A story for the 4th Sunday in Lent: Seeing the ways of God
(From the Gospel of John, chapter 9, verses 1-41)
One day,
Jesus and his disciples 
came upon a man 
who had been blind all his life.
 |
"Teacher, was this man born blind because he did something wrong, or because his parents did?" |
 |
"Neither. This man was born blind so that people will see all the amazing things God is doing all the time! We must help people understand that! As long as I am here with you, I am the light of the world, showing how God's love can change anything." |
|
Jesus went to the blind man. He spit into the dirt and made a little puddle of mud. And then he spread the mud on the blind man's eyes. "Go wash your face." |
 |
The man did what Jesus told him to do. "I can see! I can see!" |
For years, everyone in the town 
had seen the man stumbling around, begging for food or money.
|
"How did this happen? How did you get your sight?" |
|
"I did what Jesus told me to do." |
|
"Where is Jesus now?" |
|
"I don't know." |
The people brought the man to the leaders 
of the synagogue.
|
"Jesus cured this man who had been blind since birth! He must be from God." |
 |
"When did this happen?" |
|
"Today! Just a few minutes ago!" |
|
"Then Jesus cannot be from God because today is the Sabbath. Jewish law says that no one works on the Sabbath. That makes him a sinner, not a holy man." |
|
"But how can a man who is a sinner do something like this?" |
|
"He must be a prophet." |
|
"That's ridiculous. There must be some kind of mistake. Where are his parents?" |
 |
"He is our son, and he was born blind." |
|
"Then how he can now see everything clearly?" |
|
"We don't know. Ask him. He's old enough to speak for himself." (His parents were afraid that if they showed any support for Jesus, they would be asked to leave the synagogue.) |
|
"We think Jesus is a fake." |
|
"All I know is that I was blind, and now I can see. I've never heard of anyone opening the eyes of a person born blind, have you? Jesus couldn't have done what he did if he wasn't from God." |
|
"Are you trying to teach us about God's ways? Get out of here!" |
Word got back to Jesus about how the leaders had treated the man who had been blind. Jesus went to find him. He asked the man a question.
|
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?" |
|
"Show me who he is and I will believe." |
|
"You are looking at him." |
|
"Lord, I believe." |
|
"I am here so that things that are confusing can be understood clearly, and so that people who are know-it-alls can learn that they don't know as much as they think they do." |
|
"You're not saying that we are blind to God's ways, are you? We work in the synagogue! We are leaders in the community!" |
|
"That's exactly what I'm saying." |
Questions to think about:
How do you think the blind man felt when he could finally see?
How do you think his parents felt?
Have you ever been confused about something?
Who helped you understand it clearly?
How did they do that?