John 9:1-41
John 9:1-41
1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 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, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 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?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 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.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 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. 17 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.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 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.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 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.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 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.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see,’ your sin remains.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Sermon
As in many sections of the Gospel of John, there are two levels of understanding: the physical and the spiritual.
In this section of John’s gospel, there is an interplay between physical blindness and spiritual blindness.
The man Jesus finds is physically blind, he was born that way.
And Jesus does something very physical to restore the man’s sight he spits in the dirt makes mud and spreads it on the man’s face and tells him to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam.
Then of course he does this all on the Sabbath and the man is healed,
But he’s not really the person the text that’s blind, is he? After his sight is restored, he sees who Jesus is and believes in him.
At the end of the reading they even catch on to what Jesus is getting at saying, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”
It’s the neighbors and the Pharisees. The disciples who ask why this man is blind in the first place.
The people are spiritually blind. They don’t understand who God is or who Jesus is, and that God is a God of Love. The disciples ask why the man is blind in the first place, Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be manifest in him.”
Rather than blaming either the man or his parents for sinning, Jesus said that God’s glory and power were going to be demonstrated through the healing of this man.
My dear friend Pastor Jennifer shared these important words during this COVID-19 emergency: she wanted to address some bad ideas about God and how God is in relationship with us with some good theological information,
She said,” Covid-19 is not because of sin, not God punishing us, illness and fear are not God’s will and God will not abandon us.”
And yet when we hear Jesus say something like: “It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be manifest in him.”
It’s confusing because it makes us wonder why all this is happening and wonder where God is in all this.
And it is faithful to wonder and faithful to ask questions about our faith and our relationship to God. If we don’t ask these questions, it’s like we are going in blind.
But maybe if we approach dark times with eyes open to what God is doing, we won’t be spiritually blind anymore but spiritually will have sight to see that God is at work in so many places in our lives.
That happens to us all the time. We experience a horrible disaster in our lives. God takes that disaster and that disaster is transformed into an occasion where God’s glory, power and presence are revealed. That doesn’t mean that the disaster isn’t painful, isn’t a great hardship, or bad.
For example, I have recently been through one of the darkest and stressful periods of my life. Between my dad going to prison, my mother losing her home, and becoming the guardian of my 16-year-old sister. I’ve been emotional, angry, stressed, financially burdened, busy and afraid. I have been through so much harsh words, harsh realities, and times that I think many would abandon their faith altogether through.
But then a course of events happened that made my faith stronger than ever.
Church happened. The church showed up to love and support me in beautiful ways, in collections of boxes, food, and financial support, in Grace in an adjustment period and an encouragement to take care of myself. The people of God showed up daily, offering me sometimes exactly what I needed a phone call offering help at the right time, a card on the right day—things that couldn’t be mere coincidence but had to be there Holy Spirit.
My own sinfulness, did nothing to cause my recent difficult time. But, you could clearly see God’s healing hand upon me as support showed up near and far, as people I hadn’t heard from in years rallied to help, and as our congregation surrounded me with so much love, coming together to make space for me and support me. In the darkest time of my life God’s love has been made manifest, in you.
We all know this truth: God can make miracles from messes.
God can work deliverance even from disasters.
God will never abandon or forsake us.
God is working, in many and powerful ways amid this social distancing.
Have you seen them, or have you been blind?
Have you seen the people offering to go into stores and pharmacy’s for people who are at risk?
Have you seen healthcare workers rise to the occasion living out their calling?
Do you see our workforce working long hours stocking shelves practicing patience and kindness to those who are afraid?
Do you see our nation rallying to see that children can learn and are fed?
Even in this state of emergency, God is working and moving, you just have to open your eyes and look.
There are other people in this text who appear to be spiritually blind, the pharisees. Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” Others, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”
They call the blind man and question him, they even call in his parents. They clearly miss the point.
They aren’t celebrating the good thing that has happened, they aren’t seeing God at work.
They are jealous of what Jesus can do and angry that he broke a rule to change someone’s life.
They don’t see God’s love poured out in the restoration of this man’s sight.
They are blind to what Jesus revealed to Nicodemus, what he told the woman at the well, they are spiritually blind and only can see one version of the person who God will send to save God’s people.
And that version in their mind of what they think a savior looks like, isn’t Jesus.
It isn’t a person who talks to Samaritan women at wells, who comes out of love to save not to condemn, it certainly isn’t someone who heals on the Sabbath.
And yet, we know Jesus is the one- God’s son, sent out of love to save the people giving them eternal life, living water, sight.
We are called in times like these to bear witness like the blind man after his sight is restored.
To uplift our neighbors who are afraid and offer what help we can, to pray, but we are also called to hope and have faith that God loves us and that even in this dark time that God will never abandon or forsake us.
Amen.
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