The Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Greeneville, TN
The Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2026
There was a blind man in Jerusalem... There... sitting along a crowded street where people hurried past on their way to the Temple. Scripture tells us that this man had been blind from birth. He had never seen the colors of the sky at sunrise, never watched children playing in the streets, never gazed upon the hills that surrounded the city.
The world that many people experienced through sight, he knew only through touch, sound, and scent. He only knew the warmth of the sun on his face as morning came. He may have known the fragrance of flowers and spices carried by the passersby. He likely heard the bustling footsteps of others heading to worship. But he never saw the beauty of the Temple... that magnificent structure, gleaming with white stone and gold.
What he probably knew too well, however, were the impatient shoves of hurried crowds and the dismissive glances of people who preferred not to see him at all.
In many ways, his life reflected something we still see in our world today. People who are struggling... those who are poor, disabled, lonely, or forgotten... often become invisible to society. There are far too many people in this world who feel unseen. Some are burdened by economic hardship. Some are overwhelmed by anxiety and mental health struggles. Some who feel pushed to the margins because of who they are or where they come from.
Our world moves very quickly, and if we are not being attentive, it is easy for our compassion to be left behind. But on a certain day... There in Jerusalem, along the crowded street, something different happened.
There, Jesus and his disciples were walking along, having just escaped a violent confrontation with the religious authorities. Jesus and his disciples stopped. They stopped in front of this blind man. And in a world that had largely ignored him, Jesus saw him.
Yet the disciples, who reflected the thinking of their time, asked the question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
In that culture, suffering and deformity were often blamed on personal failure or sin. If something went wrong in someone’s life, people assumed that they deserved it. Unfortunately, there are those who still do this today. When someone struggles, society often asks, “What did they do wrong? Why can’t they just fix their lives? Why don’t they just work harder?”
But Jesus refused that way of thinking. He answers, quite matter-of-factly, “It is no one’s fault that this man was born blind.” Then he said something remarkable. He told them this man’s life would become a place where God's work would be revealed. God would use this situation to bring about healing and restoration.
Then, Jesus did something unexpected. He knelt down, made mud from the earth and his own saliva, and gently placed it on the man’s eyes. Then he told him, “Go now and wash in the Pool of Siloam.”
It was a simple instruction. Just go and wash. And the man did. He made his way through the streets, still unable to see, until he reached the pool. He washed the mud from his eyes. And suddenly… he could see.
Imagine that moment, if you will… Light flooding into eyes that had never known it. Shapes and colors appearing for the very first time. Faces, buildings, sky, and sunlight. The man who had lived his whole life in darkness was now standing in the light. But what followed was not the great celebration that one would expect.
Instead, the questions started. His neighbors were skeptical. “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said yes. Others said no, but it’s someone like him. And through it all, the man simply kept saying, “I am he.” They asked him how it happened. And the truth is, he didn’t fully know. All he could do was tell his story. “A man named Jesus made mud, put it on my eyes, told me to wash, and now I see.”
Eventually, they brought him to the Pharisees, the religious authorities. But instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders focused on what they saw as a problem... Jesus was healing someone on the Sabbath. In their minds, that meant Jesus had broken the rules. So, they questioned the man again and again. They questioned his parents. They questioned the circumstances. They questioned everything. Everything except the miracle standing right in front of them.
Finally, in frustration, the man said something wonderfully honest, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not. All I know is this, I was blind… and now I see.”
Sometimes, that’s where faith begins. Not with perfect answers. Not with carefully constructed theology. But with a simple testimony. "Something in my life has changed." Many of us have experienced moments like this. Moments when God met us in unexpected ways... Maybe in a time of grief, maybe in a moment of forgiveness, or a feeling of quiet strength to keep going, or a new sense of purpose or hope.
But when people ask us to explain it fully, we can’t because we just don’t know how; we just know that something is different. All we can say is, “I once felt lost… but now I see more clearly. I once carried a burden… but now I feel relief. I once lived in fear… but now I know hope.”
The religious leaders could not accept the mystery of what had happened. Eventually, they became so frustrated that they threw the healed man out.
It’s interesting, isn’t it? The man who had been blind could now see... while those religious authorities, who believed they saw clearly, refused to recognize what God was doing right in front of their very own eyes.
And that brings us to the core of our Gospel story this morning. Later, Jesus found the man and asked if he believed. The man said yes. And the man fell down and worshiped. Then Jesus spoke about sight and blindness. But not just physical sight, spiritual sight.
Because, as we know, there are many kinds of blindness in our world. There is the blindness of convenience to the suffering that is all around us. Blindness to injustice. Blindness to the loneliness of our neighbors. Blindness to the ways God is working quietly among ordinary people.
Some people like to stay blind, because when we open our eyes, we see the horrors of the deep divisions in society. We see anger and hatred in public life, fear in our communities, and a deep loneliness in many hearts.
We see people who continue to argue about truth. arguing about who is right. Arguing about power and control... Some people tend to make a lot of noise… Yet in the midst of all that noise, Jesus invites us to see. To see people who are overlooked... To see dignity in every person... To see that God is still at work
in places where we might not expect.
Jesus calls us into the light. And that light reveals some things to us. It shows us the broken places in our world. But it also reveals God’s abundant grace moving among us.
During the season of Lent, it is especially important that we continue to work our way out of the darkness into the light. Lent is a time when Christ shines light into the dark corners of our lives. Not to shame us, but to heal us. Not to condemn us, but to help us grow.
Christ opens our eyes so that we can see more clearly... see ourselves honestly, see others compassionately, and see God’s presence more faithfully.
Like the man in the story who was once blind, we may not have all the answers. But we do have a story. And sometimes the most powerful testimony we can give is simply our story, “I once was blind… But now I see.”
And by the grace of God, may our eyes continue to be opened to the light of Christ shining in our world today.
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