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.
 |
| Pioneer Tunnel mine, Ashland, PA (Stock photo) |
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not
have sin. But now that you say, "We see,' your sin remains.
· Years ago, when my
daughter was a toddler, my wife’s family came from Texas to visit us in
Pennsylvania. As part of the visit, we took them to the Pioneer Tunnel, a
working coal mine in the little town of Ashland. We went down into the mine
into the side of the mountain in the “electric mule”, a small electrically-powered
train the miners would ride to the coal face, where the mining took place.
· Our guide – a miner
himself – wore a battery powered light on his helmet. As part of the tour, we
all stood still while the miner turned off the lights. (The mine was lit by
small over-head lights.) The only light was from his lamp. Then he flipped off
that tiny light.
· We were plunged into
a darkness so absolute that you could almost feel it. It was darker than the
darkest night; I couldn’t see a thing... and I felt completely isolated. The miner spoke to us out of the
darkness for a moment and then turned on his lamp. It was such a relief. Then
he turned on all the lights and we went on with the tour. I think I’ll always remember
that darkness.
· The man in John’s
Gospel today knew that same darkness. He was born blind and possibly never saw
light in his life until Jesus put mud on his eyes and told him to wash in the
pool of Siloam. Jesus had just finished calling himself the light of the world
in response to his disciples’ question about the blind man: Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
· Since he was blind,
he could not take part in society. He probably could not worship in the Temple
because his infirmity would be enough to deny entrance. After all, his
blindness was a result of someone’s sin, wasn’t it? Any infirmity or sickness
was once seen as a punishment for sin, whether the sin of the person or of
their ancestors. This understanding of sickness and sin would further isolate
this man… in a darkness like I knew in the mine.
· Jesus does not bring
sin into the picture; others do. Jesus takes it in a different direction… and
he heals the man of his blindness.
· Of course, the place
goes crazy. “Is this man the blind guy?” “How did he heal you?” “That’s all
impossible!” “It couldn’t be that way!” We can file this under my mind is made up; don’t confuse we with
facts. People see things through their own slant and their own focus.
· The Pharisees refuse
to believe this man was born blind, then they refuse to accept that Jesus
healed him. Finally they throw him out and isolate him since he doesn’t fit
their categories.
· Jesus comes to the
man and identifies himself as the one who healed him. He goes on to say I
came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and
those who do see may become blind.
· John wrote this for a
specific time and place. At the time of the writing, the early Christian
community was being driven out of the synagogues and would no longer be
identified as part of the Jewish people. (There were a bunch of political
implications from this and that’s for another time.) In the end, the man born
blind is all of us and in the end, he is abandoned by everyone but Jesus, who
won’t abandon us either.
· What John is focusing
on is the darknesses that the blind man and the Pharisees lived in. One was a
birth issue with no guilt involved; the other was an attitude that developed
which saw guilt in the man’s blindness but no guilt in the spiritual blindness
they lived in.
· John uses very human
experiences to reveal the Good News of Jesus.
Nicodemus visits
Jesus at night; although a teacher, he cannot see.
The woman at the well
asks Jesus for water, living water because she’s thirsty for more than a noon-day
drink.
The man born blind
sees better than everyone he encounters after he’s healed and when he sees
Jesus for the first time, he believes and worships him.
Lazarus has the
ultimate common human experience and the most troubling- death - and Jesus
raises him to life.
·
Jesus is the one who fulfills all these needs and confronts the
things that divide people – the isolations of sin, suffering, ignorance, and
death.
·
At this very strange time in our lives, we too are faced with a
blindness, a blindness that seeks to divide us along so many lines: the sick
from the healthy, the old from the young, the East from the West, the rich from
the poor, the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’.
·
May Jesus heal our blindness – whatever blind spots we have - and our
isolations, bringing us to the Kingdom where we see all thing in his light and
all the world’s wounds are healed.
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.
Very enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteThankyou.