The Sunday on which we read the story of the healing of the Blind Man, I offered a reflection on Divine Providence, Divine Intervention and Divine Revelation. During Theology 101 that day, we discussed the content of the sermon a little further drawing on some of your own life experiences. There were a few people who asked for a copy of the sermon, but instead of making photocopies, I decided to print the sermon in this newsletter, expanding a little on the original message.
The story of the blind man is taken from the gospel of St. John, chapter 9:1-38. The passage is too lengthy to print in this article, so I will simply quote portions that were pertinent to the sermon that day. The beginning of the passages, versus 1-3 read: “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be revealed in him.”
From these first three versus, we see that God allowed this man to be born blind. We also hear that the disciples were looking for a reason as to why this was. They questioned their Lord as to whether or not it was due to his own sins, a question that ultimately doesn’t make sense since he would have needed to sin before he was born. The disciples also included in their question the man’s parents. Maybe it was because of their sins that their son was born blind. Thinking a bit more about this, it seems rather cruel, that God would punish an innocent child due to the sins of his parents.
To help us with an correct understanding, we turn to the commentary on the Gospel of St. John offered by the Blessed Theophylact who states, “a child is not punished for his father’s or mother’s sins” (Commentary on John, p. 150), anymore than mankind is “punished” for the sins of Adam. This position finds further support in the book of Deuteronomy where we read, “And the sons shall not be put to death for the fathers; everyone shall die for his own sins” (24:18).
Some have proposed that a passage from Exodus would beg to differ. “I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, recompensing the sins of the fathers upon their children, to the third and fourth generation” (20:5). At first sight it would appear that this passage is very clear that children for generations can suffer because of the sins of their parents. Like any passage in Scripture, however, we have to be careful and diligent not to look at it out of context. This passage is not to be understood as children being punished for the sins of their parents. According to the Blessed Theophylact this passage “is not a universal decree applying to all men at all times, but only to those who came out of Egypt” (ibid. p. 151).
Our understanding of this passage from Exodus is two-fold: First, children often fall into committing the same sins as their parents because they imitate what they see and hear. For children, the words and actions of the parents are the first and most frequent that they experience in their young lives, and so as in anything, repetition becomes the mother of all learning.
Second, just as all mankind suffers the effects of Adam’s sin, we are not responsible for their sin. It is the same with children, who often suffer due to the choices of their father or mother. The choices we make in life not only affect us, but they affect others as well, for better or for worse. Children are like pure clay when they come into the world and are easily molded, which is why parents need to take great care when handling them. A parent needs to start first and foremost with him or her self, paying attention to their interior life, tending to their own spiritual growth and healing. Because parents, “parent from the inside out”, what ever is not healed or whatever is unresolved, will be an obstacle to healthy parenting.
In the case of the Blind man, his blindness from birth was neither due to his sins or the sins of his parents. Our Lord is very clear about this (cf. Jn. 9:3). So why was he born blind? His blindness was permitted so that “the works of God might be revealed in him”. This in essence is Divine Providence. When I looked up the word providence, one of the definitions listed was, “timely preparation for future eventualities”. Providence refers to protection and care from God, which occur in a timely manner (perfect according to God Who Is all-knowing) for eternal purposes and value. In the story of the blind man, God allowed this man to be born without eyes for a period of time and for a purpose that was beyond our comprehension.
We can also ask the question, was it necessary that this man to be born blind in the first place? Couldn’t God just have manifested His power or revealed his works in another way? I suppose He could have, and in fact He did in other cases, but not in this instance.
Perhaps looking at this story of the blind man now, nearly two thousand years later, we can make sense of it all. But if this same story was our story, or the story of someone close to us today, I wonder if we would have the same understanding? I wonder if we would we be questioning God as to why? It’s one thing to look at the story’s in the Bible historically, and quite another to try to understand the workings of God as they are happening to us in our own very lives, when it’s not always as clear.
In fact, I find it remarkable how easily our faith and trust in God can be shaken when things don’t seem to go the way we want them to, or how bold we can become with God when something doesn’t make sense. Because we struggle to understand why things happen to us, and to others around us, it’s not difficult to become angry with God, to begin questioning Him, His methods, His love and sometimes His very existence. We can even begin to question if God really knows what He’s doing or even if He really cares at all. At these times it’s okay to struggle and to feel and to express what’s going on inside of us. Ultimately, though, we can return to the words as recorded by the Prophet Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My way, declares the Lord” (55:8).
Perhaps instead of pondering on the question as to why the man was born blind, we can look at how Divine Intervention, the healing of this man’s blindness, impacted him. Our inclination may be to look at his situation from the standpoint of fairness because that’s just how we operate. However, we need to remember that we are short sighted and we seldom see the entire picture, whereas God is all knowing and sees everything from the past to the present to the future as one moment in time.
Likewise, our responses are typically emotionally driven, whereas God’s responses are guided by dispassion and by His desire to have all people saved. We see things and react in the hear- and-now and judge based on our limited capacity to understand. Whereas God has everlasting life in view at all time for His children. God is eternal and sees and knows all things perfectly.
Our Lord said that this man was born blind so that God’s work, Divine Intervention, would be revealed in him. What we see as a tragedy, blindness from birth, is actually a condition that will eventually lead a man into the Kingdom of Heaven. This moment of Divine Intervention was a shadow of what God was offering to all of humanity.
The man who received his eyesight would eventually depart this life, and not be able to use his newly acquired sight to gaze on the beauty of the earth or into the eyes of loved ones. For Jesus, giving this man his sight was not the primary purpose for working this miracle. This was secondary. The primary purpose for giving this man his eyesight was to open the eyes of the man’s soul, so that he would gain his spiritual sight, and recognize Jesus Christ as his God and Creator. Gaining this kind of sight had eternal ramifications.
This man, his parents, his family and friends were thrilled beyond belief to see this miracle and to know that their son and friend would now be able to look into their eyes, and see their faces. But for Christ, it was a very, very small thing by comparison.
Both Divine Providence, and Divine Intervention, led to Divine Revelation. After receiving his sight, the man cried out to Christ, “Lord, I believe, and he worshipped Him as God” (v. 38). The words uttered by this man, “Lord, I believe”, caused the angels in heaven to rejoice, not because a human being received his sight on earth, but because a soul was saved! The purpose for which Jesus worked this miracle came to pass. Though the man, his family and friends rejoiced at the miracle of gaining his eyesight, the ultimate purpose, the man’s salvation, was the true work of God revealed in him. This is what Jesus was trying to get across to His disciples. It wasn’t about God working an impressive miracle. God’s work is to draw all men to Himself, out of love, with the hope that all men will respond to this love and follow Him saying “I believe”, whether there is physical healing or not.
In summary, Divine Providence was that this man was born blind for a time and a purpose. Such is the mystery of God’s ways. Second, Divine Intervention is when Jesus spat on the ground, made clay, anointed the eyes, and sent the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. And third, Divine Revelation was Jesus Christ revealing Himself as God and Creator, bringing the man to faith and to eternal life, wherein the man responded, “Lord, I believe.”
Where do we fit in to all of this? Do we think about God’s Divine Providence and really try to see our life, our circumstances, and all that takes place day to day from the perspective of Divine Providence, God constantly working in our lives, timely preparation for future eventualities? Or, are we blind to these and try to figure out why things are happening, and whether it’s fair or not, or right or not?
In what way is God’s Divine Intervention presenting itself to us? Are we missing this too? Do we question God with “what” and “why” and “how”? Do we sometimes even believe that God is absent, or forgotten us, or if He really cares at all? These are great challenges for us. If we are struggling with the first two of these, I can tell you we will struggle with the third one, Divine Revelation. It’s hard to cry out “I believe” to God when we struggle with doubt in God’s Providence, and overlook the multiple ways God intervenes in our life.
The truth of the matter is that no matter how we see things, or what we choose to believe about what is going on in our life, God’s providence is always at work in our life and for our salvation. We can question His goodness, His love, His methodology and even His very existence. Rest assured, though, God’s love for us never waivers, despite how we respond to life’s challenges.
In Christ with love,
Fr. Timothy
