Sight and insight are not the same thing. Sight is the ability to see, while insight is the ability to see on a deeper level, to see what is truly there.

 

For example, a person with sight can view a basketball game and watch the players running across the court and the ball being thrown toward the hoop. A person with insight into the game would observe far more. That person would be able to see different plays and the offensive and defensive strategies being used by each team. That person would appreciate the talents and skills of individual players and their coaches.

 

A person with sight could watch a student stand before a high school assembly and address the student body. But a teacher with insight into the background and personality of that particular student would see far more. That teacher would see a student overcoming shyness and insecurity and standing before his or her peers. The person with insight would see an act of courage and determination.

 

In this Sunday's Gospel (John 9:1-41), we hear of a man blind from birth who is granted the gift of sight. Jesus smears clay on the man's eyes and then sends him to wash it off. He does and he returns able to see. For the first time in his life that man is able to see his own hands, the blue of the sky above him, the green leaves he has heard rustling in the breeze, and he is able to see the face of Jesus.

 

But that is not all. That man is also given insight. He sees more than just a man who opened his eyes. When first asked who healed him, he replies "the man called Jesus." When asked what he has to say about this Jesus, he replies "He is a prophet." When asked again, he says Jesus is a man sent from God for “if this man were not from God he would not be able to do anything.” Each time his insight into Jesus increases. 

 

After the man is expelled from the synagogue for refusing to acknowledge Jesus as a sinner for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus seeks him out. Jesus challenges him to go further in recognizing who stands before him. The man proclaims his belief that Jesus is the Son of Man and worships him.

 

Jesus, the one who proclaims that he is "the light of the world" lifts the darkness of the blind man and gives him sight. Even more wondrously, Jesus gives him the insight to recognize him as Messiah and Lord. An insight the Pharisees were too "blind" to accept.

 

Jesus, the light of the world, has touched us just as he touched the blind man of the Gospel. We recognize Jesus as more than just a man, a healer, a preacher. We see him as our Savior and Lord. Like the man born blind, we have been blessed with insight!

 

© 2026 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski