As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay.- St. John 9:1, 6
Although He is God Incarnate, our Lord’s earthly ministry was pretty simple. With a touch, a word, Jesus made profound changes in people’s lives. Cutting to the heart of a matter, He would bring His divine power into the situation, and things would never be the same.
His ministry, demonstrated with such power during His time on earth, continues through the Catholic Church which He founded. And as He acted simply, so the same principle continues. With a little water, or some bread and wine, or with a trace of oil, or a touch of consecrated hands, His holy will is accomplished. Lives are changed, bodies and souls are made whole, and God’s presence is manifested in the world.
One day our Lord came across a man who had been born blind. His was a difficult life. He had been reduced to begging. His parents had lived with the guilt of wondering if the common opinion of the day was true, that perhaps his affliction was due to some sin they had committed. He had become so anonymous in his suffering that those who were accustomed to his begging rarely even looked at him any longer.
When Jesus saw him He had pity and stopped to heal him. Our Lord’s actions were simple, almost crude. He spat on the ground and He made a clay of the spittle and the dirt. He took the clay and put it on the blind man’s eyes and then told the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, just a short distance away. So the man did as he was told. With spittle and dirt smearing his face, and still blind, he made his way through the streets to do as Jesus had told him, without questioning. Through these simple actions, his sight was restored. God acted; a man responded, and he was made whole. A man was touched by God and so was able to begin a new life, both with his physical sight, and more importantly, with a greater spiritual sight.
But then something ugly happened. Those who had little interest in the man when he was blind now had plenty to say. “Is this really the same man?” the Pharisees scoffed. Assured that he was, they demanded to know how he had received his sight. When they were told, the Pharisees declared, “It cannot be from God because it was done on the sabbath.” They even asked the man himself, and when he told them that the one who had healed him must be a prophet, the Pharisees became indignant. How could this beggar presume to teach them!
Jesus heard this, and He pointed out to them all that He gives spiritual sight to those who are blind, and He blinds those who, in their pride, think they can see. The Pharisees demand to know if He thinks they are blind. And Jesus gave them a simple answer: “If you really were blind then you would have no sin; but you claim to be able to see, and so you remain in sin.”
Here’s a case of there being “nothing new under the sun.” Has there ever been a time when God has presented His truth without it being questioned or made more complicated than it really is?
God, in revealing Himself to us, has acted in a way which certainly is astounding and deep, but which is at the same time simple and clear. He has taken upon Himself human flesh from the Virgin Mary. He has taken upon Himself our sin and has died on the cross for our salvation. He has conquered death by rising from the dead. He has given us access to the fruits of His death and resurrection through the sacramental ministry of the Catholic Church.
And what does He require of us? We are to acknowledge our own sinfulness and unworthiness of His gifts, and we are to make every effort, with His grace, to live our lives in conformity with His divine will. And He makes His will clear to us in the teaching of His Church. Living the Christian life certainly is demanding, and yet it really is quite simple and clear.
But we have Pharisees in our own day who attempt to complicate and confuse things. What God has done in Christ Jesus is called into doubt by some. The requirements of the Christian life as defined by the Church are made confusing and subjective by others. There are those who set themselves as teachers who claim that it’s only they who truly see. And yet, they are the very ones whom Jesus would call blind – blind to the real truth of what God has done, blind to the real demands of the Christian life.
Faced with the good news of Christ Jesus we should respond as the blind man did: “I was blind, but now I see.” We are children of the Light, and God has shone His light upon us in all its fullness.
The simple truth is this: once we were in darkness, but in Christ we can turn away from the darkness towards God’s Light. God has come to us so that we can come to Him. Christ died so that we can live. We’re to be slaves to God’s law so that we can be truly free.
Jesus said, “I come into the world to give sight to those who cannot see, and to make blind those who think they can see.” We’re called to live in that clarity of vision which comes from embracing the fullness of the Gospel in all its simplicity.
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Painting: “Christ Healing the Blind Man” by El Greco (1541-1614)