Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 15, 2026

John 9: 1-41

The first reading from the First Book of Samuel helps us to be ready for today’s Gospel from John. The Lord tells Samuel that he has chosen a new king for Israel among the sons of Jesse. So Samuel goes to Jesse and asks to see his sons. They come and are all fine looking men, any of which could have been a king. But, as each son is presented to Samuel, God tells him, ‘this is not the one.’ When Samuel asks if there are any others, Jesse sends for his youngest son, still a youth, who has to be brought in from caring for the flocks. He was so beneath consideration, that Jesse had not even had him come in to meet Samuel. And yet, when the youngest, David, comes in, God says, “There --- anoint him, for he is the one.” As God had said, “Do not judge from appearance.”

How does this prepare us for the Gospel? Because, even if Jesus, the light of the world, came among his people, the ones who should have recognized him did not. No, it was the unimportant who were finally able to see Jesus as he really was, not the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests.

The Gospel opens up today with a cure; the cure of a man blind from birth. Incidentally, this is the only cure in the gospels where one is ill from birth. When Jesus comes up, the man cannot see who he is, only hear his voice. But the blind man has faith, and he allows Jesus to from a paste with clay and spittle, put this on his eyes, and then follows Jesus command to wash the pool of Siloam. He was able to see and was brought to the Pharisees for judgment. They and others did not really believe the man had been blind at all, much less from birth. He told them what had happened, and they concluded that Jesus was not from God because he cured on the Sabbath.

This was sinful according to the Pharisees for three reasons. First, by making the clay, which was considered work, Jesus broke the command not to work on the Sabbath. Their law as so strict, that a person could not even light a lamp on the Sabbath. Second, the only healing that could be done was if the person was near death, and even then, could only be kept from getting worse, not made better. Third, the spittle that came to one’s mouth while fasting on the Sabbath could not even be put on your own eyelids, much less anyone else’s.

These restrictions did not make any difference to the man who had been cured. He was so grateful to Jesus that he resisted any attempts the Pharisees made to convince him that Jesus was not from God. In fact, he became more amazed at the lack of insight and knowledge of the Pharisees. But, through their interrogation of him, he more boldly spoke out to confess Jesus’ name. We can see a grow in the Blind Man’s understanding of Jesus and his faith in him:

First, the man looks on Jesus only as a man. He tells the Pharisees that “[A man] put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” He began thinking of Jesus as a wonderful man, as one unequaled among men. He had done what no other men could do. 

Second, as the Pharisees tried hard to convince him that Jesus was evil, the man went on to call Jesus a prophet. They asked him, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes? He said, ‘He is a prophet.’” Now a prophet is a man who brought God’s message to men. A prophet is a man who lives close to God, one whom God speaks with in a special, intimate way. The former blind man went from seeing Jesus only as a man, thought a special one, to being a prophet; a prophet is not only special to other humans, but is special also to God.

Third, the more the Pharisees tried to ridicule the former blind man, the more that man could recognize Jesus for who he was when Jesus found him later. He came to confess Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus had gone to find him because Jesus knew that the authorities had rejected him. They thought he was a liar because they did not think he had been blind at all, and a heretic because he thought that a man who broke the Sabbath law was a prophet. Now, the former blind man came to complete faith by recognizing that Jesus was not only a prophet, but in fact, the Son of God. Napoleon was once in the company of skeptical men discussing Jesus; Napoleon said, “Gentlemen, I know men, and Jesus Christ was more than a man.”

It is a tremendous thing about Jesus that the more we know of him the greater he becomes. The trouble with human relationships is that often, the better we know a person, the more we know his or her weaknesses and failings; but the more we know Jesus, the greater the wonder becomes; and that will be true, not only in time, but also in eternity. As today's’ second reading from the Ephesians says, “You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” That is exactly our goal this Lent, to be the light of the Lord for all to see. Jesus gave the blind man light for his eyes, but more importantly, Jesus gave him light for his soul. The Lord says to us today, as St. Paul wrote: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” No, Jesus was not the obvious choice while on earth to be the Son of God, but the more one got to know him, the more he was known as God’s Son. Do not judge only by appearance, but by the light of God.

There is a beautiful prayer which enables us to walk in the true light of Christ, a prayer that God always seems to answer – that we may see things as Christ, that is, in the light of faith. This is also a very useful prayer to pray when we are conversing with someone, so that we can see that person as Christ sees him or her. The prayer is especially helpful when we encounter someone who tries our patience, for rather than continuing to see only the person’s irritating defects, we are helped by the Lord to see what He finds so lovable in that person — what, in fact, would lead Him to trade his own life for that person all over again if he had to. The prayer is recommended also to those of us who have difficulty overcoming negative thoughts and habitual criticism of others. We pray, “Lord, give me your eyes,” so that we may see not only the good things that God has given the person, but also that we may be able to look with compassion on the various hardships that the other person has endured, leading to some of that person’s irritating habits. It is useful also to those of us who are encountering serious Crosses.

Are we awake or waking up?

Who are we more like --- the Pharisee or the blind man?

Fr. John Tran