Catherine Lewis-Smith takes issue with Jesus’ attitude to blindness

Jesus says some strange things about visually impaired people. His compassion for them is huge and he transforms the lives of many by restoring their sight. One of my favourite Gospel characters is the man born blind who is repeatedly summoned to the synagogue to answer for his healing, and deadpans: ‘I already told you what happened, do you want to hear it again so that you can follow him too?’ Jesus cares enough for this man that he seeks him out to speak with him privately and answers for what has happened. But even as Jesus assures us that blindness and sinfulness are not connected, he casually describes spiritually ignorant opponents as blind…

Catherine Lewis-Smith is a United Reformed Church minister and a healthcare chaplain in Manchester

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This is an extract from an article published in the February 2023 edition of Reform

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