LIVE AS CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT

IV SUNDAY OF LENT - John 9:1-41

Jesus came for those who recognise their blindness and are in search of the light so that they may see.

“It is for judgement

that I have come into this world,

so that those without sight may see

and those with sight turn blind.”

We may be surprised by Jesus’ declaration that “those with sight turn blind”. The Pharisees understood the words as being addressed to them. “We are not blind”, they said, convinced that they have good sight, that is, they have a deep understanding of God’s ways and they keep faithful to them and so they are ready to judge others. They are blind and refuse to look for the light. Sooner or later they will end up at the bottom of a very deep pit.

Jesus is the Light of the world. He is the true sun that dissipates darkness and makes it possible to walk in the light. The physical healing of the blind man was the beginning of a journey of faith in which the darkness of unbelief gave place to the light of faith. We can see the blind man coming closer day by day to the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, the Saviour. From total darkness, he came into the light and found meaning in his life. It seems that Jesus met him by chance, although even that is part of God’s purpose. Then Jesus healed him. The healing was the result of Jesus’ action and then the man’s walking to the pool to wash his face. He had to put in his effort and his trust in the word of the one who told him: “Go and wash”. Questioned about his healing, he stated the obvious: a man called Jesus had given him sight. The insistence and the disbelief of those who questioned him led him to put in cause their sincerity and their honesty and to affirm that the Jesus who healed him is a prophet. Because of this statement, he was expelled from the synagogue. Those who follow Jesus and become his disciples pass through the same path of rejection. He started suffering because of Jesus. It was then that Jesus came to him, revealing himself as the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. His answer must be the answer of all disciples: “The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.”

In the second reading of this Sunday liturgy, St. Paul tells the Ephesians that they must live like “children of light” (Ep 5:8). They should not have a share in the deeds of darkness; on the contrary, they must expose them by their presence and their attitudes.

The call of Paul to the Ephesians is addressed to us today:

“Wake up from your sleep,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.” (Ep 5:14).