Gospel: John 9:1-41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked
him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born
blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so
that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the
works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can
work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had
said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the
clay on his eyes, and said to him, "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam"
—which means Sent—.So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
"Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is,
" but others said, "No, he just looks like him." He said,
"I am." So they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"
He replied, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told
me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went there and washed and was able to
see." And they said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I
don't know."
They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had
made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked
him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and
I washed, and now I can see." So some of the Pharisees said, "This
man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath." But others
said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division
among them. So they said to the blind man again, "What do you have to say
about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a
prophet."
Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight
until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked
them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now
see?" His parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son
and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who
opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for
himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews,
for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the
Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents
said,"He is of age; question him."
So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him,
"Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner." He replied,
"If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind
and now I see." So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did
he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already and you did
not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his
disciples, too?" They ridiculed him and said, "You are that man's
disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do
not know where this one is from." The man answered and said to them,
"This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he
opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is
devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever
opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would
not be able to do anything." They answered and said to him, "You were
born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?" Then they threw him
out.
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said,
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who
is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have
seen him, the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe,
Lord," and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, "I came into this world
for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see
might become blind."
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him,
"Surely we are not also blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If
you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so
your sin remains.
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Reflection:
In a faraway place
lived an arrogant king who was advised by his people to prepare for an incoming
dreaded disease. The king arrogantly told his people that they need not worry
because he will immediately kill the dreaded disease the moment it arrives in
his kingdom. Soon after, the dreaded
disease arrived and because of his arrogance and laxity his kingdom was ravaged
by the dreaded disease.
Arrogance is a
spiritual sickness that blinds a person of the power of God. When a person is
arrogant he thinks that he is bigger than God as such he belittles the power of
God. But we all know that when a person belittles the power of God that person
sooner or later will eventually be brought down to his knees by God.
In the gospel, we
read about a blind man who was cured by Jesus but some Pharisees did not
believe the man. Considering that the former blind man was personally
witnessing about the power of Jesus the Pharisees should have believed but they
did not.
Why is it that some
of the Pharisees did not believe the personal witness of the former blind man
cured by Jesus? It was simply because of their arrogance! The Pharisees were
powerful Jews; they were strict observers of their Jewish laws and tradition. And
it happened that the blind man was cured by Jesus on the day of Sabbath which
was a day of rest for the Jews. As such no healing activity should happen on
that day.
So, some of the
Pharisees did not believe Jesus and they also belittled the former blind man
cured by Jesus. What if they believed in the power of Jesus and what if they
did not belittle the former blind man? They too could have benefited from the
power of Jesus and they could have learned valuable lessons from the former
blind such as lesson about humility, lesson about obedience to the Lord and
lesson about faith. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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