4th Sunday of Lent – John 9:1-41
“but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.”
Meditating on this Sunday’s lessons in light and sight, I consulted Wikipedia to familiarize myself with the history of optics and make sense of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and the divergent Gospel of John. Ancient people did not separate scientific truths from philosophical ones the way we moderns tend to do. The behavior of earth, wind, fire and water had affective counterparts within the human person. The stars in the sky were heavenly bodies whose stories revealed truisms to their human observers on earth. And an illness in the human body signified illness in the community.
An illness of the mouth or ears signified a barrier to self-expression. I think of the spectrum of ways people interact with their world and how many individuals, once invisible in society, are now made visible by a growing acceptance of neurodiversity. An illness of the hand or feet signified a lack of purposeful action. I think of those living with depression or mental illness who are brought out from the shadows as our culture becomes more aware of mental health’s importance. An illness of the heart or eye signified conflicted thought or lack of judgement. I think of those who are paralyzed by uncertainty and rattled by the unexpected; who seek black and white answers that do not exist; who seek control of the world around them, but are themselves ruled by anxiety.
The characters in today’s lesson are all blind in some way. The authorities and some Pharisees are conflicted by what the Law tells them and what Jesus shows them. They cannot distinguish between legality and morality. How many people must die before we distinguish between the legality and morality of guns? How many stories of broken American dreams must we hear before we stop labeling a human being as “illegal?” How many young, brown and black lives must be lost before we mourn their deaths without first being convinced of their innocence? How often do we cite legalese to justify the actions of institutions, but are hell-bent on judging the actions of individuals? Blindfolded by a privileged sense of justice, the Authorities in today’s lesson are unsettled by the contradictions Jesus embodies and so remain blind to the Divine Goodness illuminating from his very personhood.
The neighbors in John’s gospel story are also blind. They cannot see beyond their own prejudices and therefore don’t recognize the individual standing before them. His daily presence on their street corner disrupts their privileged goings-on; so they have learned to ignore him and make him invisible. How many days in a row do I drive past the same man standing with his dog at the corner of 83rd and Ward Parkway? How often do I forget to send him my wave of acknowledgement that says “I see you?” And when he is not there one day, do I wonder where he is? Do I wonder if he is okay? Would I even recognize him if he sat next to me at the neighborhood café? Would I remain blind, doubting my own judgment if I saw him as anything other than a beggar?
The disciples are also blind in their own way. Culture tells them that suffering is caused by sin, but their time spent with Jesus has challenged the simplicity of that assertion. Seeing the man born blind, the disciples wonder if his suffering is caused by his own sin or the sin of the society that raised him. Jesus resists the human temptation to pass judgment and replies to this eternal question of unjust suffering with a response rather than an answer.
When the disciples ask Jesus, “who sinned, the blind man or his parents,” Jesus replies saying, “neither. He was born blind so the works of God may be made visible through him.” And then he intimately touches the man and offers healing. In today’s gospel Jesus sheds light on a different way to view the world. He shows us how to respond in love rather than react in judgment. Jesus disregards anything that attempts to place judgment on the man born blind because he sees all of Creation through God’s eyes…and it is good. Jesus’ anthropology acknowledges that “evil” may at times possess a person, but the person them self remains good. He lives out a new way of seeing people that can ease our conflicted judgments, gives refuge from our anxieties, and frees us from our prejudices. He calls each of person to look past what society, culture, or tradition deems as “illness” and SEE the individual who stands before us in all their created goodness.
As the Light of the World, Jesus’ ecological anthropology makes visible the goodness present within each unique creation – especially the creature made in God’s image. The person born blind is good. The person who is autistic is good. The person who is gay is good. The person who is developmentally different is good. The person who lives with mental illness or addiction is good. And by being themselves they each make visible the wondrous works of God!