Who is Really Blind?
Notes
Transcript
Chair Bible page 718
6 When He had said this, He spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes,
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and washed, and came back seeing.
8 So the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to sit and beg?”
9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.”
10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’ ; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 And they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
Are you ready for the message God has for us? Cool Let’s dig in!
In our text we note that the main character is blind beggar. He has been blind from birth.
This is insight to how the Jews treaded people with disabilities.
As an adult he can only beg for help, he is not considered an able man who can work to earn money for the necessities of life
We also learn in our text the community and even Jesus own disciples assumed that sin was the reason for the man’s blindness, either his parents or the man himself
Believe it or not this creates the needed excuse for this man to be ostracized from the community forcing the blind man to fend for himself.
It is easy to read this narrative as a feel good text about a man whose life is completely changed when Jesus heals him
There is a lesson for us in this text, it acts as a mirror to things that happen in our society
With that reality it is less a feel good story and more a call to change
John in the narrative exposes this community’s failure to listen, failure to care, failure to include and love
Also a complete unwillingness to acknowledge their own sin
Jews & People with Disabilities
Jews & People with Disabilities
This text exposes the Jews of the blindman’s community, their cultural assumptions that disability is a consequence of sin
This assumption automatically makes anyone with a disability an outcast as they are viewed as unclean
It is a messed up theology
These people are prohibited from temple worship as well as regular teaching from the Torah in the Synagogue.
When John introduces us to the blind man, he is on the edge of town begging
Look at that he can’t even be in town!
His blindness has relegated him to outskirts of town and community!
Left with the other marginalized of the community to fend for himself.
Since he was born blind someone must have sinned at some point to cause his blindness
Jesus’ disciples want to know who it is that had sinned!
Jesus answers that no one sinned is a radical answer to them and even to the community, because He is rejecting the theology of the day
Which is evil, bad luck, bad things happen to people as a result of sin
Jesus is also moving the blind man and his family from the designation of unclean to clean
They should never been removed from temple or the community!
Jesus answer really must have sounded strange: John 9:3
3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
The work of God that Jesus speaks of is the healing power of God!
However, continue reading the text and it reveals who is really is blind!
See it is less about physical blindness and more about willful blindness and callousness of the religious leaders in their exclusion of people!
In their blindness the Jewish leaders are missing Messiah and the revelation of the kingdom of God
Healing on the Sabbath
Healing on the Sabbath
Look closer at John 9:6
6 When He had said this, He spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes,
The Greek word for “made” indicated making or producing something.
According to Jewish traditions technically Jesus was working on the Sabbath
14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
So we know it’s the sabbath and Jesus violated it! right?
Whenever Jesus heals publicly on the Sabbath, he seems to be doing it for a purpose
Which is to illustrate the sad reality about the religious elite caring more about their legalism than they do about people’s humanity.
In holding to their traditions they were violating the laws of God, making them void!
The crowd sees this once blind man now can see!
Rather that being glad and rejoicing with him, he is brought to the Pharisees for questioning
The Pharisees are not interested in restoring the man to society; no they are focused on the way that Jesus has sinned.
The Pharisees have a lot of power, so when they send for the man’s parents to testify about what is going on, his parents are afraid because they don’t want to be excluded from worship.
At some point they had been allowed back into the community and worship
Perhaps they were welcomed back once their son came of age and left their home to fend for himself, and are afraid of being cast out again.
So they refuse to speculate on how or why their son suddenly has his sight, claiming he is old enough to speak for himself.
This man is still forced to fend for himself even his family won’t stand up for him!
The man makes clear that he is ill equipped to make a judgment about whether someone else is a sinner.
He tells them the simple truth of what he knows, which is that he was blind and now he is not.
The Pharisees are not interested in the truth of the situation.
They are interested in having their “gotcha” moment with Jesus. When the man does not give them what they want, they throw him out.
The man who was blind is brought twice, they simply refuse to believe!
The real sin in this story is the willful spiritual blindness of the religious leaders.
They are guilty of sin because they can’t admit their own sin.
28 They spoke abusively to him and said, “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 is from.”
30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes!
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him.
32 Since the beginning of time it has never 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 yet you are teaching us?” So they put him out.
He is still an outcast And still the Pharisees are blind to the truth!
The Pharisees and The Kingdom of God
The Pharisees and The Kingdom of God
Jesus is once again extending the boundaries of the kingdom of God to include people who haven’t been included up to this point
Although Jesus restored this man’s sight with the partial goal of restoring his standing in the community, this text is a call for the church today to see those around us with love and not judgement
If the kingdom of God is inclusive of those who have been oppressed, alienated, marginalized, and ostracized, then we as the people of God are also expected to be inclusive.
We are reminded once again that loving God and loving others are the two most important callings of any Christian life.
The Pharisees excluded people they judged unclean and by doing it they instilled fear in to be considered sinful and unclean
The love of God was lost on them, their God had nothing to with sin and uncleaness!
So religious leaders of the day missed out on the kingdom of God among them!
There was no sin, but the Pharisees would have no part,
In their mind the Sabbath had been broken and sin not dealt with
Their answer was to have the blindman continue to be an outcast from the temple and community!
How do we see the church?
We are to be people who are motivated by love over law, just as Jesus was.
We are to be people who include, instead of exclude.
We are to be people who recognize that we don’t become unclean by association
A better way is to draw close to those whom the world deems unclean or unworthy.
Conclusion
We are deep in the season of Lent, a season of reflection and repentance.
Do we need to repent repent of our fixation on rules being broken to the extent that we forget to look at the people we are breaking in the process?
Or repent of our neglect of the responsibility to look around and see who hasn’t been invited?
We also must remember that repentance requires actionable change.
Repentance means we know we have done wrong, and we seek to do better.
In our cries for repentance to a God who is inclusive, who confronts injustice and oppression in all of its forms, we must also commit to the work.
We must commit to being a people who seek to include, who seek to see the kingdom of God brought on earth as it is in heaven.
Let us pray!