Holy Wisdom Church
I don’t know about you but for me being assertive was not something encouraged by my parents when I was growing up. I’m not sure how much that applies to young people growing up today, but it is a teaching with a long pedigree. What do we make of that parental line: “children are to be seen and not heard?” The unstated message is that it is not good to put yourself or your “needs” forward. Don’t be assertive. Don’t speak up unless spoken to. As adults this learned behavior can be played out in a variety of ways. For example, a husband comes home from work and the wife asks: “What do you want for dinner?” He replies “Whatever you want is fine with me.” Or you are thinking of buying a new car: “honey what color of car would you like?” The reply: “Whatever you want is fine.” Where would you like to go on vacation this summer?” “Wherever you want to go is fine with me.” And this list can go on and on. You might recognize this scenario, but I would submit that these answers are not the answers Jesus wants from us. So, what does Jesus have to do with this?
Today’s gospel lesson may appear to be just one more miracle story connected to Jesus. But I think there is more here. As the scene opens, the blind man is aware of a commotion and asks what is going on. He is told that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He obviously has heard about Jesus and so he cries out “Jesus son of David, have pity on me.” And just as quickly he is put back in his place: Those in front of him tell him to shut up! Unperturbed, the man shouts all the louder: “Son of David have pity on me.” So even before we hear from Jesus, the gospel writer is telling us that this story is not about toeing the societal line but about breaking out of it. Society says be quiet, be content with where you are, but the man will have none of it. And this theme is found in other gospel stories: the women who hounds the dishonest judge, the advice to keep knocking at the door, to pray without ceasing, the woman with the issue of blood, etc.
Once Jesus is aware of what is going on, he directs that the man be brought to him. And he asks him straight out: “What do you want me to do for you?” No ambiguity there. And the blind man replies: “please let me see.” He gives the response that we are all invited to give. He says exactly what he wants. No beating around the bush, no attempt to just hint at what he wants and then expect Jesus to read his mind. He is direct and he fully owns what he needs. And Jesus says: “Have your sight.”
He also tells him: “your faith has saved you.” What faith might that be? Of course, we have the obvious implication that it refers to his faith in Jesus Christ. But we might wonder if that is really the point here, after all we don’t have much information about that in the story. But what if we think about those other occasions when Jesus says to his disciples, “oh you of little faith.” For example, when they are out in a boat and a storm arises. This blind man has faith that the disciples often do not have. This blind man never gave up. When the crowd told him to shut up, he cried out all the louder. When we live in fear we live without faith.
One more element of the story follows. The blind man then follows Jesus. The door to the kingdom has been opened to him and he walks right in. This is the kingdom Jesus is preaching to all of us. It is there to be seized.
It is good that this gospel passage falls so close to the Theophany celebration. During the festal season we heard from several gospel writers about the incident when John the Baptist sent some of his followers to Jesus to ask if he is the one they were expecting or should they wait for another? And Jesus’ reply: “Tell John what you see: the hungry are fed, the lame walk, the blind see…”
But it’s not just about some miracle cure. The blind man received his sight and then followed Jesus. The image of the blind man receiving his sight is about being released from the fetters that bind us to patterns of living that are preventing us from becoming the complete human beings we are called to be. It is a message for all of us and not just for those who may be physically blind. Remember last week Sr Rebecca underscored the lesson from the scripture reading: the kingdom is among us and within us.
Christ is in our midst!
