The Journey from darkness into light in the Gospel of John.

John 9:1-41 There are multiple ways to look at and discuss this Gospel. We can discuss the blind man’s life afterwards, or we can look at the Pharisee’s frustration with Jesus for not being what they expect, or even then surprise of the blind man’s parents. For me, though I think there is a broader message meant for each of us.

In this gospel reading, Jesus heals a man who has been blind from birth. However, John is a has more going on in this story than physical healing. The Gospel of Johns a deeply mystical text, by the time this Gospel is written the Christians have had almost a hundred years to come to an understanding of who Jesus is. For the writer of this Gospel, the story acts as a parable about our spiritual journey from darkness to light. Let’s take a closer look at this movement from darkness to light in the man who was born blind.

So the man starts out blind from birth. But the next step is the beginning of change, as he has his eyes opened by Jesus. For John, this is a parable of conversion – where we have no faith or only a little faith, then become committed followers of Jesus Christ. What can we learn about our own conversion in this story in John’s Gospel?

First, in John, it is that everything comes from the work of Jesus. There is no emphasis on human faith in this story until the end after Jesus has opened the man’s eyes. Jesus is passing by and having a conversation with the Apostles. The beggar doesn’t even ask to be healed he is a vehicle in which the works of the divine can become manifest. For me, it’s a reminder to try and stay out of the way of the Spirit so that that it can blow where it wants and when I remember this I become a vehicle for the Divine as opposed to an obstruction for it.

The second thing we learn is that conversion often takes patience and comes with our own maturity. Although the man’s gains his sight his understanding of what occurred takes a little while longer. He goes from saying, ‘the man they call Jesus’ in verse 11 to ‘He is a prophet’ in verse 17. He is coming to terms with what he experienced. Aren’t we the same way? We love our spiritual communities, or the liturgy or scripture and only after a certain time do we fully come to know the Divine presence is with us. It is only by spending times in the mysteries of Christ that we can really get to know who he really is.

During this, our extended time of reflection I realize that we don’t have access to all of the churches mysteries, but I encourage you to get into the habit of reading a tiny bit of the scripture s daily. Take that tiny piece and close your eyes and just reflect on it. Is there something you missed when you first heard it? Is there a message that speaks to your heart. Then after a few minutes of this write down our reflections and share them with your pastor or Priest or even your family and see what they have to say. This way you are staying in contact with your faith community while also getting some spiritual communion time with the Almighty.

Peace and Blessings,

Christopher Johnson