A few days ago I collected my new glasses. They look good, I think, and an improvement on the previous pair. I can see better too – which is what you would expect from a new pair of spectacles.
But I cannot see quite as well as I did when I was younger. You see, since I last changed my glasses, I have developed a cataract in both eyes, nothing that needs any immediate treatment, but sometime in the future. I am conscious that my eyesight remains impaired.
Last week one of the daily Lectionary readings was the story of the man born blind, who had never seen anything until Jesus gave him his sight. Amazingly, all at once, he saw everything. This included not only the face of Jesus, but he ‘saw’ who Jesus was, the Son of Man. I have always loved this story.*
The apostle Paul writing to Christians in Ephesus, told them he was praying that:
‘the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he (God) has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe.’*
Unlike the blind man we cannot see Jesus with physical eyes. However, we can now ‘see’ him, with the eyes of our heart, with God-given understanding.
The vicar’s online comment on this story of the blind man was particularly thoughtful. He had a good friend who was one of the country’s foremost stained-glass artists and iconographers. He was well known for the vivid brightness of the colours he used.
He was affected by cataracts but for a long time he did not realise this. Eventually he had the cataracts removed. The first time he looked at his works of art, he said, “It was breath-taking!” He had had no idea just how bright his use of colour was.
He died two years ago. Knowing he was dying he rang up his friends to say goodbye. During his conversation with the vicar, they talked about heaven. The vicar said to him that the colours in heaven would be even brighter than his friend could ever have created. What is more, they would be so vivid that no human eye would have been able to tolerate or appreciate them. Truly breath-taking!
(That makes me wonder if that was why the apostle Paul was temporarily blinded after he’d seen the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus!)
At the funeral of a young colleague of mine, we were thrilled and comforted to hear the reading from 1 Corinthians 13, read from The Message translation:
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! ***
Cataracts removed. The mist cleared. Our breath taken away! Everything about heaven is beyond our imagination, although we can grasp the resurrection appearances of Jesus, for he did not dazzle his disciples, not even when he ascended to heaven.
Reflecting on the risen Jesus does give us a colour pallet, albeit a limited one, to get excited about.
This is my story and a work in progress. I wrote this on 21st March 2021.
*John 9 **Ephesians 1:18 (NIV) ***1 Corinthians 13:12 (The Message)
Sudden death... then what? 