Lenten Devotional Week 4: Freedom From Blindness

This is the fourth in our series of Lenten reflections designed to help you go deeper this season using the Sunday sermon, the Gospel reading, and our 5 Weeks of Freedom small‑group study. Whether you’re following along on your own, gathering with family around the dinner table, or simply looking for a moment of grounding in a busy week, our hope is that these reflections help you experience God’s healing and freedom in new ways this Lent.

This week we explore how Jesus frees us from the blindness that keeps us from seeing God, ourselves, and one another more clearly. The man born blind slowly comes to recognize who Jesus is, while those with perfect eyesight struggle to see the truth in front of them. This reflection guide invites us to notice our own blindness, and how Jesus continues to reshape us into people who see with clarity, courage, and compassion.

How to Use This Devotional

Use this in whatever way serves you best:

Personal devotion: Read slowly, journal a few thoughts, or sit with one question that stands out.
Family or household conversation: Use the prompts to spark deeper connection and honest sharing.
Use as much or as little as you wish: One question may be enough for the whole week.

- Watch the Week 4 sermon if you missed it.

Read the Gospel John 9:1-41 (NRSV alongside The Message translation)

Opening Prayer

God of light and new sight,
open my eyes as you opened the eyes of the man born blind.
Shape me again from the dust,
and help me see what I’ve been missing—
your presence, your grace, your truth,
in unexpected people and unlikely places.
Let your healing make me someone who can say,
in my own way,
“I once was blind, now I see.”
Amen.

Personal Reflection Questions

1. Punishment for Sin?

In Jesus’s time, people assumed suffering was a sign of sin – either something they did or their parents. Where do you still catch yourself making similar assumptions about others — especially the poor, the struggling, the addicted, the incarcerated, or the unhoused?

How do our assumptions or judgments about others keep us from seeing people the way Jesus sees them?

2. God’s Glory in Hard Places

Jesus says the man’s blindness wasn’t punishment for sin, but a place where God’s glory could be seen.

How has suffering or struggle — in our lives or in the lives of others — helped to reveal God’s presence, compassion, or transforming power?

3. The Merciful Gaze of Christ

Recall a time when your assumptions about someone turned out to be wrong or too simplistic.

How can your faith help us to see others more clearly? What practices does Jesus invite us to practice when we encounter ‘the other’ in our daily life?

How might encountering others with a ‘child’s mind’ help?

5. Re‑Creation

Jesus makes mud to restore the man’s sight in the same way God formed humanity from the dust at the beginning of creation.

How might restoring our sight help to be transformed — or “re-created” — in the image of God?

6. A Christian Obligation

If Christians are called to see others through the wider lens of God’s love:

Do you agree? If so, what gets in the way for you — time, fear, fatigue, assumptions, past wounds?

What is one small, concrete step you could take this week to remove a blinder toward someone or a group of people?

Closing prayer

Pray: Where do you most need God’s grace today?

Give thanks: Thank God for the gift of grace and close by saying or singing:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

AMEN