By Jamie Mangalathu
Respected Achen, and my fellow parishioners.
This weeks Bible passage is “The Curing of the Blind Man” taken from John chapter 9. Here we see jesus taking notice to a blind man who had this condition since birth. As Jesus was passing his disciples asked him if the man was blind because of his sins or his parents. Jesus replied to them saying neither the man nor his parents had committed any sin, and that his blindness was purposeful, so that the works and power of god could be manifested within him. Jesus declared that so long as he is in the world, he is the light of the world. he proceeded to make mud from the spittle of the earth and smear it over the blind man’s eyes and then Jesus told him, go and wash in the pool of siloam, and the blind man went and washed his eyes and could see.
Let us focus on few specific details from this miracle: Firstly Jesus’s response to the disciples who had asked him about the sin related blindness. In the Jewish faith it is believed that if a previous generations had committed a sin,it was believed that the punishment would be passed on throughout the following generations. The disciple also had asked if the man had sin, implying the man before his birth could have sinned and received this punishment. However the lord states that the man is not blind because of his sin ,but is blind so that his blindness will allow the works of God to be shown within him. Christ does not focus on the cause of the man’s blindness, but he goes beyond that, he focuses on the purpose the man’s blindness has with God. Jesus then goes on to say, “ I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Here, there is an emphasis on God’s purpose for this healing as well as jesus’s awareness of God’s plans. By saying “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Christ is stating his power to overcome the darkness of the world and give it light. By saying he is the light of the world, christ enhances his authority over the darkness which the blind man faces. Secondly, let’s focus on what Christ then uses as his procedure for healing the blind man: dust and saliva. If we look back to the creation of mankind in the book of Genesis God created man from the dust of the earth, so christ’s reason of using the mud clay substance was so that his actions parallel to that of the creation of mankind, and by adding his saliva he adds a part of himself. Thirdly after Jesus smears the mud onto the man’s eyes he, tells him to go wash it off in the pool of siloam. Siloam in hebrew means sent and Jesus is the messiah sent from heaven.
Let’s now look at this miracle from a different perspective, through the blind man’s. He’s blind, he can’t see the disciples nor jesus but, he can hear them talking about him, and remains quiet. The blindman also allows Jesus to smear mud onto his eyes and listens to, and obeys the commands of Jesus. The blind man could have gone anywhere to wash off the mud, but he listened and went to the pool of siloam like jesus had instructed and was healed. When the former blind man returns from the pool of siloam he goes to his town where people who had known him to be the blind man begging at the roadside. They wonder how he could have possibly regained his sight, instead of being astounded by this seemingly impossible miracle of curing a man who had been born blind, the people are instead wondering who the man was who cured the formerly blind man,and where this healer could be. Their curiosity over who performed the miracle and their need to see him rather than glorification and awe at such a miracle is most probably because they too hope to seek personal gain from the newfound healer. And the miracle of healing the blind man only stirs their need for self benefit.
The pharisees who are unable to believe the miracle question the formerly blind man twice and ask him how he is able to see again. He said that a man named Jesus healed him and the pharisees questioned jesus’s validity saying that if he were god he would not do this on the holy sabbath day some even wondered if jesus was a sinner, the formerly blind man said to them I know not if Jesus is a sinner but i know this, Since the world began it was not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If he was not not god, he would have been able to do nothing. The pharisees, upon hearing this statement from him, excommunicated him from the temple.
What we all should learn from the blind man’s story is that though we may not be physically blind, spiritual blindness may also blind us from seeing god. When god comes out of his way to help clear our vision like he did for the blind man, even though we may not see him we should be obedient and follow his commands so that our eyes may be opened and we may be able to grow in faith. Just like the blind man, who had not seen jesus after he had been cured had faith that this man who had cured his ailment was indeed god, and because of his belief the pharisees threw him out. It may be hard to proclaim and remain steadfast to our faith, as the formerly blind man did when he was questioned by the pharisees twice regarding Jesus, however like the blind man who, even with the threat of being excommunicated remained strong in his response. we too must also remain strong and get through the hurdles and doubts facing us, just as the blind man who never questioned jesus and obediently went and washed of the mud from his eyes, and gained vision. During the final stretch of this great lent season we should all try to listen for god and obey his commands so that we too may open our eyes to him and not be blinded by our doubts, and see the light of jesus in the world.
Thank you.
