jodygreenwood

Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Given while serving as a seminarian

Fourth Sunday in Lent – Year A (RCL) – 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 23, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

We often joke when talking about going to therapy that at some point it always boils down to the realization that “It’s all our parents’ fault.” For anyone who thought that this was a NEW concept, you need to look no further than today’s gospel when some two thousand years ago we hear the disciples ask Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Now for some of the parents out there, the ones who are inclined to carry this kind of guilt, and you know who you are… this question may have been enough to send your mind wandering, so you probably missed Jesus’ response. I’ll repeat it for you because it is good news, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

Then Jesus precedes to make mud, mixing dirt with his own saliva, spreading it on the eyes of the blind man and telling him to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The beggar went and washed and when he returned he was able to see, but Jesus was nowhere to be found. This man was now, on his own, having to explain what had happened.

His neighbors, those who had seen him everyday begging in the street, weren’t even sure this was the same person. Even when the man himself was saying “I am he,” they continued to question if this was truly the blind beggar. Read the rest of this entry »