The unnamed man already had the weight of prejudice against him. In his time to be born blind meant God had judged. Either he sinned in the womb, or his parents had sinned in some way to earn the curse of blindness. He was regarded a sinner, the offspring of sinners. Even the disciples assumed sin was to blame, for upon seeing him they asked Jesus who had transgressed. No one had sinned, Jesus assured. It was for the glory of God.
Jesus mixed clay from spitting on the ground, and told the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man did he gained sight, and everyone noticed the formerly blind beggar dancing his way through the courts of the temple. The man’s celebration caused such a stir that he was summoned before “the Pharisees” (I think John means the Sanhedrin).
The tribunal demanded to know how the man had received his sight, and by whom. “The man obviously is not from God,” someone said, “because he doesn’t keep sabbath!” A genuine Messianic miracle―one the prophets had attributed as a sign of Messiah―stands before them and they are more worried about their interpretation of keeping sabbath!
Next the inquisition questioned the man’s parents. “How does your son born blind see now? Afraid of excommunication they responded, “We don’t know. Ask him. He is of age!”
Again summoning the formerly blind man, the Sanhedrin demanded to know more about the healer, whom they labeled “sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he’s a sinner or not,” the man replied. “I just know that I was blind and now I see.” He went on to say that it was a marvelous, unheard of thing and that if the healer had not been from God he would not be able to do this.
Apparently the man’s testimony offended the dignity of the judges of the law. “You were completely born in sin,” they bellowed, “and you are teaching us?”
Then they “cast him out of the synagogue.” That is, they excommunicated him―from everything. It was like Jewish baptism in reverse. All at once he lost his relationship to Abraham, his family connections, his nationality, and his identity. Instead of being born anew he was unborn. And Jesus had attributed his blindness to the glory of God.
When Jesus heard what happened he sought out the one born blind. “Do you believe in the Son of God?” he asked. “Who is he, that I may believe?” came the reply. “You’re looking at him,” Jesus said.
Then Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into the world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may be made blind.”
One of the Sanhedrin standing nearby picked up on it. “You mean us?”
Yes, Jesus meant them. They were so blinded by their rules that they couldn’t see the eye-opening miracles Jesus was performing, and the life-changing message he was teaching.
A couple of things jump out at me in this passage. First, I note that it is very easy for us to be so preoccupied with our own interpretation of things that we cannot see what Jesus is doing in our midst. Division and church splits occur because we are blinded by what we think is correct. The Sanhedrin, leaders of Israel and official interpreters of the Word, could not see God moving through Jesus among them because it happened on a sabbath day, and they missed it. Our prejudices blind us.
The second thing I note is that Jesus attributed the man’s blindness and subsequent healing, including all that went with it, to the glory of God. That means he had spend a lifetime in darkness, being blamed and impugned for an unknown sin neither he nor his parents had committed. Then, when he was healed, he was hauled before the religious leaders and kicked out because he was healed on the wrong day and then challenged their prejudices. He got his sight, but lost his place in Israel, for the glory of God.
Where is your blindness being challenged? What glory is God working in your life that is overlooked because of the difficulties that come with it?
Almighty God, you sent Jesus as the light of the world, to heal our blindness and expose our darkness. Shine your light into our lives now, that we may have a new way to see the grace of your kingdom, and reflect your love to the darkened world around us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.John 9:1-41 (4 Lent A 2014)
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