St Paul in today's reading from his letter to the Ephesians writes: "You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord". This is the focal point of this fourth Sunday of Lent. Paul is not saying that we were in the dark, but that we were darkness!
The contrast between darkness and light is a basic theme also in John. In the beginning, the Earth was in darkness. The world was sunk in sleep. The primal words "Let there be light" are the awakening words for the sleeping world.
Along the same lines, in the Gospel we read of the man born blind who Jesus saw as he was passing by. Presumably the man was by the wayside, part of the everyday routine for people coming and going. That's where he used to be all the time, passively waiting for who knows what, seen but unnoticed. But this time he takes centre stage. Jesus restores his vision. And suddenly everything changes, for him and for so many others.
We need vision, which is much more than just seeing. It transpires clearly from this Gospel account of the blind man's healing that here it's not just a question of one of Jesus's many miracles. The nature and length of the account demonstrate that this story provided a catechetical and liturgical framework in the early Christian communities for the initiation of new members.
This miracle that takes place in the Gosple of John is the archetype sacrament regenerating original and true vision. And this is what we are being invited for at this point in time of our Lenten journey: to wake up to a new vision, to see reality as God himself sees it. Many a time we are too preoccupied with our own vision, our perception of reality.
Lent give us a glimpse of God's own perspective, and how God sees us and our lives. As Jesus says: "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind".
It is this regeneration that underlies the whole story in the Gospel. Jesus starts from ideas, and as these develop, he goes deeper and deeper. From the outset, Jesus refuses the false teaching, which was commonplace in Jewish mentality since the Old Testament, that suffering and sin are connected in terms of cause and effect.
We still try to explain suffering simplistically. But Jesus refuses easy answers or explanations that can sound superficial. He immediately cuts short their debate: "Neither he nor his parents sinned!"
The miracle culminated in a 'seeing faith'. This man was until now blind to the revelations of the divine. Now, after the miracle, he not only is seeing, but gradually for him everything falls into perspective. The miracle did not end merely with the opening of the man's eyes, but with his faith and recognition of Jesus as Lord.
John shows how a man passes from darkness to light, from not seeing to believing. And as the story unfolds, all the hurdles that had to be overcome before coming to his profession of faith in the Lord Jesus, represent whatever lies in our way and what makes believing difficult.
Christianity today risks losing its creative and regenerative power in our personal lives and in society alike. It risks becoming historical and subservient to a secular culture. But as this so-called 'sixth miracle' in John's Book of Signs recalls, we are called to wake up and let Jesus, the light of the world, address the darkness in our hearts that we may be restored and never again lose perspective.