Fourth Sunday of Lent
John 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshiped him.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
When Sin Becomes the Focus
From true crime podcasts and TV shows to courtroom drama chronicled in our news, we live in a culture that is fascinated by crime. Who is guilty? Why did they do it? What was their plan? We feed on all the juicy details. When we consider today’s Gospel, this temptation to concern ourselves with the sins of others, seems timeless. The community in Jerusalem was convinced that the man was born blind because of sin – either his parents’ sin or his own. Furthermore, the Pharisees spend a great deal of energy determining the extent of Jesus’ sinfulness because he healed on the sabbath.
Jesus refuses to be trapped in the endless obsession with sin and rejects any connection between sin and the man’s blindness. Instead, Jesus focuses on how his healing reveals the love of God. We know that Jesus didn’t come to earth to eradicate blindness, and he definitely didn’t teach his disciples to get caught up in the blame game. His mission was to reveal God to humanity and to proclaim the good news of God’s Kingdom.
Let’s allow God’s loving touch to turn us away from sin and toward wholeness and flourishing. When we shift our attention in this direction, like the formerly blind man, we too will see Christ in our midst.
—Aaron Pierre, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province. He is in his final semester of studying theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University and is anticipating ordination to the priesthood in June.
Prayer
God, the temptation to focus on the sins of others is strong. Nevertheless, out of abundant love for us you desire to heal us and to make us whole. Please shift our attention to finding you in our day to day so that we can be a part of building up your Kingdom and not in tearing others down. Amen.
—Aaron Pierre, SJ