“Surely we are not blind, are we?”

John 9:1-41



Pastor Tom Johnson, March 30 2014

The disciples and Jesus pass a man born with a condition which prevented him from interpreting the light that bounced off objects around him. That is what eyes marvelously do—light enters through the lens, is projected upon the retina, various cones are stimulated, and they send electrical signals to the brain. Something in this process either did not develop or was damaged in the man very early on. This is what leads Jesus’ disciples to ask a very troubling and heartless question:

“Someone sinned, Jesus! Was it his or his parents’ evil deeds that robbed him of his sight?”

Perhaps the notion that someone deserves their impairment is easier to manage. We can eliminate the need for compassion toward someone if we can explain away peoples’ troubles as the just deserts for their actions. What we observe with our senses cannot always be trusted. It can lead to very wrong conclusions. We pass a person by. And if we smell, hear, see, or touch something that is irregular, we can run the risk of becoming judge and jury. “They must have done something wrong to be that way. If not, their parents must be the blame.”

Jesus says, “No one’s sin caused this!” And then he adds, “I am the Light of the World,” as if to challenge the idea that this man is unable to receive the light into his life that really matters—the light of the Gospel. What Jesus does next is odd, earthy, and pretty gross. The blind man hears Jesus gather up spit in his mouth, propel air out of his lungs to send the watery mass to the ground, use his fingers to makes a paste, and then felt Jesus caked fingers stick a grimy wad into each eye. I don’t imagine that is what they teach in medical school. I’m pretty confident that Jesus just violated even the most primitive rules of sanitation. But he puts this man into sensory overload. It is genius. Jesus puts a part of himself—his saliva—and a part of ordinary creation—the mud—and puts it into the eyes of the man. Jesus smears the truth of what he said earlier—that he is the Light of the World—he smears his healing truth into the visual receptors of this man. It’s as if he is saying, “This man will experience the Light of the World.” Jesus gives him word to go to the water. And the water, the Word, and the Spirit cleanse his eyes with baptismal grace.

What follows is, to put it mildly, hilarious. The community to which this man belonged is thrown into confusion. His lifelong neighbors cannot verify that this is the same man that used to sit and beg. They don’t recognize him. Their eyes are now playing tricks on them. The man keeps repeating, “I am the man” over and over and yet, they don’t seem able to hear the truth of what he is saying. They want him to explain the mechanics of how he gained his sight. But he is just as perplexed as they are. “Jesus spit, made mud, stuck it in my eyes, told me to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. I did what he said. And now I see.”

Then the religious leaders get involved. They two want to verify his former blindness. Odd, isn’t it, the length they go to establish that he once could not see? They even find his parents and they seem unable to speak. The religious leaders conclude that Jesus is not from God because he healed on the Sabbath. And as they discuss these theological matters, the formerly blind man speaks: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The formerly blind man is amazed at their lack of perception. “What an amazing thing!” he says. “God does not do good and miraculous things through evil people. It is absurd to say that Jesus is not from God because of the day of the week he chose to heal me!” In some ways, the story goes full circle. Because the religious leaders—the Pharisees—say, “You were born in utter sin. And you want to instruct us?!” They throw the man out. They say that his parents and he are sinners—so much so that he was born in that condition.

When Jesus shows up again, he reveals himself as the Messiah and Light of the World. The formerly blind man falls to his knees and worships him. And Jesus says he came “that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the religious leaders overhear Jesus and respond, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” “Because you insist that you can see,” Jesus says, “you cannot see.” They are, because of pride, unable to perceive their spiritual poverty.

Here is the heart of the lesson of the man born without physical sight, I think. When we rely our senses and reason to judge people, we will often be blind to our own prejudice and contempt for others. We become proud and self-righteous. But when we open our spiritual senses and live by faith and not by sight, we humble ourselves, recognize our spiritual poverty, and see the beauty of the Gospel at work in our lives. “Surely we are not blind, are we?” “Yes we are.”

The good news is that we experience the Light of the World who becomes flesh—who is formed out of dust and clay like our father Adam. Our earthy Savior takes the initiative; he puts his healing hands into the place we need it most. He sends us to the water and by his Word and by the Holy Spirit washes away our spiritual blindness. We fall on our knees before Jesus out of humility, faith, thanksgiving, and love. Our story is simple. Our confession is profound. “I once was blind; now I see.”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost; now I’m found. Was blind; but now I see.