Jesus said, “It is for judgement that I have come into this world so that those without sight may see and those with sight may turn blind.” Some Pharisees heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9: 39-41)
 

Here Jesus offers the wisdom of a striking paradox. When we think, we know and see; when we become dogmatically sure of ourselves, we are closed and lack the openness and vulnerability that allows for seeing differently. When we are aware that we don’t know and see, God can show us what God wants us to see. 

The Pharisees think they see and do not realise they need the light. They need Jesus. They do not recognise that they are in the dark. And so, they remain unable to see, even as they are unaware. They were blind to the message of who Jesus was. We must realise that we lack spiritual sight and should be open to receiving the gift of light. 

The spiritual life invites us into these profound paradoxes. St. John of the Cross says: “To come to what you know not, you must go by a way where you know not” (The Ascent of Mount Carmel). There has to be a surrender of our assumptions. There has to be space for God to show us something new. 

Most of us are attached to certainty because we like to feel in control. We want the world to work in ways that are clear and predictable. We like to know what is right and wrong, who belongs and who doesn’t. Yet, when we are humble and ask for the gift of sight, God can work and open our eyes to see as God does.

God,

help me to be open, 

to come to see things differently,

to embrace my blindness and my un-knowing

as the doorway to receive your clarity of vision. 

Amen.