On John 4:5-42 and John 9:1-41

By Pat Pagulayan

“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah can he?”

- the Samaritan Woman in John 4:29

“I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

- the Blind Man in John 9:25

Looking at these two gospels from the 3rd and 4th Sunday of Lent, I cannot help but notice the similarities between them - they are both broken, unconvinced witnesses.

The Samaritan woman had five husbands and the one she is with now is not even her husband, thus making her an adulteress. She is living in sin. The blind man, on the other hand, is well, blind. The connotation that people had on him during that time was that either his parents sinned or he did, causing him to have this physical “brokenness”.

Both the Samaritan woman and the blind man are unconvinced witnesses. The Samaritan woman ran to the city asking them, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah can He?” while the blind man expressed his uncertainty saying, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They do not even know who Jesus is and is not even convinced that He is the Messiah.

And yet, they witnessed. And were very effective ones at that.

Their witness is not a recitation of the Our Father or the Apostle’s Creed! Their statements were not even prayers! And yet the statement the Samaritan woman made has led to other Samaritans in the city to go out to see Jesus, while the blind man challenged the belief of the Jews and shot holes in the defence of the Pharisees.

They simply witnessed using their own (and brief) experiences with Christ. They just stuck to the facts and were even honest about their own uncertainties about Jesus. And yet, they were witnesses of Jesus to others.

And here I am, reciting every Sunday the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty… I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord….” But how many times I have doubted the Lord and His plans for me? Countless.

These two characters put me to shame.

But above that, the Samaritan woman and the blind man serve as a reminder that in my brokenness and underneath all the doubts and uncertainties, we can be witnesses to Christ using our own experiences with Him.