"Spiritual Vision"  2014

Isaiah 9:2-7     John 9:1,5-16, 24-41

 

Isaiah 9:2-7

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 

John 9:1,5-16, 24-41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 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, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 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?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 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.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 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.” 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. 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.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 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?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 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.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

 

When I was a boy and wanted to go fishing,

            there was a swamp in the woods not too far from our house

                             where I would turn over big rocks and attempt to grab

                                    all sorts of slimy creatures for bait before they                                                  could scamper and slither away into the darkness.

            And over time, swamp plants and grasses would grow,

                        new life would flourish where the light could now shine

                                    into those places that were once covered by rocks.

 

That contrast between light and darkness is a favorite metaphor

            used frequently in the Gospel of John to describe

                        the grace of God through Christ  in the life of a believer

                                    as it exposes, reveals, heals and transforms

                                                the dark and sinful  secret places of our lives.

 

In John’s Gospel, sin is not so much

            about the particular wrong things we do and say,  as it is

                        refusing to believe, to trust and obey,

                                    rejecting the grace offered in Jesus Christ …

                                                              … it is choosing to remain in the darkness

                                                                        rather than coming into the light …

            … which is the main theme of the ninth chapter of John.

 

The Gospel of John was written

            several decades after the events described had occurred,

                        and the writer has chosen each particular event   and tells

                             the story in a way that intends  to make a specific point

                                     and illustrate a theological truth,   like a parable…

                        … that can  be understood on several different levels.

                                   

On the most basic and literal level, this is a simple miracle story

            that then describes various responses to the healing.  vs. 1, 5-7

                        As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 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, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

 

Jesus notices a man, a beggar who was blind from birth, which

            connects with his prior statement, “I am the light of the world.”

 

In the Gospel of John, the phrase, “I am” has a special meaning,

            that refers back to

                        the Old Testament story about Moses and the burning bush.

            When Moses asks God who he should say is sending him to Pharaoh,

                        the Lord God answers, “Tell them    I am    sent you” …

               … and all through Scripture, “I am” is one of the names of God.

 

In John, Jesus claims his divinity as the Son,

            and then reveals or describes    a particular aspect of God

                        by making an  “I am” statement associated with a miracle.

e.g.     

            “I am the resurrection and life” (Jn. 11)

                is said when he raises Lazareth from the dead,

                                         or “I am the bread of life”  (Jn. 6)

                                                when he miraculously feeds the crowd of 5000,

                        or as in this passage, “I am the light of the world”

                            when he gives sight to a blind man.

 

To go a bit deeper, the man   blind from birth    given sight

            is also the story of God’s grace and our faith-conversion.

 

The blind man sitting in the darkness of blindness

            is a symbol of us and our world   estranged from God,

                        living in darkness   without the light … as sinners,

                because we choose darkness rather than the light

                   which causes our behavior  contrary to the will of God.

 

So in the story,  what does the blind man do or say to qualify

            or to prove his worthiness   for Jesus to notice and heal him?

                                         His only qualification

                                                is that he is blind and in need of healing.

 

How do you or I qualify or prove our worthiness for eternal life?

            We don’t --- it’s all grace.

                                        God loves us and heals us while we are yet sinners,

                                                          redeems and restores us to be

                                                                the children of God we were created to be.

 

So how does Jesus go about

   restoring this blind man  to who he was created to be?      vs. 6b

            “… he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes.”

 

                        Spit was mixed with dirt, dust of the ground,

                                    to heal and open the blind man’s eyes,

                                                so that he could see and receive the light.

    Making mud, by mixing dust and saliva, Jesus healed the blind man.

 

But there is much more to this than just medicinal mud and spit.

            There is a subtle connection to another Bible story,

                        a similarity in the language  and to the method used

                                    by God to create Adam   as it’s described in Genesis 2:7     then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

 

The connection of Jesus to creation is an important characteristic

    of John’s theology and explanation of who Jesus is,à

 

            à that goes back to the very first chapter of John, vs. 1:2-4

                        He (Jesus) was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being  in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

 

Just as God created Adam from the dust, then breathed life into that dust,

            so Jesus makes mud from the dust and saliva   to open his eyes.

     In a poetic, symbolic and metaphorical sense

             Jesus is re-creating new eyes that can see the true Light.

 

The blind man's eyes were broken –   they couldn't see the light,

            so using the same   raw materials and methods of creation,

                        Jesus made him new eyes that could see the light,

                                    fulfilling the earlier claim,

                                                All things came into being through him,

                                                            and as the Creator, he is the light of the world.

 

This event of healing the blind man is told as a parable, intended,

            to reveal who Jesus is, and what Jesus came to accomplish.

That truth is behind the remarkable explanation that the blind man

            made to the Pharisees concerning Jesus, vs. 32-33

            Never since the world began    has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

 

Just as Jesus healed the blind man so that he could see the light,

            so Jesus heals us by grace, opening our eyes to see the light, 

                        to see the light  of God’s gracious purpose and call.            

 

This story is not just an incredible and miraculous healing,

            but is a subtle set of clues --- that point and demonstrate

                        how and in what sense ---  Jesus is the light of the world,

                                    to help explain what the ministry of Jesus is about,

                                                a ministry of God’s grace toward those in need.

 

Another important detail of this text,

            is that Jesus sent the blind man to wash at the pool of Siloam,

                        and that he returned, able to see.

            The blind man had to respond, and trust Jesus   enough to obey.

 

      Seeing the light, the invitation to be healed was all grace,

            but it also demanded  some response,   to accept or reject it.

I am pretty sure this story would have ended quite differently

            had the man not gone off to the pool called “sent” and washed…

                                    … and for the rest of this passage the man

                                                bears witness to what happened to him.

 

The first challenge to his testimony comes from his neighbors

            who deny the miraculous   by saying it wasn’t really him,

                        then demanding some explanation for how it was done.

 

Then he and the healing are challenged by the Pharisees, twice,

     because his story did not fit their religious certainties. vs. 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.

 

One of the ways that sometimes  we choose the darkness,

    is by clinging so tightly to our own rigid expectations,

                  that we do not allow for  even the possibility

                        that God might be up to something new or different,

                                                or that a Scripture passage might be saying more,

                                                    or something deeper than we first thought.

 

Sometimes we can be

            so certain of our assumptions and our own understanding,

                        that we limit the light of God’s grace, truth and love,

                                    and refuse to let that light shine into our darkness

                                                and expose where we have missed the whole point,

                                                     by focusing on the silly and insignificant.

 

Reminds me of a story this week about a policeman in Baton Rouge, LA,

            who handcuffed, arrested  and detained a fireman

                            for refusing to move the fire truck,

                                    while he was on a medical call trying to save a woman…

              … talk about focusing on the silly and insignificant.

 

These Pharisees willfully choose to reject and oppose Jesus

            because they object to a miracle  being done on the Sabbath,

                        and so refuse to see this miracle  that points toward God.

John 9:16

            Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath."

 

The second time the Pharisees questioned his testimony,

            the man makes no attempt to explain what happened to him,

                        or argue about theology or Scripture ----

                                    --- he simply describes his own experience – vs. 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.”

 

What more is there that he could say?

            I don’t believe that anybody

                        has ever been reasoned or argued in to God’s Kingdom,

                                    or into having an authentic relationship with God …

                        … it doesn’t work that way.

 

But  when we are living an authentic and growing walk of faith,

                it does make a noticeable difference, and people can tell

                        about how our faith is making a difference to us.

            No one can argue about that,

               for it is our experience and perceptions about our own life …

 

                        … and yet  until by grace   God does open our eyes,

                                    we won’t be able to see the light

                                                even enough to notice our darkness.

 

The problem of the Pharisees was not a lack of information.

            They knew that the blind man had received his sight,

                        and there are at least a dozen Old Testament passages

                                    that specifically mention that a sign of the Messiah

                                       will be that he will bring  sight to the blind.

 

This miraculous healing and the way Jesus did it

            did not fit into the religious system of the Pharisees,

                        so they rejected and opposed it …

                                                            …as a willful refusal to see and believe.

 

The point is that          Jesus is God, is the Creator and Redeemer,

            who came to restore this broken creation that has gone blind,

                 this world that has chosen to reject, and refuses to see God.

 

Some time ago,  one of the TV networks did a show about Jesus;

            conceding that there is little room or reason for doubt

                        that there was a man in the first century named Jesus…

                                    … that is a fact well attested in history,

                                                but the critical question is,  who is this Jesus?

 

The position of many in our world and culture

            is that Jesus was a great teacher, a wise sage or philosopher,

                        perhaps a miracle worker who taught peace & non-violence.

            Many claim that the historical Jesus never said he was God,

                        and that any claims of divinity, that he was the Son of God

                                    were made up later by followers  after his death.

 

But the Gospel of John does not allow for that possibility.

            Either Jesus was God as he claimed to be, or he was a crazy liar.

According to John's gospel there are no other options…     

            … in that either you accept, believe and see the light,

                        or you choose to reject and remain in spiritual darkness:

as we read in   John 3:19

            And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but the  people loved darkness rather than light  because their deeds were evil.

 

This miraculous healing points directly toward God.

            It also  requires some sort of a  response
                        and is meant and intended   to force a decision ---

            either believe, or choose to reject, preferring the darkness,

                        either you see, or chose to remain spiritually blind.

In the gospel of John,

            it is deliberate and definitive choice,   light or darkness

                        because Jesus leaves no middle ground for indecision.

 

This text speaks of the infinite mysteries of God, as a warning.

            We too can be blind to the evidence of God's light

                        and to God's revelation and purpose going on in our midst,

                              for God works in mysterious ways, in our lives & world

                                        far beyond what we expect or what we can understand.

 

The boundaries of faith that we would place around God's love,

            the assumptions we would make that limit God's grace,

                        can plunge us too   into spiritual darkness and blindness.

 

            The Pharisees had it all figured out ---

                        they were sure,   but --- they were wrong.

                                                We too can be sure --- and we too can be wrong.

 

Lent is about noticing our own blindness and dark places

            and choosing to see ourselves and our lives differently,

                        by choosing to let the Spirit reveal the Presence of Jesus

                                    and to let that power of grace   grow and transform us

                                                by giving us the insight of spiritual vision.

 

As promised and described in Isaiah 9:2

            The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.