Lent 4A: The Blinding Light that Helps Us See

For the 4th Sunday of Lent, Adam and Lindsey discuss the John 9:1-41. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” What a horrible question!

This is what the disciples – not the crowds or the Pharisees, but Jesus’s closest followers – ask. It is a victim-blaming mentality that sees misfortune and terrible circumstances as punishment for sin. It is cruel, and it perpetuates misery by hindering compassion and further marginalizing those most in need.

Jesus answers that neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that this man was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. There may be a temptation to interpret this as God making a man blind in order to provide the occasion for a miracle so that Jesus can prove his power. But God doesn’t make people blind in order to show off!

Any time someone takes the opportunity to show love and compassion, God’s works are revealed. The new vision we all need is to see that God is Love, and that God empowers us to love one another beyond all the barriers we create to keep us apart.

Our worst blinders are blame, accusation, and resignation. Our worst blinders are those that keep us from reaching out to others because of fear or hate, or an understanding that “they” are not “us.”

Sometimes, our worldview can become so clouded with cynicism and enmity that it needs to be shut down completely. Sometimes we need a “road to Damascus” moment, when we have to be blinded by Light and Love in order to see.