A Light Has Come: Light

Today, we finish up our series A Light Has Come - we began on the first Sunday in January and, over these last two months, we have made our way through roughly the first half of the gospel of John. We will continue through the second half as we journey through Lent and through Easter. But just to remind you, here’s what we have covered so far…

We have watched Jesus turn water into wine at the wedding at Cana and then make a scene in the Temple.

We have listened in on Jesus’ conversations with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at the well.

We have seen Jesus bring healing.

And last week, we saw Jesus stand up in the Temple and declare that He was the living water.

This week, we encounter another of Jesus’ I Am statements. We will hear him say, I am the light of the world.

And this whole story is about blindness and sight.

Which is interesting because that is what light does, right? It brings the ability to see, or it blinds. It causes sight or it keeps us from being able to see. Keep that in mind as we turn now to our text for this morning, John chapter 9.

There are a lot of characters in today’s reading and so we’ve put together more of a “readers’ theatre” version of our reading for today. This version has taken out much of the “said the Man” and “then so-and-so replied” and just kept the dialogue with a little bit of narration. It’s based on the CEB translation, but with adjustments made by those at Luther Seminary who developed it for WorkingPreacher.org

[Reading]

I am the Light of the World.

Ok. This seems so clear, doesn’t it? I mean, right at the very beginning of the gospel we read,

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light. The true light that shines on all people was coming into the world. 10 The light was in the world, and the world came into being through the light, but the world didn’t recognize the light. 11 The light came to his own people, and his own people didn’t welcome him. 12 But those who did welcome him, those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children, 13  born not from blood nor from human desire or passion, but born from God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

And this whole series, The Light Has Come, has been about taking time to read the gospel of John and to consider what it looks like when the Light Comes. What it looks like when light shines in the darkness. When the Word becomes flesh and makes a home among us. When we catch a glimpse of the glory of God when we catch a glimpse of the One who was full of grace and truth. The One who shows us what God is really like. When we encounter Jesus, the Word made flesh.

But Light doesn’t only bring sight. Turn on all the lights in a dark room, or stare into the sun - and you’ll experience what I mean. Sometimes the light cannot be comprehended, sometimes the light blinds.

In our text today, we come across so many QUESTIONS.

And that caused me to wonder, who asks the questions?

It turns out everyone who is in the story asks a question at some point. So let’s look at the questions, shall we? Who asks them? And what are the questions themselves?

The disciples get to ask the first question - and Jesus redirects it rather than answering it directly.

When the disciples see the man born blind, they do what is expected and customary at the time, they ask for a reason… “Who sinned? Him or his parents?” Who can we blame for this? We need an explanation!

of course, it turns out that we do the same. Oh, we might not ask whether he or his parents sinned. But then again, the questions we ask in order to assign blame really are the same thing. Or, the questions we ask in order to make ourselves fear insulated from the same kind of suffering coming our way. In either case, the same instinct still exists. To distance ourselves from the suffering - in case it’s contagious in some way.

Jesus response to the disciples question is instructive. He instead suggests that “the way God works” is to, as the Sermon on the Mount puts it, speak up for and bless the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry & thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted.

Jesus says, “wrong question, friends” God is at work even here. And we might be tempted to consider the man a two-dimensional prop. Jesus will heal him and then use the healing to teach something. But the man becomes part of the story. And he’ll ask some questions of his own coming up.

But first, Jesus will hint that the “way God works” is to invite others into the divine mission. The disciples are being drawn in… and Jesus starts talking about “we must be about God’s business..” which of course will eventually pull us in, too, won’t it?

And then Jesus actually does the healing. Makes mud. Plays in the dirt, if you will. And then tells the man born blind to go and wash. In the “missionary water” … in the Pool of Siloam - which John tells us means SENT. We shall watch this Man. For Jesus seems to be doing something here beyond the sign of giving sight to one who has never before SEEN anything. Remarkable.

So the disciples ask the first question. The wrong question, but the one they have. And Jesus redirects.

The next questions come from the neighbours.

“Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” (Yes! No, can’t be!)

“It’s me!” (says the man)

“How are you now able to see?”

And here we encounter the man who was born blind but now sees, and his endearing honesty. He recounts the story, but when they want him to explain it and to point out Jesus to them, he says, I don’t know.

The neighbours don’t get the answers they’re looking for. And they take the man to the Jewish leaders, to the Pharisees.

These religious leaders are the source of our next questions. But, perhaps true to form, they make statements before their questions. They already know. And they are certain that what they know is right. And any questions they ask are only to confirm what they know.

Look at v 16 & 17 - a statement and then a question:

"This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." "But how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?"

“What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” (Man replies “He’s a prophet.”

The religious leaders disregard the man. And they appeal to his parents.

“Is this your son? Are you saying he was born blind? How can he now see?”

The parents direct them back to their son. And they make another statement. A truer statement than they know: “Give glory to God” but then they stray back into the familiar territory of what they’re so certain about. “We know this man is a sinner.” And even though he has already told them, they ask again, “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?”

The Man now gets to respond with a question of his own. And this might be my favourite question of the whole exhange… “I already told you and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

And this becomes a question that lingers…

The Religious leaders respond to this question with insults. And when the man dares to speak back to them, they ask their next question: “How is it that you dare to teach us?” and then they kicked him out.

It is only when the man has been expelled by the religious leaders that Jesus re-enters the scene. He’s heard of what’s happened to the man he healed… and Jesus finds him and then asks his own question: Do you believe in the Son of Man? The Human One?”

And at this point the man gets to ask another question.. “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in Him.”

We witness the faith of this man blossoming from inquiry to worship, from chance encounter (Jesus was walking along when he saw a man who had been born blind) to honest conversation - no pretense. When Jesus asks the man if he believes in the Son of Man - this term is Jesus favourite way to speak of himself, even though most tie in the Gospels Jesus is called the Christ, a messianic title. So others never call Jesus Son of Man, but it is how Jesus refers to Himself.

The term Son of Man comes from Daniel 7 and is spoken of as the Truly Human One who is promised to come and demonstrate what humanity is really meant to be. But the Son of Man spoken of in Daniel 7 is no ordinary human, but somehow both divine and human. So showing us both what humanity really is while also revealing what God is really like.

Jesus is the Son of Man - the Human one who can, through humility, service and self-giving love, demonstrate what God is like.

In our text today, the Religious leaders are given the final question. Like the first question, theirs will also be left unanswered. But rather than Jesus redirecting the question this one John leaves hanging… I think so that his readers (both original readers as well as readers like us) would be left having to consider how we would answer it…

Having glimpsed the Light of the World, we hear the Pharisees, the religious leaders ask, “Surely we aren’t blind, are we?”

Now, John has set up a consistent pattern in his gospel… usually there is a sign, followed by interaction or dialogue about what has just happened, and then Jesus offers an explanation, what scholars often refer to as a discourse. “In light of this thing that has happened, let me offer some teaching…”

In our reading today, we don’t hear the discourse… but if you have your bibles, take a peek at what follows right after… John 10. And remember that the chapter and verse breaks are not originally present. So when we come to the end of chapter, we feel like that is a good stopping place. But if you read the final two verses of John 9 without coming to a chapter break, I’m pretty sure you’d keep reading… and there in John 10, you’d find two images: of Jesus the gate to the sheep pen and Jesus the Good Shepherd. Comforting words that follow all the questions and confusion of John 9. Our Ash Wednesday open sanctuary will be based on this Good Shepherd image… using Psalm 23 and John 10 as our texts, you’ll be invited to make your way around the stations. Taking time to reflect that the same Jesus who we want to walk with as He journeys towards the cross is the Good Shepherd who walks with us.

And so, I wonder if there’s a question that resonates with you this morning?

Perhaps it is this last one… this question of whether we know what we think we know, or are perhaps blinded by the Light of the world.

Perhaps it is Jesus stark question to the man he has healed and sent and found… “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Perhaps it is the questions of the neighbours and religious leaders who couldn’t wrap their minds around the miracle of sight that they could see with their own eyes… those questions that come when we see something that doesn’t fit within our expectations.

Or perhaps, it is still that first question, the one Jesus redirects, that is ringing in your ears. Those questions that we ask without stopping to think whether they’re good questions. Whether the questions we’ve been trained to ask are helpful? Or reasonable. Or even harmful?

Whatever questions you carry this morning - or whichever of these questions might have struck a chord with you, I hope that you will see that the gospel invites our questions. All of them.

That Jesus doesn’t shy away from the questions. Is capable of redirecting them when necessary. But even sends out people to ask questions that will stir up faith.

May we be like this Man who was born blind. Honest and open with Jesus. And taking steps of faith from respectful dialogue to kneeling in front of Him, declaring with his mouth and his body that Jesus was worthy of his all.

The Light shines in the darkness. And that light brings sight and blindness. May we see what the light reveals, even if it’s our own inability to see.