COME TO JESUS, THE HEALER OF OUR BLINDNESS
(1 Sam 16:1,6-7, 10-13, Psalm 23, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41)
The basic theme of today’s readings is the fact that we are all blind people in one way or the other, and we need the divine touch of Jesus. It is only Jesus who can heal our blindness. Blindness in our context can be in two forms, either physical or spiritual. The spiritual blindness I must say is the most common in our days as children of God. This spiritual blindness if not cured would lead us to eternal damnation. The cause of this spiritual blindness is sin. Sin has made us wayward people who need the direction of God in our lives. Every blind person needs someone to direct him/ her as we always see in our communities. With the grace of Christ, we can be empowered to come out of this state which leads us always away from God. We need a certain light to guide us and set us free from this eternal enemy. And this light is Christ.
In the first reading, the Lord led Samuel to anoint David as the successor of Saul, the King of Israel. Samuel initially made wrong choices. He was looking at physical appearance. Precisely why the Lord told him “men look at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (the inward disposition)” 1 Sam 16: 7. Samuel even as a prophet was blind to the choice of God. He was perceiving things contrary to the ways of God. He needed further divine directives to make the right choice. Like Samuel, we need to also be healed of our blindness so that we can understand the ways of God better. For someone to be the king of Israel, probably Samuel was looking at his stature, handsomeness and so forth. Not forgetting that kings in those days were warriors who led their armies in war. The elder sons of Jesse were also soldiers, hence it was befitting to anoint them as the king. David was not a soldier, hence he didn’t deserve to be anointed king. But he was the one God chose to be king and not those who qualified according to human standards. Human beings might disqualify you but God will qualify you. Just keep on trusting God, one day your star will shine.
In the gospel reading, the blind man’s condition was a physical one but also implied a spiritual case. Am very sure the parents of this man had made several efforts for him to be healed. Likewise the blind man himself. But his encounter with Jesus was the turning point of his life. A miracle happened that day to the marvel of all. Another group of people who can be considered to be spiritually blind are the Pharisees. Because of their stubbornness of heart, they could not recognised Jesus as the sent Messiah. They were blinded in their ways of thinking. They refused to accept the fact that Jesus was the one responsible for this miraculous act. They wanted to persuade the blind man and his parents to deny Jesus as being responsible for the healing. The truth is that, they failed.
My dear friends in Christ, the blind man accepted his state and started looking for help. The fact that he submitted himself to Jesus’ healing acts points to this fact. This is what the Pharisees were lacking. They never acknowledged the fact that they are even sinners who need the mercy of God. We need to accept that we are in a bad condition before we can seek for help. Some of us are enjoying the state we find ourselves and are not ready to seek for help. Sin has become our food and we have developed dead conscience. Someone once asked me whether fornication or adultery is a sin. For her and others, this has become a normal way of life which is accepted by our society in our current era. Such people would not accept that they are spiritually blind and need to be healed and directed by Christ. Sin blinds us and leads us astray to wander in this life. Christ is left out of the situation as secularism and relativism are now ruling the world. Admit your spiritual blindness and come to Jesus for help.
Let us know that it is only Jesus who can deliver us from this situation completely. Some of us admit to this situation but we do not have the courage to come to Jesus. Some of us know that what we are doing is not right and is leading us away from God, but we still feel comfortable or think that our case is worst for anything to be done. Remember, nothing is impossible for Jesus. Am sure the blind man had resorted to other means to solve his problem but to no avail. His last resort is Jesus and he was never disappointed.
This man was born blind for God’s glory to manifest, as Jesus told his disciples. For the Israelites, whenever anything bad happens to someone then it means the person has committed a sin. This is what in scripture we called the Doctrine of Retribution. The fact that sin is the cause of misfortunes in our lives. Jesus is telling us today that, God allows certain things to happen in our lives for his own reasons. There are purposes for the misfortunes which happens in our lives. It is up to us to seek the face of God to understand the whys. Sometimes because we are blinded by our human understandings, we fail to have deeper meanings of these bad omens. What you are going through my brother or sister, there is a reason for God allowing it into your life. Perseverance will help you to triumph at the end.
Another thing we can learn from this gospel passage is the fact of standing by the truth always. Some of us have made lies our daily food. We hold P.h.Ds in lies. The Pharisees wanted to use lies to cover up the mighty works of the Lord. But the blind man didn’t allow himself to be used to promote lies. He told them the truth to their face. Out of fear, his parents couldn’t proclaim the great thing that Jesus did for them. Don’t allow intimation or anything to prevent you from standing by the truth always. This event also tells us that lies can never triumph over truth. No matter how long lies survives, the truth will always prevail. In other words, good will always triumph over evil.
Which are the other forms of spiritual blindness in our lives? One of them is blindness of not seeing the need of others. Some of us are swimming in the blindness of hypocrisy just like the Pharisees in the Gospel, who should have been happy for the blind man. Because this was someone who has been blind from birth, and receiving his sight at a point in his adult life. Let us be genuine in our love and concern for others. We are also blind in acknowledging the good in others and the fact that we think people cannot change. Some of us just condemn people to their situations. Any act which is not a virtue becomes a state of blindness in our lives which needs the healing touch of Jesus.
Just like the blind man, our story will one day change. Some people couldn’t even recognised him. The grace of God had transformed him. Jesus will also change our story and people will find it difficult to understand. And they will not be able to recognise you, because the favour of God has transformed you.
Christ understands our weaknesses and is ready to help us to come out. We have a Great High Priest who understands our situation and is ready to help us come out of it. We are therefore comfortably invited to the throne of Grace, to Christ our source of deliverance. It is also true that some of us are suffering from all forms of physical sight problems. I pray this day that Jesus will touch and heal us of all our blindness and restore us to full sight again. Be touched by Jesus today. AMEN.
Have a blessed Sunday and a favoured week ahead!
Rev. Fr.Akakpo Matthew
