“Though I was blind, now I see"
John 9:1-41

Lent 4A, March 2, 2008

A Sermon by Fr. James Haney V

 We're in the third week of our four-week series of Gospel lessons from John. The past two lessons have been long conversations between Jesus and another person.

In ch3, we met Nicodemus, who after his conversation with Jesus eventually changed. But the evidence of the change was delayed, not appearing until a couple of years after the conversation.

In ch4 we met the Samaritan woman. After her conversation with Jesus, she changed immediately. She realized that Jesus could quench her deepest thirsts, and went and told the people in her town all about him.

But today, we see a very different encounter in John ch9, p976. Our Gospel lesson today is the entire 9th chapter. In this chapter, Jesus heals a blind man in vv6 and 7. But then Jesus disappears for over 2/3rds of the chapter. He doesn't reappear until v35. Thus the blind man is left all by himself to deal with the religious authorities. Jesus then comes back, and addresses them all.

So this morning I want to look at the blind man and at the religious leaders in their reactions to the healing. But I want to do it in reverse order.

First, I want to focus on the reactions of the Jewish religious leaders to the healing. Their reaction, of all things, reminds me of a scene in one of the old Pink Panther movies. If you're not familiar with the series, Peter Sellers plays police Inspector Clouseau. The running joke is that Inspector Clouseau is totally incompetent, a bumbling idiot. But by accident he somehow manages to solve major crime cases again and again. Thus the world thinks he's a brilliant detective. Only his chief knows how incompetent he truly is.

In this scene, he has been busted back from detective to patrolman. He encounters a blind street musician. Meanwhile, a bank robbery takes place right behind him.

<<Return of the Pink Panther 16:20—19:32>>

Clouseau is focused on minor infractions of minor city ordinances: a license for the musician, whether or not the monkey is begging. And he completely misses the armed bank robbery that takes place right behind him. In fact, he's so clueless, so blind, that he assists the robbers in their escape, and hits the bank manager with his nightstick.

In John 9, the religious authorities have a similar problem. They think they have a total lock on spiritual things. They think they have a complete understanding of how God is operating. And because of that, most of them have closed their minds to how God is present and active in Jesus Christ.

The middle 2/3rds of Jn9 focuses on these leaders. In vv13-17, they bring the former blind man in for questioning. This first time, they're basically questioning how the healing could have taken place.

Then in vv18-23, they bring in the man's parents. The parents plead the 5th. They don't want to talk about Jesus or the healing. All they'll stipulate to is that yes, this is their son, and yes, he was born blind.

Then in vv24-34, the religious authorities bring the blind man in for a second round of interrogation. And at the end, v34, they excommunicate him.

The subtext of this entire section is that while the blind man can now see, the religious leaders are spiritually blind. They're blind to who Jesus is. They're blind to the fact that Jesus is bringing God's light into the world.

Jesus says this explicitly in v39: "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind."

Another translation puts it this way: "I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind (NLT)."

v40 Some of the Pharisees object to this. So, v41, Jesus says, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."

In other words, you're sticking to their principles even at the cost of ignoring the evidence right in front of you. You claim to see. But you turn a blind eye to what God is doing.

This is a strong warning for all of us. One of the most dangerous things in the Christian life is to think we have an absolute lock on God, to think that we understand everything there is to know about God. The God of scripture constantly calls his people to grow and change. The God of scripture pushes the envelope over and over again, asking his people to expand their understanding of who he is, asking his people to open their eyes more widely to see him at work in the world.

Having our eyes shut and our minds closed to God is one of the most dangerous spiritual states possible.

But does that mean we have to be agnostic about everything? Do we have to say, "Well, I want to be open minded, so I guess I can't believe anything; I have to be open to everything"? That's NOT the point of John 9. And we see that in the other main character, the blind man himself.

At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus heals the blind man. The blind man never asks to be healed. Jesus heals because of who Jesus is. v5 Jesus says, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

And then in v6 and 7 he brings light to the blind man. You'd think the man's problems would be over, but they've only begun. He's hauled before the Jewish authorities twice. When they ask him how he was healed, he simply repeats, v15, what Jesus did. When they ask his opinion of Jesus, v17, the man replies, "He is a prophet."

In other words, he doesn't know everything there is to know about Jesus. He's not a full-fledged disciple. But he does know what Jesus has done for him. He knows where the blessing comes from. He knows Jesus is the source of his healing.

Later on, the authorities question him again. The man sticks to his story. Even in the face of opposition, he credits Jesus for healing him. He doesn't claim to know everything about everything, but with bulldog tenacity he hangs on to Jesus.

He even goes on the offensive: v30 "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

Even though Jesus is absent from the scene, the formerly blind man does not forget him. He doesn’t know everything about Jesus. But he knows enough. He knows what Jesus has done for him, and he hangs on to that.

And that's an important lesson for us. It's dangerous to claim to know everything there is to know about God. So what can we do? We can focus on Jesus. We can remember what Jesus has done for us. We can hold on to him in the midst of opposition. We can trust and believe in him. We can seek to follow him. We can keep our eyes open to see him at work around us.

When Jesus meets the man a second time, v35 Jesus asks him if he believes in the Son of Man, God's agent in the world. v36, the man asks, "Who is he." v37, Jesus says, "It's me." The man responds in v38, "Lord, I believe." Up until this point in John, this is the fullest expression of faith given by anyone. Lord, I believe. Lord I trust you.

The blind man not only has received physical sight. He has also been given a glimpse of the true light. In the darkness, he seeks to follow the source of light that has appeared to him.

He makes no claims to be enlightened totally himself. He doesn't claim to understand the light. He simply follows the source of light.

May we be open to the true light. May we seek to follow him.

Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world. Help us to seek your face. Open our eyes to see you at work in the world around us. Heal our blindness. Heal our arrogance. Help us to follow you.

In the name…