John 9 (selected verses)

As he walked along, [Jesus] saw a man [who was] blind from birth.

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying,  “I am the man.”

But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”

They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” So they brought him to the Pharisees.

Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.

So they said again to the blind man,  “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered, “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 of age. He will speak for himself.”

His parents said this because… anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

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

They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered them, “Do you also want to become his disciples?”

Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

The man answered, “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.” And they drove him out.

Then Jesus… found him, and he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”

He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see,and those who do see may become blind.”

Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him,  “Surely we are not blind, are we?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Changing the Rules

I’m sure many of you remember Erma Bombeck and her syndicated newspaper columns. She was a great story-teller, and one of her favorites was about a grandmother who took her grandson to the beach with everything he needed for a day of fun in the sun: bucket, shovel, sun hat. It was a great afternoon until the grandmother dozed off, and while she was sleeping the child wandered off and a big wave dragged him out to sea.

When the grandmother woke up, the child was missing, and she fell on her knees and prayed: “God, if you save my grandchild, I promise I’ll make it up to you… I’ll volunteer at the hospital, give to the poor — anything that makes you happy.”

Just then a giant wave tossed her grandson onto the beach, right in front of her. He had color in his cheeks, his eyes were bright… he was alive!

But as she stood up, the grandmother seemed upset. She put her hands on her hips, looked toward the sky, and said, “He had a hat, you know.”

I was reminded of that story by this morning’s Gospel lesson, which seems to be populated by uncles and cousins of that short-sighted grandmother. They’re all fixated on finding out how and why and by whom and on what authority the man’s sight was restored.

Why wasn’t anyone saying, “Hallelujah! Thanks be to God!”? Couldn’t they see what
nit-pickers they were?

In the world of John’s Gospel, of course, there’s a reason for everything, and this is no exception.

The miracle of the man’s sight is described in a single sentence. The rest of the chapter is John’s commentary on the blindness of humanity and the misguided motives that propel us through life. It’s a study in perception, power and possibilities.

The possibilities, of course, are enormous in light of God’s power to transform. But perception can be a giant stumbling block when we stubbornly refuse to see and accept God’s grace for what it is — a gift freely given and gratefully received.

Everyone looks at what happened to the blind beggar and tries to play analyst or judge — ultimately judging Jesus according to their own agendas.

The disciples were even judging the blind man before Jesus had a chance to say anything — “If he’s blind, it must be somebody’s fault…  but he was born blind, so was it his parents’ fault? Are they the ones who sinned? Who should be condemned?”

That’s really what they were asking: “Who should be condemned?” Yet Jesus came not to condemn, but to save — to be the light of the world — and who could demonstrate that saving light more effectively than one who had lived in darkness from birth?

It all makes perfect sense… if you’re willing to change the rules. The Pharisees and the man’s parents and even Jesus’s disciples were trying to play by rules that said things can’t happen without a reasonable explanation… rules that turned miracles into misdemeanors… rules that blame God for messing with a little boy’s hat.

We want to believe that if a blind beggar could be saved, there’s hope for all of us. But no one in the story was seeing it that way… except the blind man himself — the only real visionary apart from Jesus.

How could things get so turned around that a blind man is the only one who sees? It’s all a matter of perception, power and possibilities.

Perception?…
Neighbors no longer recognize the man after he’s been given his sight. (He’s broken the rules. He’s not behaving like a blind man anymore!) Others demand proof from his parents that he’s really the same man. No one is willing to see him for who he is.

Power?…
The Pharisees aren’t about to give up their authority or let someone else invoke the power of God, so they try to invalidate Jesus’ ministry by using their rules to label him a sinner. After all, he broke the law by working on the Sabbath — he kneaded all that dust and spit together to make a poultice for the man’s eyes — and that was work.

The Pharisees could dismiss anything Jesus did by calling him a sinner, because they
held the power…

So all the possibilities that Jesus offered — the possibilities of vision, light, and hope — were negated by the limited perception of those in power.

But the blind man didn’t care about any of that, because he knew one thing for certain —
he knew the truth: he had been born blind, and now he could see.

He didn’t claim any power; he had no agenda, and he had nothing to lose. But as the story unfolds, we find him gaining something that no one else seems to have: he discovers the meaning of faith.

In the beginning, when he’s asked who gave him his sight, he can only say it was “the man called Jesus.” Pressed to identify him further, he declares, “He is a prophet.”

Then, when the Pharisees haul him in again for further questioning, urging him to give credit to God, but to reject Jesus, the response he gives them is masterful:

Resisting their badgering, this simple, honest man puts the religious leaders on the defensive by implying that they want to become Jesus’ disciples themselves. Of course, they dug in their heels and denounced Jesus even more vehemently… but in the process, they pushed the formerly blind man even closer to the truth of Jesus’ identity: He must be a man of God!

His logic was simple and undeniable: “You don’t know where he comes from,” he said to the Pharisees, “and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to frauds…
so if this Jesus were not from God, he could do nothing.”

Now what enables this man to embrace the truth that the Pharisees are so determined to deny? Does he have some special wisdom? Has he been given a gift more powerful than the ability to see?

Or is it simply that he’s innocent — free of the ideological defensiveness and rigidity and greed of those in power? Is it simply that he doesn’t need anything, and he has nothing to lose?

He received his sight as a gift, with no strings attached and no need to give up anything
in return. But what was a gift to him, was a threat to those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

To the Pharisees, his good news came with a lot of disturbing ramifications. They had too much at stake — too much invested in the position they held — to accept any news about God that wasn’t consistent with the rules they’d been preaching.

They had a vested interest in being righteous, and being right. Nobody else — least of all some itinerant healer — was going to change the rules of their game without a fight.

But changing the rules was exactly what Jesus was about. He didn’t care about righteousness, the way the Pharisees defined it. He wasn’t about to put the letter of the law above his compassion for even the poorest of God’s children.

Jesus didn’t care who was right or who was wrong. He wanted us all to live in the light of God’s love… and he came prepared to show us that light, even if we’ve spent a lifetime in darkness.

It’s a remarkable gift — but we have to be willing to receive it. Don’t you think it’s tragic that a man who’s been blind since birth can receive his sight, and nobody celebrates?

His neighbors are doubtful, his parents are worried about the legal ramifications, the religious leaders are threatened.

Not until the healed man himself finally realizes who Jesus is do we get the first sign of joy: When Jesus’ identity finally sinks in, the man falls on his knees and worships the Lord.

Pray with me:

Lord, help us to recognize our blindness, that we might open our lives to your gift of vision and light. Help us to let go of our pride and our need to live by other people’s rules, that we might know the freedom of new possibilities and celebrate your revelation in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

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