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Blindness is normally caused by a problem with the eyes, the optic nerve, or the part of the brain that processes visual information. But just as we may be physically blind, we may also be spiritually blind. In this case a person is unable to grasp or process spiritual things.
According to Jewish religious teaching, only the Messiah would be able to heal a person who was born blind. This was one of the ways the Messiah might be identified when he came, so such a miracle should have persuaded an open-minded Jewish leader. But the Jewish authorities had already decided that Jesus was not the Messiah so they had to satisfy themselves by finding fault in some way.
The disciples wanted to know why the man was born blind. Most people think this way, the blindness must be punishment for something the man or his parents had done. But Jesus knows that it's not a matter of sinful behaviour, but is rather an opportunity to glorify the Father who heals.
Jesus does not, in fact, heal the man. He merely puts mud on his eyes and tells him to go and wash. When the man is brought to the pharisees, they listen to his story and quiz him but are confused. Either Jesus is a law-breaker or he is the Messiah. It almost seems that he must be both and surely that's quite impossible! The blind man's own opinion is that Jesus must be a prophet.
Who are you most like in this story? Are you like a person who was blind but now sees? Do you obey Jesus in the things he tells you to do? Or are you like the disciples, thinking that bad things happen to people who do bad things? Perhaps you are like the Jewish teachers and can't decide whether Jesus is the real deal?
Or are you like Jesus? Do you want to bring glory to the Father, be a channel for his love and healing [Tweet it!], and open up dark places to let in the light?
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