Giving Sight-- Lent 4 2023

Text: John 9:39 “39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.””

Giving Sight and Making Blind

The question posed by this reading is fairly straight forward: Are you sure you see?

It’s pretty obvious whether or not you’re physically blind. You don’t function so well every day if your sight isn’t good— or, at least corrected. But spiritual blindness isn’t as easy to see.

John chapter 9 is all about blindness and sight. It all begins when Jesus gives sight to a blind man, but it doesn’t end there. Jesus giving sight doesn’t stop in verse 7. It continues all the way through verse 41. In fact, arguably, Jesus performs a greater miracle in verses 37-38 than He performs in verses 6-7. Jesus gave the man a precious gift at the beginning of the chapter by putting the mud on His eyes and sending him to wash. But the gift Jesus gave the man in 37-38 was far greater. The first gift had a huge impacted the rest of his life. The second time, Jesus gave him eternal life.

But this reading is only partly about the man who had been born blind. Ironically, in the process, Jesus revealed the blindness of those who thought they could see perfectly well. As the man who had been born blind went from completely blind to having physical sight and, ultimately, to spiritual sight, the depth of the blindness of the Pharisees was revealed.

And this wasn’t an unexpected side effect. It was part of why He came. “39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind”” (John 9:39). At some point in your life you may have had the experience of suffering side effects from a medication you were taking— or you saw someone you know go through them. I’ve even known people who ended up in the hospital, not because of their illnesses, but because of side effects from a medication they were on. In fact, there comes a point when doctors are balancing the benefits and the harms of what they’re doing. They give one medication to help a person’s heart, but that effects the kidneys. So they do something to help the kidneys, but that effects the stomach, so they do something to help the stomach, etc..... The doctors are doing their best to help, but the tools that they have aren’t perfect.

But that’s not what’s going on with Jesus. “I came into this world,” He says, “that those who see may become blind” (John 9:39). And that’s certainly what we see here in John 9. As Jesus told the Pharisees, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains” (John 9:41).

The Pharisees were completely convinced that they could see. But that fact only made their guilt deeper. What made these Pharisees particularly dangerous to themselves and others is the fact that their blindness did not stop them from acting like they saw clearly. They were eager to point out the sin in others, for example, but they remained blind to their own. They simply presumed that the man had been born blind because he was being punished for someone’s sin— the only question was whose (his or his parents)— and they were constantly searching for sins to condemn Jesus for. But they were blind to their own. They came down hard on Jesus for healing on the sabbath, but they felt perfectly justified in conspiring to kill Him on the sabbath day. What made them really dangerous is that they thought that they could see.

Are You Sure You See?

So we come back to the original question: Are you sure you see?

I’m not asking if you can see the sins of others. I’m asking if you can see your own.

For example, I would suggest to you that this is part of why the church struggles to deal with the sexual sins that are being promoted in our world. You and I are doing a fine job of standing by the truth that marriage is between one man and one woman. But how are you addressing the issue of divorce within our churches? How are you addressing the sins of couples living together before they’re married? It’s easy to see the sins of those people out there, but can you see— can you address— the sin right here?

Are you so sure you see? I mean really see. Do you have the courage, the strength, the integrity, to turn your gaze inward and to see what’s within you?

“11 Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11). Are you so sure that you see?

The fact that the man was born blind was not actually a sign that either he or his parents had sinned. But your blindness is. Who sinned, that you were born blind? The answer is both you and your parents. Like King David, you must confess that you were “brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did [your] mother conceive [you]” (Ps. 51:5). Ever since your first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin, all of their offspring have been conceived and born in sin. All of them have been born spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God.

[You were] conceived and born in sin (Psalm 51:7). [You were] formed from unclean seed in my mother’s womb (Job 14:4). The poison of sin has so corrupted and spoiled [your] entire nature that no power of [your] soul is free from its infection. [You] have no ability to obey [God’s] commandments. My will is turned away from the Law” (Gerhard, Johann. “The Seriousness of Original Sin,” Meditations on Divine Mercy.).

Are you able to see that in yourself or only in others?

And the fact that you have God’s Word, that you have been baptized, that you are welcomed to the communion rail only deepens your guilt. Isaiah wrote, “Who is blind but my servant?” (Is. 42:19). His point is that the Children of Israel should have known better. He might have expected the corruption, the selfishness, the immorality, the lack of love from the Gentiles— they didn’t know any better. But His people did. Or they should have. Not only must you realize that your first parents sinned, that you were born blind, but, “When [you] compare the course of [your] life to the light of [His Word], [you] find only darkness and blindness” (Gerhard, Johann. “Remembering the Sins of Youth,” Meditations on Divine Mercy.)

Are you blind or can you turn your sight back inward on yourself and see the sin there? Because if you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.

Christ the Light

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. How many times have you sung those words, which start off our Evening Prayer service? Do you understand what that means? When you begin to see your guilt, then you can begin to see what it means.

Jesus came into the world so that those who see may become blind, but also “that those who do not see may see” (John 9:39). He is the light of the world, not just because He shows a better way. He is the light of the world because His light opens the eyes of the blind.

He sees your sin clearly, but not so that He can condemn you for it. He sees it perfectly clearly so that He could take each and every one of your sins upon Himself as He went to the cross. And He has. The Light of the World was plunged into darkness on Good Friday— not just because the sun refused to shine. He was plunged into a far deeper, spiritual darkness as the sin of the world was placed upon Him.

Jesus said that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl— or puts it somewhere hidden— but puts it up on a stand so that it might give light to all. The Light of the World never shone as brightly as it did when He was lifted up on the cross to give the light of His saving grace to all. When John wrote: “5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5), I don’t think there can be any question that He’s talking about Good Friday. The darkness of the entire world could not overcome Him that day.

Christ Your Light

And so Christ your light sought you when you were not seeking Him. He called to you when you had no hope of finding Him. “With a voice full of power, [the Light of the World] said, “Let there be light in the inner parts of this heart,” and there was light. [You] saw [His] light and recognized [your] blindness” (Gerhard, Johann. “Thanksgiving for Conversion,” Meditations on Divine Mercy.)

He commanded that you go and wash in the baptismal font. And, there, your eyes were opened.

He invites you to confess your sins in the assurance that He has washed you thoroughly from your iniquity and cleansed you from your sin (Ps. 51:2) so that no stain remains to be seen. He has purged you with hyssop and you are clean; He has washed you and made you whiter than snow (Ps. 51:7). Your sins are hidden from the face of the One who sees all because they are covered by the blood of Christ (Ps. 51:9).

The Pharisees were like the blind trying to lead the blind. But your eyes have been opened. Your sight has been restored. And yes, it has been restored so that you see the sins of others, as well. But now you are able to lead them along the true path to the One who gives sight. Your eyes are not only opened, they are opened with a new love for others that only the grace of God can give.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” King David wrote. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you” (Ps. 51:12-13). “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise” (Ps. 51:15). I’m sure that it took a long time for the man born blind to stop marveling at the sight of the people around him, whom he had known only by sound for so long. I pray that you never look at those around you the same way.

Don’t take your sight for granted. Let us set our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).