3rd April, 2011 Fourth Sunday of Lent. A
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This gospel of the cure of the blind man and the extraordinary response of the religious authorities around Jesus, is really quite a delightful and intriguing chapter.
The blind man is initially unsure what is happening, but he is sure of one thing, whatever people are making of his situation… ‘he was blind and now he can see.” The same cannot be said (spiritually) for the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, who really ought to know better but choose not to.
There is a lot of movement in this story… there are people coming and going in this drama…. Jesus walks past the blind man, who received this free gift of sight apparently without even asking for it… but he is certainly grateful… then the crowd takes him to the Pharisees because they can’t believe its really the same person…. Then the Pharisees send him away.. and then the parents of the blind man come in and go.. after carefully getting themselves out of trouble…. And then Jesus goes looking for the ex-blind man and speaks with him again/…. Its all wonderful…..
Now, not only has the man got his sight back… he can now see Jesus with the eyes of faith, which is an ever greater gift he has received….
The man believes in what Jesus tells him and worships Jesus.
The experts in the law and those considered publicly righteous, do not respond in the way they should to Jesus. They will not listen to him, they will not see what is really going on. They will not believe even when the blind see again.
These people will not let go of their stubborn and wrong beliefs that physical conditions are caused by the wrongdoing or sin of the person or their ancestors… they won’t let go of the false belief that God is punishing sick and disabled people for their sins or the sins of others…. It might seem a strange superstition to hold on to today, and yet, (you know) if you scratch the surface, I reckon there are still a lot of people who continue to believe at some level that God does go around punishing people who have done wrong and rewarding people who have done wrong.. in this life… by way of the things and illnesses that befall them… . This gospel and the teachings of Jesus make it quite clear that this is not how God operates and that belief is wrong… and very unhelpful. We know that there are many incidents of really good people who suffer terribly and they may not even get the respite they deserve in this life, whilst other people who have apparently lead really bad lives… appear happy, healthy, and even prosperous … right to the end….
As it says elsewhere in scripture… “the lord makes his sun to shine and rain to fall on good and bad alike.”
In the midst of all the natural disasters happening around the world…... it is a very unhelpful and I think quite wrong thing to fall for the trap of thinking that this is some kind of punishment or action by God aimed at particular people or behaviours… / I believe that is just not the case…. God is a God of love who wants nothing but that which is for our good… for all people….. its very difficult to make sense of what is happening in so many parts of the world… but we do well to avoid any simplistic explanations to placate our worries about why this has happened or whether it could happen again or here…. And so on…. I believe God’s hand is to be seen at work not in the cause of these disasters, but in the hands of those who help to heal and rebuild and help…. God is in the midst of us suffering with us and for us and helping to being life out of the worst that the world throws up at us….
Jesus has, in his ministry, a series of really key teachings and points to make and he targeted particular problems in the religious system of his day. He named some of the problems specifically and warned his followers to be on their guard about them. Some problems can be quite insidious and hard to shake…
In today’s gospel, he names ‘spiritual blindness’ (which includes an unwillingness or an inability to even realise that they have a blind spot in their attitudes and behaviour). Jesus also highlights “hypocrisy” as a major stumbling block in the religious life. It is so hard to detect these things because (by definition) If something cannot be seen or is hidden…it is hard to know that it is there. Also, if a person is not living up to what they appear to be doing outwardly, how can an observer tell the difference. It is a real problem. Jesus reminds us, that it is in the fruits that we test the health of the plant. It is in the actions and results of a person’s life that the true health of their spirituality and religiousness shows itself.
Ultimately, anything done in the name of religion that does not foster greater love of God, and love of neighbour as one self, is not authentic Christianity.
To go through the outward observances of the law and then go out and mistreat one’s brothers and sisters around us is really one of the worst and most confusing things for Christians to do. It goes down so poorly with not only fellow Christians but also non-Christians many of whom know how they think Jesus’ disciples should be acting and why.
May the lord show us any areas of spiritual blindness and open us up to love more and more as he calls us to do.
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REFERENCES:
FR. PAUL W. KELLY
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