Gospel Reflection: 4th Sunday of Lent
Today's Gospel reading has two versions but both come from the gospel reading of John. The first option is the long version from John 9: 1-41, and the second one from John 9: 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38. What is the story all about? The story narrates how Christ made the blind man see. The blind man was born blind and back then, the Jews believed that if you were born blind, your parents had committed a grave sin. So how does the story go?
Jesus spat on the ground and made clay and anointed it in the eyes of the man. After which, he instructed the man to go and was in the pool of Siloam. After the man washed, he was able to see. People who saw him started to question and ask him how he was made to see. The man narrated how he came to see and how Jesus has cured him of his blindness.
He was brought to the Pharisees who again asked him how he gained his sight. The blind man told them how he was able to see but then the Jews did not believe him and called for his parents who attested that he was blind at birth and they do not know how he gained his sight. The Pharisees asked him again and he replied: "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples?"(John 9:27)
If we are going to look and reflect on the gospel reading, we can say that the Pharisees and other Jews displayed what we can call metaphorical blindness such as Ignorance, Prejudices / Biases, Complacency, Apathy, and Spiritual Blindness.
The Jews and Pharisees can be considered spiritually blind. They believed that they are disciples of Moses, and did not want to accept the possibility that Jesus Christ is a man of God. In fact, they reviled the man and told him that they do not know where Jesus came from. (John 9: 28)
What causes our spiritual blindness? In the reading today, why were the Pharisees blind to the fact that Jesus is a man of God? If we are going to look into each and every gospel reading where Christ has been performing miracles, we would notice that the Pharisees would always come up with the accusation or statement that "this is not the work of God" or with other statements that claim that Jesus is not doing the Will of God.
The spiritual blindness of the Pharisees has been caused by their hardness of heart. I would say that this hardness of heart is caused by PRIDE. They could not admit that what they knew about the Law handed down by Moses was made simply as an offshoot of man's stubbornness. They were self-righteous and too proud to admit that not all the laws they were implementing during that time would lead one closer to God.
Christ, being the messiah, the Son of God, performed miracles and preached in front of them and yet, their pride blinded them from this reality.
As human beings, there are also times when we become spiritually blind to God's message. Often, we become blind when things don't go our way. When the plans we have not come into reality. There are times when we think we know more, but step back and reflect. The times when we become spiritually blind to God's plan in our lives are often the times when we reject and refuse what God wants to happen in our life.
