CURE OF THE MAN BORN BLIND Blindness is an abnormal human condition. The individual who is blind is visually impaired as he or she cannot see. The blind man or woman is perpetually in darkness and is simply at the mercy of others as he or she has to rely on others to move from one place to another. Due to the condition of blindness the individual could easily be exploited and deceived. In the book of Genesis 27, we read that Jacob deceived his father Isaac, who was blind, by receiving the blessing which was meant for his elder brother Esau. In ancient Israel, those who were blind were not admitted into the priesthood (Lev. 21:18) and a blind animal was not offered in sacrifice (Deut. 15:21). The Law of Moses prescribed kindness and assistance to the blind and forbade anyone from putting a ‘stumbling block’ in their path (Lev. 19:14; Deut. 27:18). In the beginning of his Earthly ministry, Jesus said: ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor….liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind’ (Lk. 4:18). This statement of Jesus was put into practice in the course of his public ministry when he cured the blind three times: at Bethsaida (Matt. 9:27; Mk. 8:22); at Jericho (Matt. 20:30; Mk. 10:46; Lk. 18:35), and in the gospel reading of today where we read that Jesus restored sight to the man who was born blind at Jerusalem (Jn. 9:1-41). The restoration of sight to those who were blind was one of the signs of Jesus’ Messianic mission (Mk. 11:5). Blindness could either be physical or spiritual. The man who was born blind suffered from physical blindness (Jn. 9:1-41); the blindness that St. Paul suffered after his encounter with the Lord on his way to Damascus was a physical one (Acts. 9:9,18). Blindness becomes spiritual when an individual lacks spiritual insight (Is. 42:19; Rm. 2:19; 1 Jn. 2:11). At various times during his earthly ministry, Jesus referred to the Pharisees as blind people leading the blind (Matt. 15:14). Jesus also challenged the Pharisees to remove the splinter from their eyes so that they can see clearly and remove the splinter from the eyes of their brother (Lk. 6:41-42). As Christians, there are many times when we think blindly, talk blindly, act and behave blindly yet we tell people that we know what we are doing. The man who makes it his duty to beat up his lawfully wedded wife acts blindly since no man in his clear senses can beat up a woman whom he has promised to love all the rest of his life. The Christian civil servant who indulges in bribery and corruption, nepotism, tribalism and other related vices acts blindly; the Christian politician who sends thugs after his perceived political opponents acts blindly; the house wife who speaks ill of her husband to the hearing of others acts blindly; the child who remains disobedient and disrespectful to his parents and other constituted authorities acts blindly. In this fourth Sunday of Lent, we are all invited to come out of our spiritual blindness and enter into God’s wonderful presence of light as this will help us in the following which include: viewing things in the way God wants us and not through our human eyes; guiding people along the right path as the responsorial psalm sings; refraining from the unfruitful works of darkness as contained in the second reading and believing in Jesus as the light of the world which darkness cannot overpower (Jn. 1:5). Lord, open our eyes that we may walk in the light of your command.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 20:03:32 +0000
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