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“New Eyes”

Sermon by Dr. Greg Knox Jones
on John 9:1-41
given March 2, 2008

This morning’s lectionary reading is very lengthy: 41 verses, the entire ninth chapter of the Gospel of John. Typically, we break up chapters of the Bible into smaller passages and nothing is lost. However, today’s reading is one long, connected story and, if we chop it up, we lose vital material. So, instead of reading the entire chapter and then expounding on it, I’ve decided to read a few verses at a time, and reflect on each portion as we work our way through the chapter. Frankly, I have no idea if this is going to work, but it seems like a better approach than expecting you to keep your head aloft while I plow through 41 verses without a pause.

“As (Jesus) walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ 3Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

Our story begins with the age old dilemma that makes religious faith a challenge: In a world created by a loving and powerful God, why do people suffer? Various answers are offered to solve this quandary, and the disciples state one that was prevalent in the ancient world. They encounter a blind man and their first instinct is to ask whose fault it is. There must be someone to blame for his sad condition.

At the time of Jesus, many believed that good people are blessed, while sinners are punished. They thought you could determine who was righteous and who was sinful by focusing on a person’s outward circumstances. If someone had a large family, a productive business and life went well, that person must have been a righteous person whom God was blessing. But the man whose crops did not produce, who had poor health and whose wife had died, must be a sinner, because it is obvious that God is punishing him.

We know that such a tidy formula is not always accurate. There are consequences to behavior. If you drink too much and get behind the wheel of a car, you risk having an accident. If you smoke for decades, you will likely shorten your life. However, the simple formula – good people are blessed while sinful people are punished – does not hold up. There are unscrupulous people who get away with stealing, and there are good, honest people who experience terrible tragedies.

Yet, I continue to be surprised by people who assume they are being punished when suffering strikes. I can’t tell you how many times I have visited with someone who has lost a loved one or has become gravely ill, and they have said, “I must have done something really awful to deserve this.”

At some level they are making a statement of faith. They believe God is loving and in control of the events of the world. Thus, if something bad strikes, it must be a just punishment that God is dealing out.

In today’s passage, Jesus says, “Wrong! Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Jesus wants to bury the idea that suffering is a sign of God’s punishment.

However, the answer Jesus gives in this morning’s text is not without its difficulties. After declaring that the man’s blindness is not the result of anyone’s sin, he says the man was “born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

If we understand that to mean that this man was sentenced to blindness for years and forced to beg in order to eek out an existence, so that one day Jesus would eventually cure his blindness, we are presented with a very troubling image of God. An image that does not square with what Jesus teaches us about God being a loving parent who wants the best for us. It seems to me, we must interpret these words to mean that God does not cause suffering in order to bring about something good. However, God always works to bring good out of suffering. There is a critical difference between the two.

Returning to our passage and picking up with verse four, Jesus says, “4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.”

Notice that Jesus does not call himself, “healer” or “miracle worker,” but rather, “the light of the world.” This is a clue that the author of John is once again using language that is not literal, but metaphorical.

In the story of Nicodemus, Jesus talked about being born again and Nicodemus thought he meant going back into the womb and undergoing a second physical birth. The reader knows that the language of rebirth is meant as a figure of speech and points to a spiritual rebirth.

In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus tells her about living water and she thinks he is referring to a spring that flows continuously. The reader knows that living water is a metaphor for the life-giving Spirit.

When Jesus calls himself the light of the world, he is declaring that he reveals the truth about God and the world. Jesus knows that what is behind our eyes – our prejudices and our preconceptions – distorts what we see in front of our eyes. As the light of the world, he seeks to give us a new perspective, to help us see the world as God sees it.

Picking up with verse eight, we read: “8The 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?’ 9Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ 10But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ 11He 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.’ 12They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’”

Notice how the neighbors differ in their perception of the man’s healing. Some say, “Wow! This is the man who was blind, and now he can see.” But others say, “No, it couldn’t be the same man. It’s someone like him.”

And that’s the way it is with an experience of God. Some people, through the eyes of faith, see God at work. Others automatically deny God’s action and search for other explanations. Can we ever be entirely certain? There are always different ways to interpret what we see and experience.

Returning to the passage, we read: “13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then 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.’ 16Some 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. 17So 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.’

We get all the way to verse 13 before we discover a critical detail of the story. The healing took place on the sabbath. Oops! Jesus has broken the fourth commandment which states that no work is to be performed on that day. The Pharisees, who are the opponents of Jesus, have something to hold against him. He’s not a wonder worker, he’s a rule breaker! The law is the law and if he has broken the law, he’s a sinner.

You may have heard about the man who received word that his brother had become severely ill and felt he needed to go see him immediately. Since his brother lived several hundred miles away, he had to drive all night to visit him. About two o'clock in the morning, he was driving through a small town. He slowed down to thirty miles an hour. No one was on the street, but he knew how small town police officers can be. Out of nowhere he heard the siren and saw the flashing lights in his rear view mirror. He pulled over and rolled down the window. The police officer said, “Mister, did you see that sign back there?”
“What sign?”
“School zone 15 miles an hour.”
“But officer, it’s two o’clock in the morning.”
And the officer replied, “Did the sign say,
‘School zone except at two o’clock in the morning’? The law is the law!”1

That’s the way some people are with their faith. Everything is rigid. There are no surprises and there are no questions left unanswered. These folks are authorities on right and wrong, and their personal understanding of God is the only true understanding. All other views are misguided.

This is the type of faith held by the opponents of Jesus. A faith that was blind to new insights about God. A faith that was blind to new possibilities. And although they felt content with their faith, perhaps even a little smug, they were actually becoming increasingly blind to the ways of God. They could not perceive the new things God was doing in their midst.

Meanwhile, the blind man seems to be gaining spiritual insight. When asked, “What do you say about Jesus?” The man replies, “He is a prophet.”

Returning to our passage at verse 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 19and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ 20His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but 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.’ 22His 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. 23Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’”

If you want to dredge up anti-Semitic language from the Bible, there is no better place than the Gospel of John. Those who oppose Jesus are often referred to as “the Jews.” However, when reading the gospels, we must keep in mind that Jesus, his disciples and his opponents were all Jews. It was not Christians verses Jews; it was one group of Jews against another group of Jews. Later in the history of the church, Christians forget that, and use this language to justify anti-Semitism. And we know this is one of the saddest chapters in the history of the church.

Back to the passage and verse “24So 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.’ 25He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ 26They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ 27He 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?’ 28Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ 30The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ 34They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.”

The blind man’s parents took the path of least resistance, pleading ignorance and then pushing it off on their son so that the Pharisees would not come down on them. They stand as a symbol of lukewarm followers of Christ who will not remain faithful when the going gets tough.

On the other hand, the blind man is the model of courageous faith. He shows us who we are to be. When the religious authorities apply pressure, not only does the man not bend, but he boldly declares that Jesus must be from God, otherwise he could not have opened his eyes. That daring declaration is more than the religious leaders can bear, and so they call the man a sinner and drive him away.

Returning to the final verses of the passage, we read “35Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ 36He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ 37Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ 38He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. 39Jesus 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.’ 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ 41Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

We miss the power of this story if we fail to perceive that there is more going on here than a person who is literally blind being given his vision. As the story progresses, the blind man’s insights keep expanding, while the opponents of Jesus perceive less and less. The blind man moves from darkness into light, the opponents slip further into the dark.

God does not want our faith to become stale and static, but rather dynamic and alive, open to catching glimpses of something new and straining to see the world through God’s eyes.

There is a powerful scene in the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. During a fierce battle, a German soldier is running for his life, and dives into a foxhole. When he does, he finds himself lying side by side with a British soldier. Recognizing the uniform of the enemy he reaches for his bayonet expecting to fight it out in hand to hand combat. But then he realizes that the British soldier has been badly wounded and is near death. The dying man tries to get something out of the inside pocket of his uniform, but he hasn't the strength. The German, sensing he is in no danger, reaches over to help him. Some well-worn photographs fall out. There are two children, an attractive young woman, and an older couple. The German realizes that these must be the man’s family. The German holds them up so that the man is able to see them. Then he pulls out his canteen and wets the feverish lips of the dying man. The British soldier grasps the German's hand in a symbol of gratitude, and then breathes his last.

The German soldier just sits there for a long time reflecting on the meaning of this simple human drama. These two had been taught to see each other as enemies who should destroy one another in order to survive. Yet when the German soldier dared to get close enough to really see the so-called enemy, he discovered that they were very much alike. The German soldier also had a family back home. He, too, knew what it was to be thirsty, to experience pain, to be able to acknowledge gratitude. At first he had seen an enemy, but as his eyes were opened wider, he saw a fellow human being, a child of God.2

The Spirit of God is active in the world, prompting fresh insights and presenting new challenges to anyone who is receptive. Have you had your vision checked lately? Could God be trying to pry open your eyes?

NOTES

1. This story is told in a sermon by William Carter entitled, “Following the Kiss,” preached on The Protestant Hour, February 7, 1999.
   
2. John Vannorsdall, “Oh, Say Can You See?”

    

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