was blind, but now I see.

Amazing Grace

• Jesus stands as the Light of the world
• Won’t you come to that light
• For Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of illness and despair
• It is through him that we can truly see the salvation of God
• It is through him that we can truly see the Love of God
• And it is through him that his light shines through us for us to become the Light to the world around us
• It is because of the Love of God in Christ Jesus and his saving grace for us even while we are sinners, that inspired John Newton to pen these words:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.

Thanks be to God