Scripture: 2 Kings 5:8-15; John 9: 1-41

“The man answered, 'I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see.’”

-- John 9:25-26

We have taken the time to read the whole story aloud because the story explains itself and its symbolism is clear. At the beginning Jesus says that he is the Light of the World (vs. 5) and the action unfolds under that rubric. At the end we hear that those who claim to see are blind and those who acknowledge their blindness are the ones who see. What is it that they see? They see that Jesus is the Son of Man, the Way the Truth and the Life, and that faith in him gives eternal life. What enables them to see this? Jesus himself, who is the Light of the World. Those who accept him enter the light those who do not stumble in the dark. “It is for judgment that I have come into the world,” says Jesus, “so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind (vs. 39).” “If you think you know it all and do not need Jesus, stumble on, “says John, ”if you wish to walk confidently, knowing where you are going, listen up!”

This is the whole point of the story and I might simply leave it at that. I know that would make some of you very happy, at least those at the source of the constant drone of complaint about the sermons being too long at this church, but I think my contract expects a bit more than five minutes. So here are some observations that might enhance our understanding of this already perfectly clear message.

In outline the story concerns a man blind from birth whom Jesus healed by making a paste of dust and his spittle, smearing it on the blind eyes and telling the man to go and bathe those eyes in the pool of Siloam. He did what he was told and after the washing was healed. The religious leaders objected that Jesus had broken the law of the Sabbath by making a paste and thus working, and therefore the healed man must be lying when he identified Jesus as his healer because a Sabbath breaker is a sinner and sinners cannot work miracles. The leaders then summon the man’s parents and ask them to identify him and give their opinion of Jesus. They identify their son but refuse to opine about Jesus because if they gave a positive opinion of him they would be expelled from the synagogue, and effectively ostracized in their community.  

The story progresses from one level of conflict to another, culminating in the confession of the healed man that Jesus is the Son of Man (the incarnate God), and falling before Him in worship (vs. 35-38). He might as well do this, one reflects ruefully, because by now he is expelled and ostracized in any case and has nowhere else to go. Thus the story symbolizes the experience of Christian Jews of that time and place, who were punished in this way for their belief in Jesus. I find this outcome utterly predictable and ongoing among people of all kinds, especially in the realms of religion and quasi religion, that is, politics. Differences are not usually tolerated, not even if the difference brings sight to the blind and light to our darkness.

Indeed, I am convinced that the light bringers are the most heartily detested of all deviants. John knows very well that we prefer darkness to light. In 3:19 he writes, “On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to light because their deeds are evil. And everyone who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed…” What do you expect will happen to one who makes the blind to see and enlightens the world? Slander? At least, probably even Crucifixion. It is proverbial that we blame the bearer of the bad news about our own corruption. (I am trying hard not to cite concrete cases in the real world of current politics and business, cases that careen around my mind and that I could cite chapter and verse, because I am tired of being treated like such a messenger, and besides that would make the sermon too long). Our passage ends with a sarcastic comment, and yes, Jesus was sarcastic at times. When the Pharisees disingenuously ask him, “Surely you do not mean that we are blind?” he replies, “Blind? If you were blind you would not be guilty, but since you say, ‘we see’, your guilt remains (vs. 41). What precisely is Jesus saying? Simply, “You are liars and hypocrites.”  “None so blind as those who will not see.”

A concluding little meditation: The disciples and the opponents glom onto trivialities. At stake is recovering from the spiritual blindness that dooms us all to a life of stumbling in the dark, and what do the protagonists focus on? Whether the man was born blind because of his own sin or his parents,’ that is, the question of karma and reincarnation. The disciples bring it up, wanting to have a theological discussion. Jesus shuts them up and points to the revealing work that he is doing here and now. More important for the world is that this work be remembered and acted on than that the doctrine of karma be settled.

The synagogue leaders focus on the fact that by making a small quantity of mud paste Jesus had worked on the Sabbath and thus broken the law. They wanted to maintain the status quo; the coming of sight to the blind and light to the world was of no positive interest to them; it was a threat. This reminds me very strongly of the life of religious community as I have experienced it. Our fatal capacity to turn trivia into major issues, to defend our own version of the status quo, to resist change, especially as we grow older, to refuse to lay down the instruments of power, no matter how pathetic that little power is, all of this and more adds up to preferring the darkness when light has come into the world.

Read today’s story for yourself and let it speak to you.