NL 426: Man Born Blind
image: “Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind” by Lawrence OP (flickr)
John 9:1-41
February 27, 2022
John 9:1-41
Initial Thoughts
The Fifth or sixth sign in John’s Gospel depending on whether you count walking on water as sign (Water into Wine, healing the official’s son, healing the man in Bethsaida, feeding the 5000, walking on water, healing the man born blind, raising of Lazarus)
Get ready for a long reading- perhaps better as a dramatic reading between several people
Blindness
What does it mean to be blind?
Sensitivity to those born blind or who are going blind
Amazing Grace - “I was blind but now I see”
Bible Study
Structure
Healing
Pharisee Investigation
“The Jews” Investigation
Spiritual Blindness
The Blind Man
Jesus approaches him (like the woman at the well)
Like both Nicodemus and the Woman at the well goes through a transformative experience (Karoline Lewis, Feasting on the Word, year A vol. 2):
v.11 “the man called Jesus”
v.17 “he is a prophet”
v.33 “from God”
v.38 “Lord...worshiped him”
v. 37 - seeing and hearing. Interesting as “seeing” is part of his new life and “hearing” is part of his old - it is in both seeing and hearing that he recognizes Jesus
The healing
Saliva was seen to have medicinal value
A re-creation?
Like the creation of humanity out of earth and water after creating light for the world (Genesis 1:3, 2:7)- Jesus claims to be the light of the world and restores this man with saliva and mud
Pool of Siloam - literally the Pool of “sent” the end point of Hezekiah’s tunnel which brought water to Jerusalem - perhaps a connection to last week’s passage on living water)
Healing and Nature of sin & punishment
Punishment for what the parents did (cf. Exodus 34:7)? Not in this case
Was the will of God? Question of divine providence
Divine Providence (George Stroup, Feasting on the Word, year A vol. 2)
General Providence: God "watches over the order of nature set by himself." John Calvin (from Calvin’s Institutes)
Special Providence: “God so attends to the regulation of individual events, and they all so proceed from his set plan, that nothing takes place by chance." John Calvin (from Calvin’s Institutes)
Heidelberg Catechism in response to what the first line of the Apostle’s Creed means, “whatever evil he [God] sends upon me in this troubled life he will turn to my good, for he is able to do it, being almighty God, and is determined to do it, being a faithful Father."
How does one hold to divine providence in light of the horrors of mass genocide (Armenia, Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, etc)? Was all this “so that God's works might be revealed in him.” (John 9:3)
Stroup: Jesus is speaking to a specific issue not making a broad theological claim
Jesus rejects any interpretation that connects the man’s blindness to sin, but instead focused not on the cause of the malady but on the healing.
The result of the blindness is rejection from the community
The result of the healing should be acceptance back in, except the community rejects the miracle in favor of the status quo.
Not about sin, about God at work within the Man’s Blindness
Instead of a curse his blindness is seen as a blessing - a chance to see God’s work
Jesus is responding to the Pharisees who seem to be looking for an excuse not to help or serve the blind man
Jesus’s response is not about explaining the blindness away or telling the blind man to be blessed in his blindness, but to include the blind man within the realm of God’s blessing
Jesus does not explain the blindness in terms of “sin”
How do we justify not helping our neighbors? In what ways do we “explain” poverty, isolation, addiction simply as “their” problem and not our responsibility?
Investigation:
No one, not the formerly blind man, parents, neighbors, pharisees or religious community can explain what happened. Only the blind man has the grace and faith to simply step back and say ”thank you”.
More concerned with the fact he is healed than they were that he was a beggar.
How do we respond when someone in need comes to our community? How do we respond when someone has an irrational, inexplicable experience with the divine?
Sight - what is the miracle that is performed?
The obvious answer is the restoration of sight to the man, BUT
Perhaps the miracle is Jesus claiming that God’s mighty works are being revealed in this man - even before he is healed. Jesus is trying to restore the sight of the community- not the physical sight, but their ability to see this man as a mighty work of God and not simply as the blind beggar.
Perhaps even to transform the man to see himself as something other than a blind beggar- to see himself as a mighty work of God
How often do we discount, ignore, dismiss, or isolate people we feel have no productive worth? Ignorant that mighty works of God are being displayed through them?
Thoughts and Questions
Sometimes we feel unable or ill equipped to witness to God's glory, perhaps we need to simply share the good things God has done in our lives and leave the theology alone.
Are we willing to embrace the mysteries of faith - that God is present in and among our lives even though bad things happen? Can we thank God for the good things in life without blaming someone for the bad things?
Perhaps it is time to say, “I don’t know why this happened, but I am happy that it is now better.”
How much of our status quo are we willing to sacrifice in order to bring about the Kingdom of God? Change is very difficult and the unknown can be terrifying - are we willing to let go of the present norm in order to embrace a new reality?
How do we justify not helping our neighbors? In what ways do we “explain” poverty, isolation, addiction simply as “their” problem and not our responsibility?
How often do we force people into our theological boxes?
Do we promote a creative theology or a static theology?
How? What do we convey in worship? Prayer? Song? Look?
Is it about Orthodoxy, Orthopraxis or about simply showing up and being part of the community?
Opening music: Misirlou, One Man 90 Instruments by Joe Penna/MysteryGuitarMan at MIM
Closing Song by Bryan Odeen