John 9: 1-9
(1) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. (2) And his disciples asked
him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (3)
Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works
of God might be made manifest in him. (4) We must work the works of him who sent me, while
it is day; night comes, when no one can work. (5) As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world." (6) As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the
spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, (7) saying to him, "Go, wash in
the pool of Silo'am" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
(8) The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this
the man who used to sit and beg?" (9) Some said, "It is he"; others said,
"No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man."
You've heard the first part of the story: Jesus
and his disciples see a man, blind since birth and begging by the road. Jesus tells his
disciples that the man's suffering was not caused by his parents' sin or his own, but
rather that his blindness is an opportunity for God's glory to be made known. Then Jesus
puts mud on the man's eyes and tells him to wash it off. When he does so, the man can see,
for the first time in his life. He returns home, and his neighbors, who have known him all
his life as a blind person, are so stunned that they argue about whether he is an
imposter. The man tells them how he received his sight. When they ask who did this, he
says, "The man called Jesus did this, and no, I do not know where he is."
Here's the rest of the story: The neighbors bring
the man to the Pharisees who interrogate him about how he received his sight. The
Pharisees argue that Jesus could not have done this miraculous deed because Jesus is
obviously a sinner, he broke the Sabbath law and God would never answer the prayers of a
sinner. They debate where Jesus is from: is he from God or is he just a man?
Unable to resolve their argument, they turn again
to the man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened."
"He is a prophet."
The authorities still do not want to believe that
Jesus has done this, so the only possibility left to them is to prove the man was not
really blind. They call in his parents to testify. "Is this your son, who you say was
born blind? How then does he now see?"
His parents are afraid they'll be expelled from
the synagogue if they tell the truth about Jesus and what happened. So they don't.
"We know that this is our son, and that he
was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened
his eyes. Ask him; he is an adult. He will speak for himself." It's a perfectly human
response. Who among us has not at some time in our life dodged the truth out of fear and
let someone else deal with the consequences?
The authorities call the man back and apply
pressure to get him to denounce Jesus. But the man has developed more courage than his
parents - maybe because it is his own eyes that were opened - and he refuses to denounce
Jesus.
He answers the Pharisees, "I do not know
whether Jesus is a sinner or not. One thing I do know: though I was blind, now I see. I
have told you already what happened, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it
again? Do you also want to become his disciples? Here is an astonishing thing! You do not
know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. Never since the world began has it
been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from
God, he could do nothing."
The authorities expel the man from the synagogue.
Jesus hears that they have driven the man out and goes to find him. He asks the man,
"Do you believe in the Son of Humanity?"
"And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may
believe in him."
Jesus answers, "You have seen him, and the
one speaking with you is he."
"Lord, I believe." And he worships him.
Jesus says, "I came into this world for
judgment so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind."
That is the rest of the story.
Because I used this gospel story as a primary
text in my doctoral thesis, I could keep us here a long time, this morning, uncovering
layer after layer of meaning.
We could reflect on Jesus' response to the
question of whether the man's blindness had been caused by his parents' sinfulness or by
his own sinful behavior. My father asked me a similar question about his own illness
recently, and most of us ask such a question in times of suffering, even if we don't
usually subscribe to that theology. That understanding of God is deeply imbedded in our
psyche.
In this story Jesus reaffirms the answer he gives
elsewhere: "It rains on the just and the unjust." To paraphrase a bumper sticker
a friend gave me years ago, "[Stuff] happens." What is important, is that God's
glory will shine through this man and his blindness and it can also shine through whatever
happens in our lives.
But theodicy is an enormous topic for a short
sermon, so we'll set it aside for today.
We could reflect, instead, on another theme of
this story - the nature of sin: what it is and what it is not. The Pharisees believed sin
occurs when we break the rules. You know the rules: don't lie, don't steal, don't murder,
honor your parents, don't cook or clean or walk more than a mile on the Sabbath, don't
swear, don't ordain gays and lesbians, don't heal people on the Sabbath, don't let
yourself be crucified, don't eat with known sinners and low-lifes.
Jesus was obviously a sinner by the Pharisee's
standards, for he violated rules whenever necessary to be an instrument of God's love.
Jesus inverted the Pharisees' definition of sin by defining sin as neither the presence of
an illness nor the violation of the law, but as resistance to Jesus as the manifestation
of God's judgment and love. According to the Gospel of John, sin is what happens when we
block and alienate ourselves and others from the God of love we know in Jesus. When old
paradigms of what we think is right or wrong, sinful or righteous block us from seeing
Christ at work and manifesting God's love in our life, then no matter how righteous we
think we are, we have actually become as sinful as the Pharisees in this story.
But there is not time to explore fully the nature
of sin today either. You'll have to come back for that sermon, too, because there is
another dimension of this story that calls out to be preached today. What must be lifted
up and preached today is the faith journey of the once-blind man and the remarkable,
faithful courage he exhibits as his faith deepens.
The Gospel of John was written in a time of
conflict and tension between faithful Jews who believed Jesus was no more than a misguided
prophet, and faithful Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah. At the end of the first
century, Jews who identified themselves as followers of the Nazarene, Jesus, were thrown
out of the synagogue, cut off socially, and economically boycotted by the community. The
people of John's time knew the risk of following Jesus. When they heard that the man's
parents were afraid to say out loud what they knew to be true for fear of reprisal, they
knew how that fear feels in the stomach.
And when they heard that the man had openly stood
up for what he knew was right about Jesus, in spite of the short-term consequences, they
knew that feeling of God-given power in their stomach, as well. They stood up straighter
and their shoulders went back. They gave thanks to God that their eyes had been opened to
see, through Christ, that which is most important. The risks they had taken were
worthwhile.
Christ was worth the price they had paid, for the
love of God had broken into their darkness and cast everything in a new and life-changing
light. God was working through all the struggles of their life to bring about good. They,
too - like the man who was blind and like we ourselves - felt their courage grow as their
faith deepened, whether it was the courage to say and do what was right, no matter the
consequences, or the courage to be true to who God had created them to be, or the courage
to live as those who are prepared to die and to die as those who go forth to live.
The good news of this story today, lies with the
man who once was lost but now is found, was blind but now he sees, a man whose journey of
faith and courage is treated by the gospel writer with great compassion and respect.
This man began as many of us do, knowing the
Nazarene merely "as a man called Jesus," and nothing more, even though this man
called Jesus had given him sight. Like he, at some point in our faith journey, we know
Jesus primarily as a good man, whom many people follow.
Then, as we become more acquainted with his
teachings, we agree that he is a great prophet, maybe like Mohammed and Ghandi, someone
who should be taken seriously as a model for our life.
Finally, as we grow in knowledge of Jesus, as we
come to know more and more deeply God's love for us through Jesus' life and ministry, as
we experience the truth of the crucifixion and the power of the resurrection, not only as
something that happens at the end of this life, but over and over within this life, then,
like the man who was blind but now can see, we worship Christ as the one for whom we have
been waiting, and we, too, give our lives to him, whatever the cost. Like this man, who
began the story quietly, almost passively, we find our voice, our courage, our power, when
our eyes are opened more and more and we see what God has done.
Jesus says, "Those who would be my disciples
must take up their cross and follow me." We are called to walk beside the one we
follow, all the way to the cross. It is not an easy path, but it is a path that I would
not miss for anything in the world; for the faith and the courage to be faithful grow
stronger and deeper every year.
Jesus has found me. And he comes to find you,
saying, "I am the one you seek and I will never desert you. Let me open your eyes
that you may see and follow me." Amen.
