Midweek Lent 4 – March 26, 2020 – John 9:1-41
“THE BLIND MAN”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 9. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, this evening we hear from the blind man whose sight Jesus restored.
My plight in life had been quite dismal and disappointing. However, I really didn’t know anything different – I had been born blind, blindness was all I had ever known. There was really only one thing that I could do to provide for myself, and that was to beg. While this seemed ignoble to some, it was just a normal way of life for me, and I didn’t really feel all that bad for myself.
It was a different matter for my parents. They assumed, as did many others, that my blindness was a consequence of some sin of theirs. While they were surely sorry that I was blind, and pitied me, I was also a source of embarrassment to them. And while they hoped to have a child that they could share visual joys with, a child they could train to be a productive member of society, and a son who would take care of them in old age, none of this would be true. I felt more sorry for them!
So when I overheard the question from Jesus’ disciples, it didn’t surprise me that much, except for the part of “my sin.” I was born blind – how could some sin of mine have resulted in my blindness. At the same time, I knew my parents, what kind of people they were. I could hardly have imagined that they had committed some horrible sin that had consigned me to a life of blindness and begging.
One of the interesting things about living without one of your senses, is that all of your other senses become enhanced. I had heard much about Jesus, but never would have thought that He might concern Himself with me. What a thrill it was to hear His answer: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, that he was born blind, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” I could not have imagined fully what He meant, but it sounded good. Then came the spitting, the application of the saliva mud, and the command to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, the pool of healing. I hurried there – and miraculously I came back seeing!
I can’t adequately tell you about the joy of seeing for the first time. I finally saw my parents, my relatives, my friends, the people who had generously given to me through the years, and those who had belittled and demeaned all those years. The One I really wanted to see was Jesus, the man Who had healed my eyes and given me sight. But He had moved on.
I expected that everyone who had witnessed this event and heard of it would have reacted with the greatest of joy and amazement. Most of the people were struggling to grasp how this could have happened. They were joyful but somewhat apprehensive. They were afraid that they were being tricked, bamboozled. It was rather interesting and somewhat disheartening that they struggled to even recognize me without closed eyes and the things associated with my begging. At least my parents recognized me to be a person, something other than just “the blind man,” “the beggar.”
To make things “official,” the crowd ushered me in for a formal questioning by the Pharisees. Their thinking was that they would be able to sort out the facts and determine what had really happened, and what should be believed about all of this. That was a huge mistake. The Pharisees had a number of distorted and erroneous views, which generated a series of criteria that doomed their inquiry. It was only later that I learned of the incident of Jesus healing a lame man. As was the case with my healing, both occurred on the Sabbath – and this infuriated the Pharisees as a violation of their Sabbath laws. I found out that even before Jesus had healed me that some of the Jews were seeking to kill Him. And not only for His supposed breaking of the Sabbath, but that He was calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God.
My inquisition went no where really. The Pharisees tried to deny what actually happened – since it was obvious that such a healing could only occur by the very power of God. If the healing did occur, and Jesus was the One who accomplished it, then this would say something about Jesus, Who He is, or at least where He stood in relation to God. If He were favorable to God, and the Pharisees were unfavorable toward Him, then they were at odds with God. This was an intolerable proposition for them – as they were certain they were “godly” and knew God correctly. This supposition about themselves was not only incorrect, it was arrogant and rebellious.
So this blessing of being granted sight ended up putting me on the side of the One Who healed me, Jesus. This put me on the wrong side of the Pharisees, and my inquisition, which had become a sort of “trial in absentia” of Jesus, also became my trial. I was accused of lying, of “being born in utter sin,” of being utterly worthless and accursed. And they threw me out of the synagogue, out of fellowship with their “religion.” I was now an utter infidel, less than human, fit only for hell and damnation. But my disagreement with them was justified – they were on the wrong side of God. But I wasn’t and neither was Jesus.
So the trial concluded. My parents bore witness that I was their son, and that I had been born blind. I testified to the same, and to the One Who had healed me and given me my eyesight. But contrary to the evidence, the Pharisees railed on and on about how evil Jesus was and that He couldn’t have done this. You see how presuppositions, the wrong ones, blind people to seeing things correctly. And once they have wrongly judged, they consider any consequent evil behavior to be justified. Eventually this logic led them follow through with their desire and their plotting to put Jesus to death. But their actions did not prove them good and righteous. Just the opposite, what they did forever demonstrated the evil of human sin and rebellion against God and His Word.
Well, even booted out of the synagogue I was rejoicing in my new eyesight! I didn’t mind being on the wrong side of the Pharisees. They were blind, and intentionally so! They refused to acknowledge that Jesus was godly and that they should be taught by Him. Rather, despite all of His great miracles for the good and betterment of people, they rejected Him as evil and judged Him worthy of death! Sadly, their appeal to Moses demonstrated that they were completely ignorant of what Moses taught and wrote, for Moses certainly knew Who Jesus is and how great His love for us truly is.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was, when a bit later Jesus came looking for me. His courage was remarkable. If He heard what they had done to me simply for bearing witness to what He had done for me, He must have know that they wished to do far worse to Him. Yet, still He came.
He wanted me to see Him, and to know Him – the Son of Man! He came not just to give me physical vision, but spiritual vision. The Son of Man is the Savior of the world, the Messiah long promised, Who would restore us with His salvation. He wanted me to know Him, my Savior, my eternal Lord. I believed. Even more so I rejoiced with inexpressible joy. Even more, I worshiped Him! I was blessed to see – in all respects.
In spite of their vitriol toward Him, Jesus once again addressed the Pharisees – and warned them. He warned of that arrogance that claims vision and wisdom contrary to the Word of God, contrary to the Son of God. This will never stand, and does no one any good. God’s love is far too strong for such ignorance of God and rebellion against God to stand. Thankfully it is so, so that we too may see, rejoice in His salvation, and worship Him. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.