Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-september-2-2022
John 9:18-41
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing of a Man Born Blind
18 The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents.19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
The first part of this story was our reading for yesterday. In that part, Jesus gave sight to a man who had been blind all his life. But when the man went home seeing, his neighbors didn’t seem particularly happy for him. They were so suspicious that they dragged the man off to the Pharisees so his healing could be ‘investigated.’ And after the man told his story, he said that in his opinion, Jesus was a prophet.
In the conclusion of the story, which is our reading for today, the Pharisees are apparently not satisfied with the man’s explanation of what had happened to him, so they summon his parents and interrogate them about the matter. But these people have no idea about how their son has been given sight, and they’re so intimidated by the bullying of the Pharisees that they refuse to even speculate about what has happened. So the Pharisees send for the formerly blind man and ask him to tell the story again.
It seems obvious that the Pharisees – like the man’s neighbors – are threatened by the kind of power Jesus has demonstrated. But aside from their lame objection to a healing on the Sabbath, they can’t really figure out how to condemn it.
And to me, this is where the story gets really entertaining.
I say that because by this point in the story, some things are beginning to dawn on the formerly blind man. He’s starting to see that the Pharisees don’t see – they don’t see what has happened: Someone with supernatural powers has performed a miracle. But the Pharisees either can’t see that, or they won’t see it. (And this story seems like a great illustration of the old adage: ‘There is none so blind as him who will not see.’)
And there’s a humorous aspect to this story: The Pharisees’ spiritual blindness starts to amuse the man who was once physically blind. He starts giving them grief about it. When they keep asking for more and more details about what Jesus has done for him, the man asks if they want to hear the story again because they really want to become disciples of Jesus.
Not surprisingly, the leadership reacts like a wet hen to that suggestion. And they’re even more furious a moment later when the man says what the leaders won’t see: that no one could do what Jesus had done except by the power of God. That makes the leaders so mad they throw him out of the temple.
When I read this story, I always imagine the man laughing to himself as he wanders off down the street, looking at things he’s never seen before.
At the end of the story, Jesus finds the man and reveals his identity to him. And Jesus tells the man that his healing is a sort of metaphor for his ministry. People who were once spiritually blind are being given sight into the things of God, while those who think they see the truth clearly are being shown to be spiritually blind. That’s the real judgment he represents, Jesus says – his life and ministry divide those who are able to see God’s truth and those who can’t – or won’t – see it at all.
For those of us who follow him, Jesus still represents that judgment. Some see and embrace the real heart of Jesus’ teachings. That heart, of course is love for God and love for neighbor – a sacrificial love that embraces even the most marginalized and rejected people in his name. Others remain blinded to God’s truth by the world’s ways of control and power and privilege. Even those of us struggling to live Christ-like lives can see “as through in a mirror dimly.” But as we grow in faith, we see things more and more clearly – because we see them from Jesus’ perspective.
Let’s pray. Lord, we ask that you would continue to heal us of our spiritual blindness as we try to live out Jesus’ teachings and live in imitation of him. Open the eyes of our hearts so that we can be transformed to see and embrace the truth Jesus came into the world to proclaim – the truth of new life in your kingdom. Amen.
Have a great weekend and worship God joyfully on Sunday!
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 25 and 40; Job 19:1-27; and Acts 13:13-25. Our readings come from the NIV Bible as posted on Biblica.org, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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