Blinded By The Light
Posted on Mar 26, 2017 by David Whetter
Did you know that we are not born with full sight? Infants have sight, but not as most of us know it. A new born only sees in black and white and some shades of gray. Experts tell us that it usually takes about five months for an infant to begin to use both eyes together to see three-dimensionally and for the eyes to develop fully to be able to see full color. In essence, we learned to see as our infant bodies developed.
In our Gospel story today, Jesus is in Jerusalem again, and as he and his disciples walked along, they saw a man who “was blind from birth” (John 9:1). Since there has been no other mention of this man before and it seems that Jesus and his disciples know that the man was blind from birth, it seems that this man was well known by many in the community. Most likely, because of his blindness, this man had been forced into a life of begging to survive., so people knew of him. Keep in mind, culturally, the assumption was, such a disability would have been a punishment for sin, so the community probably wanted nothing to do with such a man. Sinners were cast out of the community. But, upon seeing this man, the disciples seem to be troubled by his situation. Since this man was blind from birth, how could he have sinned before he was born? So they ask Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus response makes it clear that his blindness has nothing to do with sin.
Now, there are many that still argue that Jesus’ response does not answer the question of whether or not God caused the man to be born blind, and they are correct. Jesus’ answer didn’t address that, but Jesus did state that such a disability ought to still be used for good. In other words, there is not need to cast this man out of the community because of what many of us think of as a disability. No, this is a full child of God’s and his life, like all of ours, should be to live for God’s glory. In essence I would argue, Jesus was saying, you are asking the wrong question. Why someone has a disability is irrelevant. In today’s world we know that such disabilities might be genetic, or they could be caused by any number occurrences experienced by the parents before the child was conceived or during pregnancy. The real question ought to be, is this person any less important to God, or less able to do God’s will than those without such a disability and the answer to that, according to Jesus is an absolute not. With this made clear, Jesus then offers healing to the man and the man gains full sight.
Now, you would think that this would be cause for celebration, but this healing by Jesus stirred up another big problem. He healed this man on the Sabbath. According to the law, the Sabbath is for rest and it is to be kept holy (4th Commandment) and for centuries the Jews had toiled over what this meant and so even the act of healing in Jesus’ day would have been an act of breaking the law and so the religious leaders are upset and seek to bring about justice. If the law has been broken, someone must be punished, and that someone, was Jesus.
When the man returns from Siloam completely healed, everyone is amazed and they begin to ask if it is really him. Although he answers them directly, they cannot believe it and they take him to see the Pharisees and the confrontation about who Jesus is and what he had done begins. The religious leadership proclaims that this “man called Jesus” must not be from God, for anyone from God would not break the law. Jesus, they proclaim, is a sinner. But the man who had been healed, who like an infant was still learning to see fully, responds, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (9:25). In fact, he says, to his knowledge, no one that had ever been born blind had regained there sight before, so he concludes, this man must be from God, not a sinner. This enrages the leadership and they continue to badger this man until finally realizing that this man will not deny Jesus, they “drove him out” (9:34). In other words, even though he was now healed, once again, he is forbidden to be part of the community because now he sees things differently.
Now, before we go bashing those religious leaders for being so ignorant, maybe we need to put ourselves in their place first. These were men who dedicated their life to studying God’s word. They dedicated their lives to studying how the great leaders that had come before them had interpreted scripture and they dedicated their lives to helping the people know how to live as God had called them to live. They knew the promise God had made to God’s people in the wilderness when God said that to follow the law as God gave it would mean that all would “go well for them and their children forever” (Deut. 5:29). To follow the law as given meant good things for the community and to not follow the law would mean bad things for the community.
The problem is that understanding how to actually live the law can be very difficult even today. Every time we read this story, I have someone come to me and say something like, “Pastor, I just don’t get how that man’s parents could have turned on him like they did. They didn’t even try to defend him.” Well that’s true, but it happens all the time today, as well. How many of us have heard of stories of young men and women after coming out that they are gay and when they do they are rejected by their parents, their families or even their faith communities? So often, like the Pharisees, we think we know the law so well that we use it to judge others. The problem is that for so many of us, we want to use “the law” to help others “see” instead of using the law to help us see ourselves.
Let me explain what I mean. Shortly before this story in the Gospel of John, the story of the woman caught in adultery is told. Although the woman had definitely sinned and, according to the law, deserved to be stoned, Jesus told the Pharisees and other leaders present to proceed as long as they did not have sin themselves. Of course they all walked away. Immediately following that John says Jesus continued his conversation with the Pharisees and he said to them "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (8:12). We have all heard this, but I wonder have we really listened to what Jesus said. Yes, he is the light, but for the light to work for us, we must follow it, not shine it in the eyes of others. If we follow Jesus and his loving and merciful ways, then God’s law will lead us to full and faith-filled lives. But when we use this “light,” like an interrogation light, and we shine it in the eyes of others, or when it is shined in our eyes, then we are blinded to its truth. Have you ever used a flashlight in the dark? When you point it in front of you, it lights your way, but if you point it in your eyes, it blinds you and that is what today’s story is all about. All too often, we, like those Pharisees, are so confident that we know exactly what God would do that we end up blinding ourselves to the reality of God’s creation and God’s ways.
This man, who was born blind, had his whole life renewed by Jesus and instead of rejoicing with him, the people around him condemned him. Instead of giving thanks and praise for this life, and welcoming this new life into the community, they rejected him and once again kept the community from being whole. After receiving this gift of renewal, this man endured a horrific interrogation, and is eventually cast out, but, his sight improved to the point that he eventually sees he sees clearly, and he proclaims, Lord, I believe.” This man will follow Jesus, while the Pharisees still refuse to follow, but want to face the light head on, and like having a flashlight their eyes, they, are now blinded.
As we seek renewal this Lenten season, we must ask ourselves, “are we going to follow Jesus and offer healing and community to all who desire, or are we going to continue to be those that shine the light of Christ in ways that blind us to Christ’s ways. The choice is ours. Amen.