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By Rev. Jean Mackay Vinson
Guest Columnist

Many of us are quite familiar with the biblical story of the man born blind from the Gospel of John chapter 9. The message is clear: if we believe in Christ, we can see spiritually. We are “in the light.”  Conversely, if we do not believe, we are in the darkness. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” 

The light of the world… In today’s life, is this an either/or condition? Do we live in either darkness or  light? Just one or the other? Either believing or not? Or is there something in between? Perhaps we  have believed for a long time – maybe even decades – but along the way, things become blurry and  out of focus? We just might need the Almighty Optician to help us out… correct our vision, put on  

some glasses… so that we can improve our spiritual vision. 

The blind man in our Bible story lived as an ostracized beggar. Until one day, he hears people talking  about him – asking if his blindness was caused by sin: his own sin, or his parents’ sins. And he hears  a voice say that his blindness is for God’s works to be known. This same voice says: I am the light of  

the world. He then hears someone spitting and then feels gooey moisture gently placed on his  eyelids. This man sends him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. And so, this man – who has never seen the face of his mother or father, never gazed into another’s eyes, washes and sees for the first time. He sees the colors, shapes and movements of the world come alive. 

We want to hear that the blind man, the disciples, neighbors, Pharisees and his parents hug and dance and celebrate! We want to hear about how his neighbors told him about the words for water and light, the color blue, or a bird feather. If something like this happened these days, it would go viral! We want that enthusiasm, but that’s not what Jesus has in mind. 

Instead, we hear how this sixth sign recorded plays out among the people who should have had the spiritual eyes to see.  

Three groups of people have sight issues here. And we can learn from them. 

First, the disciples and neighbors seem to wear foggy glasses. These are the people who wondered  “Who sinned, the man or his parents?” Jesus clarifies that certain hardships in life are allowed to demonstrate God’s works through our lives. He cleans the foggy glasses. 

Secondly, the Pharisees overanalyze the entire situation and miss the point. Have you ever looked all over for your glasses, and they were on top of your head? The Pharisees were faithfully waiting for the Messiah, and he was standing right there in front of them. Instead of being excited for the blind man, they gripe about Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath and debate whether Jesus is from God or not.  Of course, he is! From God? Not from God? It’s like the eye exam at the optician’s office: Better One?  Better Two? Suffice to say, like the Pharisees, our spiritual vision can get nearsighted at times. We can miss the bigger, more important issue: that Christ is the Lord.

Thirdly, the blind man’s parents’ spirituality is like tunnel vision. Because the Jewish leaders  excluded those who believed Jesus as Messiah from the synagogue, the blind man’s parents deny their experience of Jesus and hedge their answers because they are afraid of being ostracized. Their tunnel vision obscures the peripheral knowledge of a worldly faith where all are God’s children. 

Jesus does something beautiful when he goes out to find the formerly blind man who was chased  away. Why does God seek and find us? Our God is active in love! When life blinds our spiritual sight,  our shepherd comes to the rescue. 

How blessed are we who see: “Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.” (Eph 5:8–14) Let us each ask in prayer how our spiritual vision might need a bit of an adjustment. Let us be intentional about living in the light, as children of the light.

REVEREND JEAN VINSON is the Rector at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Franklin.