Sight and Insight.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 15, 2026

A story from Hans Christian Anderson…



The tale concerns an emperor who has an obsession with fancy new clothes and spends lavishly on them at the expense of state matters. One day, two con men visit the emperor's capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor's wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the "weavers" report that the emperor's suit is finished. They mime dressing him, and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The entire town then realizes the truth of the observation and repeats the child's cry. The emperor awkwardly continues with the procession.

In today’s remarkable story, we find Jesus healing a man blind from birth. But there is a deeper message: while the blind man gains deeper insight into the truth of who Jesus is, there are other characters in the story who become increasingly and stubbornly blind.

First, there is the question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” This was a common view at that time that blindness was a punishment for sin. Jesus does away with that interpretation by responding, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” Jesus, in performing this miracle, was revealing that he was the Messiah, the one who would enable the blind to see.

Then, when the authorities question the man, they do not see the miracle right in front of them. When they ask how the man was healed, he explains that Jesus made clay and opened his eyes on the sabbath. Now, according to the rules, no work was to be done on the sabbath. So, they conclude, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.”

Notice the growing insight of the blind man, who now asks, “How can a sinful man do such signs?”

Next, the authorities question the man’s parents. They give a half-hearted response, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. He is of age; he can speak for himself.” Why this lukewarm response? Because the authorities had decreed that anyone who accepted Jesus as Messiah would be kicked out of the synagogue. Their answer is based on fear, not on truth.

Next, the authorities question the man further. They claim to be disciples of Moses, not this man (in other words, they are strict followers of the law as they understand it). When they say they don’t know Jesus or his origins, the cured man replies, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. …If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” The authorities then go back to the old belief, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?”

In the end, the man born blind came to full faith and worshiped Jesus. The authorities, blind to what is right in front of them, will ultimately reject Jesus and insist on his execution. Most of the crowd, either out of ignorance or fear, will go along with them. At the foot of the cross, only the faithful few will remain.

The blind man who receives his sight is like the boy in the Hans Christian Anderson story. He is honest, pure and truthful. He dares to say what he sees right in front of him, even though the others might think he is inept or stupid. The emperor, insisting that he is neither inept or stupid, continues the parade in all his royal nakedness.

There is a clear warning in these stories: beware of following the crowd, simply going along, blindly believing everything you are told. I think that all of us tend to interpret reality according to our presumptions, likes, tastes, and prejudices. Some, for example, always wear Republican reading glasses, and others Democratic. Some will take whatever they read in social media as the gospel truth, while others insist on Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Think of how many were blind followers of Adolf Hitler. Their hatred and fear of Jews blinded their hearts to the gospel of love. Think of how many in our day have accepted the gospel of violence and revenge, killing innocent people in schools, malls, places of work, and homes. Think of the scapegoating that is going on: blaming people who are from a different culture, of speak a different language, for all the troubles in society.

The message I see in today’s gospel has to do with the danger of following the party line, of blindly following along, of closing our eyes to immoral behavior, and accepting things that we would never have dreamed of accepting before. Whom do we believe? Whom do we follow? And where does Jesus, who can cure blindness, fit into the way we see our world?