1 Sam 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 / Ephesians 5:8-14 / John 9:1-41
Very often in life, hidden talents are brought to public attention only when there is a given opportunity.
For example, singing contests often reveal surprising talents.
We may remember a local singing contest from the past that we watched on the black and white TVs called “Talent Time”.
And in the present times, there is the American Idol and our local Singapore Idol that had a lot of hype and publicity and drama even.
Having said that, I wonder if we have heard of someone by the name of Susan Boyle?
Well, she participated in a talent contest called “Britain’s got talent”, a contest that lets people bring out their talents, be it singing or dancing or playing an instrument or whatever.
Among the judges in that contest was Simon Cowell, who was notorious for criticizing contestants to the point of tears and even beyond.
So when Susan Boyle came up on stage for the first round, she looked like she just came in from the country-side.
She was plumpish, with an odd-looking hair-do, and an off-beat dress and it looked like she was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The audience did not really welcome her on stage, and some even rolled their eyes upwards with a cynical look.
The three judges tried to be decent, and Simon Cromwell wasn’t looking forward to anything when Susan Boyle announced that she would sing “I dreamed a dream” (Les Miserables).
But just after one line into the song, the audience and the judges were stunned by her rich powerful voice, and the cynical grins were turned almost immediately into cheers and standing ovations.
It was just another instance of how people were judged by their looks and appearances and written off before they could do anything and until they could prove otherwise.
But as for that blind man in the gospel, there was nothing for him to prove.
He was blind, he was a beggar, there was nothing that people saw in him, and there was nothing he saw in himself.
So it was, until Jesus came along and then things changed.
Earlier on, the disciples had looked at the blind man and asked whose sin it was that caused the blindness – his sin or his parents’ sin?
And then after when the blind man was healed, the Pharisees looked at him and asked what kind of sinner it was that healed the blind man.
It is strange that the disciples and the Pharisees and those who had sight could only see one thing – sin!
The disciples saw blindness as a punishment due to sin, and the Pharisees saw that man who was healed of his blindness as a sinner.
As for the blind man who was healed, he had his sight restored, and he could see just as the rest who had sight could see.
But as much as he could now see like the rest, there was something he saw that made him different from the rest.
When he was asked : What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes? His reply was : He is a prophet.
Not only he saw Jesus as a prophet, that former blind man became a surprise witness in the whole drama.
He even confronted and refuted the Pharisees by saying : Now here is an astonishing thing. He has opened my eyes and you don’t know where he comes from. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.
That was a stunning statement from a surprise witness who was once blind but now could see deeper and see more than the rest.
But this gospel passage is not just about another miracle of healing a blind man.
Jesus proclaimed that He is the light of the world. His light is in all of us so that we too can see deeper and see more.
The light of Christ is not some kind of special talent that is given to only some or a few, and which can only be discovered through some kind of talent contest.
We have the light of Christ so that we can see deeper and clearer, and to choose what is from God and reject what is not from God.
Indeed we need the light of Christ to see what is from God and what is not from God because they can look so similar.
For example, HATE has four letters, but so does LOVE.
ENEMIES have seven letters; so does FRIENDS.
LYING has five letters; so does TRUTH.
NEGATIVE has eight letters; so does POSITIVE.
UNDER has five letters; so does ABOVE.
CRY has three letters; so does JOY.
ANGRY has five letters; so does HAPPY.
RIGHT has five letters; so does WRONG.
Jesus gives us His light so that we can see clearly and choose wisely.
May we choose what is from God, and reject whatever that is not.