4th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes
The virtuous behavior of a man at the center of today’s Gospel presents us with valuable lessons as Christians. “As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.” This describes close proximity, so this man likely overhead Jesus tell his disciples “neither [this man] nor his parents sinned” to make him blind. Jesus said that he had been blind “so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” This must have inspired some hope in that blind man—to hear a rabbi teach that God loved him and desired to do great things through him. Other people only saw a blind beggar, but the Lord looked into his heart.
Jesus then “spat on the ground… made clay with the saliva… and smeared the clay on his eyes”—in the Greek, Jesus ‘anointed’ him—and told the man to “go wash in the Pool of Siloam.” Should he have walked where Jesus sent him? Why not go? What did he have to lose? And he had much to gain. “So he went and washed, and came back able to see.” Anointed and washed, he began a new life.
At first, some doubted it was really the same man but he acknowledged, “I am.” When asked “how were your eyes opened,” he simply told his story: “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” And when they asked him where Jesus was, he answered honestly: “I don’t know.”
Then they brought the healed man to the Pharisees, some of whom already disliked Jesus and objected to him healing on the day of rest, saying, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath!” The healed man listened while others countered with the argument, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” Then they asked for the healed man’s opinion: “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” And he shared his own reasonable conclusion: “He is a prophet.”
But some of Jesus’ enemies did not wish the man’s story to be true so they interrogated his parents. His parents confirmed the healed man indeed had been born blind so the Pharisees turn their pressure back onto him. “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” But the healed man was honest and refused to denounce Jesus or retract his story: “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
They went back and forth, exchanging jibes, with the man born blind highlighting the Pharisees’ willful blindness. They don’t believe because they don’t want it to be true. The man points out “It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” But rather than addressing this sound argument, Jesus’ enemies attack the messenger. “You were born totally in sin and are you trying to teach us?” and they threw him out.
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, Jesus found him and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Convinced that Jesus is a prophet, the healed man asks, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus answers, “You have seen him; the one speaking with you is he.” And the man proclaims, “I do believe, Lord,” and worships him.
So what valuable lessons can this healed man teach us as Christians? Each of us is like that man born blind because he could not save himself and neither can we. All of us need Jesus Christ to help us. We hear Jesus teach that God loves us and that God desires to do great things through us, and we should let this give us hope. The Lord is with us, he sees us and he is for us, so we should not despair.
Jesus told the blind man to ‘go wash in the pool’ and he went. When Jesus instructs us, we ought to walk wherever he sends us. Will we be obedient—to come or go or change as Christ commands, or will we stay seated on our stubborn keisters? Why not go? What do we he have to lose? And we have much to gain.
Jesus, through his sacraments anoints and washes us and makes us new. Sometimes the positive transformation in Christ is so profound that adults are almost unrecognizable in good ways after. If people ever ask you what makes you different, why you believe, or what difference your Catholic Christian faith makes in your life, simply answer honestly like today’s healed man and tell them your story.
When people ask you faith or religion questions, you don’t need to know every answer immediately. You can say, “I don’t know.” Good answers exist, even if you don’t always have them ready at hand. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will gains insights like the healed man did.
It is quite reasonable for us to look around and believe Jesus Christ was sent from God. Proof for God, for Jesus Christ, and for their Church take many forms. There’s evidence in reason, science, miracles, mystical experience, and more. Yet many people don’t believe because they wish for it not to be true. They might pressure you, ridicule you, and exclude you, but remain honest like the healed man and never retract your Christian testimony.
Learn from and follow the example of the man born blind, and you will see your reward: the vision, friendship, and blessings of Jesus Christ and his saints.
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