| Do you ever wonder why you were
born? I am not asking you to think about how you were born; I am
asking you to consider whether or not there is some specific purpose
for your life. Imagine being born blind so that God's works
might be revealed in you. That's what Jesus said about the
man in our Gospel lesson for today.
The man for whom we have no age or name was not blind due to
his sins as many of his neighbors believed was true. Jesus said
the man had lived all his years in total darkness so that the
power of God could be demonstrated through an act that gave the
man his sight.
We often hear and maybe even use the phrase, "Seeing is
believing!" Here it is more accurate to say, "Believing
is seeing!" As far as we know the blind man was not seeking
any help from Jesus. Jesus and his disciples saw the man sitting
beside the road. His presence prompted a question, "Was
it the man's sin or the sin of his parents that caused
the blindness?" Jesus said it was not the fault of anyone.
Certainly there are cases where human choices lead to human suffering,
but that was not true here.
We could rightfully ask what kind of God would do this type
of thing. If we take Jesus' comments literally then we
are left with believing that God would act this way. However,
it is more than likely that the man simply was born blind. Now
that Jesus was before him God had the opportunity to do something
loving as well as demonstrate Jesus' power. But there is
much more.
John, the author of this Gospel sees a deeper meaning in the
story. It is not only about physical sight; it is also about
spiritual understanding. The question, "Do you see what
I mean?" is to be interpreted, "Do you understand
what I am saying?" Keep in mind that John begins his Gospel
by stating that Jesus is the Light of God that has come into
the world of darkness so that we are enabled to see and understand
the Truth of God. We are given the opportunity to see there is
a choice each of us must make concerning how we will live our
life. Is it possible that, like the blind man, we were born so "that
God's works might be revealed in us?" That no doubt
depends upon what we understand and upon what we choose to do
with our understanding.
I came across these paragraphs in the March 6 issue of Synthesis.
I think they might help us see what John is saying about Jesus'
work with the blind man.
Zulu is one of the most common languages of the peoples
of southern Africa. The equivalent of "hello" in
Zulu is "sawubona", which translates literally to "I
see you." The response to this greeting is "sikhona",
which means "I am here."
The order is important —; until you see me I do not exist.
Or, an even stronger interpretation could be: "When you
see me you bring me into existence." This understanding
is part of the spirit of "ubuntu," a frame of mind
that prevails among native people below the Sahara.
The word "ubuntu" is from a folk saying that translates, "a
person is a person because of other people." It's
about deep respect and acknowledgment of another person's
worth, a kind of inner seeing.
Jesus has the ability to see each of us as God sees us. God
sees more in each of us than we see in ourselves or in one another.
Imagine how life would change if we saw each other the way God
sees each of us.
There are some other characters in the story in addition to
the blind man, and they are important each in their own way.
The Pharisees thought they saw or understood everything very
clearly, yet they are the most blind of all in this drama. Then
there are those who helped get the blind man to the Pool of Siloam.
It would have been difficult for the man to do it alone as the
pool is set at the bottom of some very large rocks that are used
for steps. Then there are the people who were the neighbors of
the blind man. Maybe they had never really looked at him as they
hurried past, deaf to his cries for alms. Maybe they felt they
didn't need to look because he supposedly couldn't
see anyone or anything anyway. What they failed to realize was
there was nothing wrong with his mind. He was quite capable of
understanding a great deal especially their rejection and judgment.
What is truly amazing is that when his eyes were opened many
of his neighbors didn't recognize him. How often have you
heard someone say, "I can't believe you are the same
person!" Maybe the person has lost weight or grown taller
or changed their hair color. Often it is a physical change that
confuses us.
However, it can also be a spiritual change that causes us to
be a new person. I am certain the blind man was elated because
he could see people and sights that before were hidden to him.
I also think he was changed inwardly because Jesus opened more
than his eyes that day.
What do you see this morning? Do you understand why you were
born?
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