March 15, 26 – Fourth Sunday of Lent : God Spots the Forgotten

Daily Divine Word:

March 15, 26 – Fourth Sunday of Lent : God Spots the Forgotten

1 Samuel 16:1, 6–7, 10–13; Ephesus 5:8–14; John 9:1–41

Today’s gospel story is theologically rich. The narrative shows that faith grows progressively, while spiritual blindness deepens in those who resist truth. This is the story about all of us and all our spiritual dynamics. The real blindness is the refusal to see. The misfortune in the gospel story is not the blindness of the man but the stubborn blindness of the Pharisees. They see the miracle with their naked eyes but refuse to accept it. When our minds are already made up, we stop seeing the truth. Often, the challenge in life is not the absence of light but the unwillingness to see.

Forgotten Shepherd Boy Chosen King: The first reading narrates the election of David. The anointing of David by prophet Samuel is a profound journey unfolded, one that took a young shepherd boy and transformed him into a king of Isarel. Samuel sees Eliab and immediately assumes that Eliab is the Lord’s anointed. But Samuel is corrected with a profound truth, that human beings look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. God rejects the tallest, strongest and intelligent ones and, instead, the youngest forgotten shepherd boy in the field is chosen. This story exposes that human sight spots the externals while God’s sight penetrates the heart. We often judge people by status, wealth, backgrounds, education and power. David was invisible to his own father, but he was visible to God. Society overlooks many people, but God spots the forgotten without fail. God’s grace shines in where we least expect.

Jesus notices the blind man: Jesus passes by and he saw a man blind from birth. The text is clear that the blind man did not look for Jesus instead it is Jesus who notices him first. This manifests the biblical pattern that our God is always in search of human persons in need and so, God’s grace precedes human request and response. Likewise, God choose David while he was a shepherd boy while he couldn’t have understood Kingship. Jesus voluntarily notices the blind man and heals him unasked. Jesus spots this forgotten blindman and makes him whole.

God acts through ordinary means: The story of the blindman is dramatic and what Jesus does is impressive. He spits on the ground, makes mud and applies it on the eyes of the blind man. Biblically, this act of Jesus reminds us of the creation story in the book of Genesis where God forms human beings from clay. The creator heals the man born blind. Jesus is the creator who continues to heal and makes our lives fruitful through ordinary means and ordinary people. What appears unimpressive and insignificant can become a source of blessing. Miracles and God’s encounter are not always spectacular shows instead God most often comes to us through simple ordinary means and ordinary people. We cannot afford to miss God.

Spirituality is a progressive journey: The blind man is a fascinating character in this episode, who displays a perfect model of steady progression and transformation. He begins by calling Jesus a ‘man’ – a man called Jesus opened my eyes. Later, he goes on to call him a ‘prophet’ and finally confesses that Jesus is ‘the Son of God, the Messiah.’ He is dispelled from both physical and spiritual blindness. Spirituality is not a finished product; it is an ongoing journey, it grows, matures and deepens progressively. The more I am healed of my internal blindness the better I can see/experience the messiah. We may meet with opposition, persecutions and rejections in our faith journey. The blind man was questioned, interrogated and rejected. Yet, these challenges were the moments of profound God experiences. Pain and adversities take us closer to God.

The real blindness is the refusal to see: Blindness in the context of the bible is often used as a symbol of spiritual blindness. What does sin do to us? Sin eventually obscures our consciousness and derails our moral choices. It distorts our vision of values. Sinfulness makes us blind to the realities of life, we might be flourishing in the worldly standards, but we will be missing something important. The Pharisees notice with their naked eyes the blind man healed but refuse to accept it. They were prejudiced. Their carry out series of interrogation not to verify the truth but to prove that they are right. They resort to abuse the blind man, insult and accused him that he was born in sin (indicating pre-natal sin). The spiritual obstacle/blindness emerges from our pride, prejudices and narrow mindedness. Closed heart refuses to see the truth. The Pharisees were more disturbed how the healing happened than the reality that man can now see. They were obsessed with the law being broken. They are so focused on proving Jesus wrong that they fail rejoice in the sight restored. The blindness of the Pharisees mirrors our own blindness. We too can become more concerned about rules, procedures and appearances that persons before us. Sometimes, we might label people by their past mistakes and refuse to see how God is working through them. Jesus challenges this mindset; the law exists to serve life and not to suffocate it.

Our Takeaway: God Spots the Forgotten

1. David was invisible to his own father, but he was visible to God. Society overlooks many people, but God spots the forgotten without fail. God’s grace shines in where we least expect.

2. Jesus voluntarily notices the blind man and heals him unasked. Jesus spots this forgotten blindman and makes him whole. God’s grace precedes human request and response.

3. God acts through ordinary means. What appears unimpressive and insignificant can become a source of blessing.

4. The real blindness is the refusal to see the reality. The Pharisees see the miracle with their naked eyes but refuse to accept it. When our minds are already made up, we stop seeing the truth.

5. Spirituality is not a finished product; it is an ongoing journey, it grows, matures and deepens progressively. The more I am healed of my internal blindness the better I can see/experience the messiah.

Wilson SVD