Life in Christ Lutheran Church,
Grand Marais, MN;
Grace and peace to you from our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Since our text is a whole chapter,
I'd like to read it through making a few comments as we go.
1 As he passed by,
[Jesus] saw a man blind from birth.
Jesus "saw" a blind man.
He sees people in need and he does something about it. After all he comes in
human flesh to suffer and die on the cross for your need. He sees the forgiveness
you need and does something about it.
2 And his
disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his
parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
The disciples ask the natural
question. "God must be punishing someone!" Think Job's friends. Jesus
corrects them. He talks about purpose. He talks about God's purpose. After all
it's not your purpose that should consume you. It is God's purpose. This
man is blind so that God has the opportunity to show this sign of healing from
Jesus. To show everyone exactly who Jesus is.
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.”
Jesus doesn't only give the man physical
sight. He gives spiritual enlightenment to those who "see" him for
who he actually is. If you look back to the beginning of John's Gospel we see
John talking about this light in the world.
In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was
John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might
believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the
light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the
world.” (John 1:4–9 ,
ESV)
There is a conflict here between
light and darkness. And it will come out even more so in the rest of the
reading.
6 Having said
these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he
anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the
pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Now Jesus uses very earthly,
physical, common elements to heal the man's blindness. God doesn't deal with
people internally. Rather, he uses external means. In, with, and under the spit
and mud, Jesus word from outside the man heals him of his blindness. God often
uses ordinary, everyday, physical things to work in the lives his people. After
all he used ordinary, everyday, physical human body hung on a cross to bring
forgiveness into the world. And he chooses to bring that forgiveness directly
to you through water, bread, and wine.
8
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is
this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.”
Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10
So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered,
“The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to
Siloam and wash.’ So 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
So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to
them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the
Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a
division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do
you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
It is fair to say a dispute arose.
The man's neighbors wonder if he's really the same man. Blind men didn't every
day receive their sight back again. Even the Pharisees are divided. "He
can't be from God, because he doesn't obey the laws that we've made about the
Sabbath. They argue about whether Jesus is "from God". Truth is when
Jesus comes on the scene there is always division. With Jesus the primary
question is always who he is. Since they can't believe, they turn on the man's
parents.
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 how he now sees we do not know, nor do we
know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22
(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had
already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be
put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age;
ask him.”
They say clearly this is the same
man, therefore confirming the Jesus indeed was the one who heal him. Also saying
that Jesus is the Messiah. But the Pharisees our firm against Jesus. And the
parents know it. They won't speak any more than is necessary because they know
they will be excommunicated. And so they return to the formerly blind.
24 So for the second time they called
the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that
this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not
know. 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 And
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, “Why, this is an amazing
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 if anyone is a worshiper of
God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world
began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered
him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him
out.
The Pharisees are openly hostile. They
hate Jesus. They do not want to be Jesus' disciples. They can't abide that
Jesus is actually "from God". The question is right there, "is
Jesus, from God, the Messiah of God, or just a common everyday sinner?"
The Pharisees actually take the position of the disciples. They accuse the
formerly blind beggar of being a great sinner. When God speaks the truth,
people will work very hard to justify themselves. They cast the man out of the
synagogue. They remove him from the church. They don't do it out of love, but
out of hate. They do it so they don't have to listen to him anymore.
35
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you
believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I
may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is
he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he
worshiped him.
Jesus finds the man speaks to him
again. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "It is me, the one
you saw and heard."
So faith
comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17 , ESV)
39 Jesus said,
“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and
those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard
these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to
them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We
see,’ your guilt remains.
This text shows us that when Jesus
comes, no matter how it is, there is always division. God's word divides. Sinful
people, you and I included, do not like God's judgment against our sin. We
would rather hold onto it, excuse it, brush it under the carpet. Jesus is from
God, he is not from the world. It is a struggle against God that is only
resolved by God judging the world. "For judgment I came into the
world." Jesus has come to cast out the ruler of the world. That is,
Satan's time, sin's time in the world has come to an end. But it is also true
that Jesus comes not “to
judge the world but to save the world” (12:47)
Jesus does both at the cross. He
takes on the world's darkness and judgment. He becomes the sin of the world. He
submits to the darkness, "he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, dead and was buried." He sacrifices his perfect life for
the sake of the whole world. Sin is judged in Jesus' death on the cross and his
burial. This is Good Friday…
But there is also Easter. God
raises Jesus from the dead. He walks and talks and eats with his disciples. He
shows that sin is done in. He shows that he is indeed the one who is from God
who brings God's light into the world. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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