20:20 VISION

Fourth Sunday of Lent

John 9:39

“I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”

I am nearsighted so I have to wear eyeglasses. Without them, I could not recognize the face of a person until he is about 6 feet from me, or better yet, until we are face-to-face. That is why in high school, when I try not to wear my eyeglasses, I am often called a snub. If only they understood why.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he mentioned that what we are seeing now about God is “but a poor reflection as in a mirror”. Even as we open ourselves to see and know God in new ways, we still cannot perfectly know God. We are not yet face to face with God. We see partially and we know partially. There is much that remains a mystery to us.

We still live with partial visions about God. And sometimes, the imperfections in our understanding of God make us anxious. We feel that God expects more of us than that. We feel that we should have answers to every conceivable question, that we should never experience doubts, that we should have clarity at all times.

This is what the Pharisees feel in today’s gospel. They gathered and asked everyone, including the blind man and his parents, just to understand how the blind man was able to see. But in the end, it was the blind man who lectured to them about Jesus and about salvation. He was able to see physically… and spiritually, for he opened not only his eyes to the Lord, but also his heart. The Pharisees can see clearly, but their hearts are close – they are blind spiritually.

As we begin to see God as loving, we come to believe that we are lovable. As we begin to see that God wants us live more fully, we come to believe that we are precious and valuable. Open Your hearts, and see Him.

Almighty Father, what I see is not always a very pretty picture. I long for you to appear. If you enter the picture, everything changes. Seeing you changes everything because I know that when I see you, I am changed. Sink this hope deep within me and purify me with this hope.

Man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.