Today's Gospel in Art - Can one blind man guide another?

The Blind Leading the Blind 2020 © Zoryana Petriv / Saatchi Art

Gospel of 10th September 2021 - Luke 6:39-42

Jesus told a parable to the disciples: 'Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye," when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother's eye.'

Reflection on the Painting

When reading today's Gospel passage, I always think immediately of the painting by Breughel, which we covered in September 2019 (see https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/172 ). Our artwork today is a more modern version of this same topic. Painted by Ukranian artist Zoryana Petriv, we see five blind people walking towards a dark abyss. The front man is the only one who wears a light-coloured jumper. With outstretched arm, he is feeling his way forward, deciding on where to place his next step. He already has one foot hovering over a dark space…

The answer to the question 'Can one blind man guide another?' is so obvious that something must have triggered Jesus to even ask the question in the first place. In our short reading Jesus wants to address the fact that we so easily judge others. We find fault so easily with other people and 'see' what they do wrong or what they could do better. However, we fail to 'see' our own faults. Hence we are blind to our own failings, lapses and shortcomings. Our eyesight is so good at seeing faults in other people, but when it comes to looking at ourselves, we are blind to our own mistakes. Jesus calls us to radical self-examination!

This same Gospel passage usually gets read just before Lent starts. We can see why. To have this reading here at the start of Autumn, when we all get busy again with work after the holidays, is giving us the opportunity to maybe reflect upon a wider context of self-examination in the workspace. Do we gossip about colleagues, do we like to share juicy stories, do we look down on some colleagues, etc…? Realising we ourselves are so often blind to our own mistakes may well open the door to the Holy Spirit to help us re-order ourselves and become more generous towards other people.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/925
Christian Art - https:/www.christian.art