Mar
2
The Blind Man’s Parents
March 2, 2008 |
Today’s gospel (John 9) is about the blind man on the side of the road who is cured by Jesus. Everyone remembers the story because it’s the one where Christ mixes his spit with some dirt and puts the mud salve on the eyes of the blind man. Growing up, the boys all thought this story was cool - the girls all thought it was “yucky.”
In any case, the blind man gets healed and goes to the Pharisees to show them this wonderful thing that’s been done. Totally true to their colors, the Pharisees have a cow and react with a mixture of disbelief and indignation (“there Jesus goes again - curing on the Sabbath”).
The Pharisees keep pressing the blind man on the nature of the man who healed him. The Pharisees call Jesus a “sinner”, accuse him of being a charlatan (”we do not know where this man is from”). They attack the blind man (”you were born totally in sin and are you trying to teach us?”) and throw him out of the synagogue.
In this whole episode, the Pharisees are acting as they acted throughout Christ’s ministry - disbelieving, self-righteous, arrogant, egotistical, downright stupid.
But what about the blind man’s parents? The Pharisees summoned them to prove that the blind man had been blind and now could see. The parents came and told the Pharisees that yes, he was their son, that he was blind, and that now he could see. But, when pressed on how he could see, they dodged the question and passed it off to their son - “ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.”
By itself, their statement would make sense - afterall, who would better know how it happened than their son. But in the reading, we are also told why they passed the question off to their son - they were “afraid.” They were afraid of being expelled from the synagogue if they acknowledged Jesus as “Christ” - and there was no other way to explain what Jesus had done for their son. He worked a miracle in restoring their son’s sight and only God could do such a unexplainable thing.
But they were afraid. How foolish! Their son had been blind from birth. Surely, the parents had fretted about his condition from the day they realized he could not see. How was he going to take care of himself? How was he going to take care of them (remember, back then, your kids were your social security)? How was he going to be able to learn and do the very basic things required of a young man in 1st Century Judea? Surely, they had prayed to God for a cure - that their son would have his sight. Surely, they begged God with prayers, praise and sacrifice - sitting endlessly in the synagogue hoping for a cure.
And now that the cure is at hand - now that their prayers had been answered - what do the parents do? What feeling do they have? What’s their first reaction? They become afraid. They deny God’s work. And they even set their son up to bear the righteous indignation of the Pharisees. They throw their son under the bus and leave him alone and naked.
Instead, they should have responded with praise and thanksgiving - their son had been healed! They should have shouted to the top of their voices - “heck yes, Christ has healed him - and Christ is the Lord! - are you all too dense to see it? - who else could have done this? - why don’t you all wake up and realize what’s going on around us - the great things that are being done?”
How great for the blind man - how sad for his parents.
But are we the blind man - or are we the parents? Do we stand up for what we believe - or are we too afraid? Do we stand up for others - or do we leave others alone to fight their own battles?
The blind man did not cower before the Pharisees. At the end of the reading, he openly declares to Christ that “I do believe, Lord.” His life was changed in ways only he could know - and he knew who to thank.
I’m sure he worked it out with his parents. I’m sure his parents even came to believe in Christ - because there simply wasn’t any other explanation. But, before the Pharisees, they blew it. They blew it because they were afraid. They wanted to stay on the sidelines - even at the expense of their son.
Let us be like the blind man - not his parents. Let us not be afraid to stand up and get into the game. Glory cannot come unless we line up to play. The blind man played - the parents passed. And, who has the glory?
