Homily: “I Was Blind, and Now I See” homily on John 9:1–41,
In today’s Gospel, we meet a man who has been blind
from birth.
He has never seen a
sunrise.
Never seen his parents’
faces.
Never seen the road in
front of him.
And when the disciples see him, they ask a question
that many of us ask when life is hard:
“Who sinned?”
Whose fault is this?
But Jesus answers in a surprising way:
“Neither he nor his
parents sinned.
This happened so that the
works of God might be made visible through him.”
In other words, this man’s life is not meaningless.
His suffering is not
wasted.
God will use it for
something greater.
Jesus then kneels down, makes clay with His saliva,
and rubs it on the man’s eyes.
And He tells him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam.”
The man could have said,
“Why mud?”
“Why walk there?”
“Why not heal me right
now?”
But instead, he goes. He
trusts. He obeys.
And when he washes…he can
see.
That moment must have been overwhelming.
The first thing his eyes ever saw was light.
But what follows is even more remarkable.
Instead of joy, the man faces questioning.
Instead of praise, he faces doubt.
Instead of celebration, he faces rejection.
The Pharisees say, “This man cannot be from God.”
They examine him again
and again.
They pressure him.
They threaten him.
But listen to his simple faith:
“All I know is this:
I was blind, and now I
see.”
He doesn’t argue theology.
He doesn’t give a lecture.
He gives a witness.
That is how faith grows: not through winning
arguments,
but through telling the truth of what God has done for
us.
And when they throw him out of the synagogue,
Jesus goes to find him.
He does not leave him
alone.
He seeks him out.
And when Jesus asks,
“Do you believe in the
Son of Man?”
the man says,
“Lord, I believe,” and he
worships Him.
This Gospel shows us something beautiful:
the man moves from darkness,
to sight…
Then to faith…
and then to worship.
That is the journey of every Christian life.
Let me share that once again.
the man moves from darkness,
to sight…
Then to faith…
and then to worship.
Let me share a short story to help us understand a
little more deeply.
There was a little girl who was born with very poor
eyesight.
She could not read books
like the other children.
She could not see faces
clearly.
She often bumped into
things.
One day her mother asked her,
“Does it make you sad that you can’t see like the
other kids?”
The girl thought for a moment and said,
“Sometimes… but God must
have a reason.”
Years later, she was able to have a very special
surgery.
And after the bandages were removed,
for the first time in her life, she saw clearly.
She began to cry.
Her mother said,
“Why are you crying? You
can see now!”
And the girl answered,
“I think God wanted me to
learn how to trust Him before I learned how to see.”
Wow! That is wisdom, and from such a young soul.
And that is exactly what the blind man in the Gospel
learned.
Before he ever saw Jesus’
face, he trusted Jesus’ voice.
Before he ever worshiped
Him, he obeyed Him.
And that is why his healing becomes a miracle of the
soul,
not just of the eyes.
Families, this Gospel
speaks to us today because many of us can see physically… but we struggle to
see spiritually.
We see our problems
clearly.
We see our worries clearly.
We see the brokenness of the world clearly.
But do we see God at work?
Do we see His mercy?
Do we see His hand guiding us?
Do we see His presence in our homes?
The Pharisees see the miracle… but refuse to believe.
Why?
Because they already
think they know everything.
But the blind man is humble.
He is open.
He is willing to be taught.
And that makes all the difference.
Children, this Gospel
teaches you something important:
Jesus is not just someone you learn about.
He is someone you follow.
Parents and grandparents,
this Gospel reminds us that the most powerful faith we pass on
is not perfect knowledge… but lived trust.
The blind man does not say,
“I understand
everything.”
He says,
“I was blind, and now I
see.”
That is faith.
Faith does not mean life is easy.
It means life has light.
Faith does not mean there is no suffering.
It means suffering has
meaning.
Faith does not mean we never struggle.
It means we never
struggle alone.
And look at how this Gospel ends.
The man is cast out.
He loses his place in the
community.
But Jesus finds him.
When the world pushes him
away, Jesus pulls him close.
That is our hope.
When we are confused, Jesus
finds us.
When we are afraid, Jesus
finds us.
When we are rejected, Jesus
finds us.
And He asks us the same question He asked that man:
“Do you believe?”
Not: “Do you understand
everything?”
Not: “Have you figured it
all out?”
But: “Do you trust Me?”
And when the man answers yes, he worships Jesus.
Because the goal of healing is not comfort.
The goal of healing is communion with God.
Let us end in prayer:
Lord, open our eyes.
Help us see Your hand in
our lives.
Help us see Your love in
our families.
Help us see Your grace
even in our trials.
And when we do not understand,
let us still say with the man born blind:
“Lord, I believe.”
And may that faith become light not only for us,
but for our children,
and especially for
a world still searching
for sight.
Amen
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