We see process of coming to faith dramatized in today’s Gospel. Jesus is in Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles. Today the Gospel begins with a healing of a blind man. Jesus puts a mud paste on his eyes and tells him to wash it off in the Pool of Siloam. The man is given the physical sight he never had. This creates a stir. The man is interrogated about the miracle. But the miracle divided the Pharisees. Some recognize God’s hand in the healing but others see Jesus as a sinner for breaking the sabbath. The man is put under pressure, and under pressure begins to assert himself and recognizes that Jesus must be a prophet. Finally Jesus returns to the scene and challenges the man, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” When the man wants to know if Jesus is the Messaih, Jesus tells him that he can see Him now. But it is not just physical sight; he now has the spiritual insight to acknowledge Jesus in faith: “Lord, I believe,” he says, and he worships Him.
This Gospel reading is especially appropriate in Lent because, traditionally, many Christians are baptized at Easdter and are now preparing. They will receive the light of Christ. We notice in today’s Gospel, how the blind man only comes to faith gradually and in the face of persecution and abuse. But at the same time the light of Christ shows up the darkness of unbelief. Some of the Pharisees cannot open their eyes to a new revelation. The parents of the blind man sit on the fence and are unwilling to speak. Lent, and this time of stress, is the time to examine our faith. We may be like parents who want to keep quiet. Or we may be like the unbelieving Pharisees who turn from the light. Lent leads to Easter which offers us the opportunity to go beyond our physical sight and to see the world with the eyes of faith and, like the blind man, recognize Jesus as the light of the world.