The Fourth Sunday in Lent --- 30 March 2014

John 9:1-41

1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7 saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The 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?" 9 Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10 But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11 He 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." 12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then 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." 16 Some 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. 17 So 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." 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 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but 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." 22 His 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. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So 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." 25 He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26 They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He 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?" 28 Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "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." 34 They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." 38 He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus 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." 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, "We see,' your sin remains.

Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, "We see,' your sin remains.

• One of the hardest things to get around in life is preconceived notions. We find that they are comfortable and easy to deal with, so we tend not to question them. In fact, we often assume that others see things the same way and that our view of the world or anything else is the proper one. As someone said once – when someone says they'll meet you halfway, they probably believe they're already at the midfield line.
• This huge story – the story of the man born blind – is one of the so-called “signs” in John's Gospel. John's Gospel has certain events that are called “signs” interspersed with addresses by Jesus. Here in this story, there is a miracle and a controversy about the miracle.
• Some people in the story wonder why the man was blind, if the man was really healed, and who accomplished the healing. The whole passage starts with the notion that the blindness of the man was a result of someones' sin. Jesus shatters this notion rather quickly by saying that this man was blind so that God's work might be revealed in him.
• Once the man is healed, people take the notion that this is not the man who sat and begged despite the man's own testimony. You can almost hear the arguments – Are you the man? I am! You can't be; the man was blind and you can see. You can't be him.
• The next layer of preconceived notions have to do with how the man was healed. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath and that makes all the difference to the Pharisees in the story. Since the man was healed on the Sabbath, it cannot be the work of God or of a godly person.
• They ask a number of times just how the healing was accomplished. John tells us that Jesus made mud with his saliva, smeared it on the man's eyes, and sent him to wash. He calls himself the light of the world, but he doesn't say this to the man. As odd as they might seem to us, Jesus' actions are rather normal for healer of his day. Maybe those who questioned the healing wanted to find out if something else was done. Of course, the healing on the Sabbath makes the whole thing suspect. Although the man could now see after being born without sight -something unheard of- the Pharisees are more than ready to dismiss it since it was done on the Sabbath. They also dismiss the man as a sinner born entirely in sins.
• When the healed man finally sees Jesus, he responds without any preconceptions: And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him. Then Jesus reveals himself to this man. Jesus' comments that follow provoke a further expression of preconceptions by his Pharisee hearers: Surely we are not blind, are we? Jesus responds with what I read when we started this.
• Unfortunately, we are not immune from taking on our own preconceived notions. We often decide how and where and when God can or will speak to us. We might even decide what message we will hear.
• We like to know how God will work and what instruments God will use. Let's face it; we like things neat and tidy and all wrapped up in a lovely package with a cute bow.
• I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened to me in my personal relationship with God... and I won't have to use any fingers at all. Think for a bit; you might well be the same way.
• God does not always work as we might expect... and that could be uncomfortable. God does not work according to our plans or our schedules... and that can be inconvenient. We may do all sorts of things to shoe-horn God's ways into our ways. There is also danger here: The minute we start denying the work of God in Christ Jesus our Lord so as to make things neat and tidy and in conformity to how we like things done, it’s pretty tough to see the real Jesus.
• Grace is surprising, especially when it come to us in the normal, the usual, and the mundane. Yet that is where grace comes to us most often and where we are most often sustained by grace.
• We can be sure that the man born blind in our Gospel reading today did not expect to see by the end of the day. Nor did he expect to be driven from the the synagogue. Still grace led him to acknowledge where his healing came from and to whom his thanks belonged. Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshipped him.
• Our lesson today is simple to hear and hard to do: trust in the power of grace and the presence of God, even if comes from an unexpected corner.