4th Sunday of Lent (Year A)

In today's gospel, we read of the story of the cure of the man born blind in John 9. This story is a fertile theological field. There are many topics for us to meditate on.
For modern people, it is unfortunate for a man to be born blind. But he is only a victim of random mutation. Nobody is to be blamed. For the Jews in biblical times, it was a different story. Their God was a God of justice. He guaranteed the fairness of the law. He would award or punish men according to their behaviour. He would award the good and punish the bad. This is an axiom universal to all religions. From this, it followed a flawed conclusion: if you suffer, you must have sinned and God is punishing you.
The man born blind posed a difficult challenge to the above conclusion. Therefore Jesus' disciples asked: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2).
The man was born blind. He was blind before he was able to commit sins. (The Jews had not developed the theology of Original Sin. We have to wait until the 4^th century.) So, was his blindness a punishment for his parents' sins? This reasoning follows the logic of Exodus.
for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (Exodus 20:5).
This logic was refuted by Jeremiah.
In those days they shall no longer say: `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. (Jeremiah 31:2-30). The story of Job wrestles with the problem of God's justice and human sufferings. Jesus elevated the problem of sufferings to a higher level.
Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him" (John 9:3). Human sufferings manifest the works of God. Jesus then restored the sight of the blind.
This miraculous cure would have been a glory of God, had it not been performed on Sabbath! Now, the Pharisees were divided.
Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them (John 9:16). They investigated and in the end, rejected the blind man. He was a sinner because he was blind. He did not deserve to bear witness.
They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out (John 9:34). They declared him a born sinner all because he did not agree with their opinion towards Jesus. Who did these Pharisees think they were? God? Even Jesus did not pass judgment on this blind man.
Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, "Are we also blind?"
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, `We see,' your guilt remains (John 9:39-41).
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed (John 3:19-20).
What a paradox! The blind see while those who see blind. What a danger to be learned! Too much knowledge crowds the truth and prejudice makes the learned blind. The learned easily fall victim to the desire to play God.

My God, may my learning lead to true knowledge, the knowledge of You. Though I see, I am blind to Your loving wonders and mercy. I pray that we love You more deeply and unite with You more completely. May we continue to walk in Your path of justice and mercy. Amen.