AtomOpen our Eyes Lord Jesus
John 9:1-41
I have this sign in my office (Hold up JESUS sign) …and enjoy when people come in…youth especially…and look and look. Some “see” it right away…others take a long time…and come back again and again and beg me to tell them what it says…
The Gospel is about “seeing” Jesus, others, and the world: “seeing” with eyes of FAITH!!
Let’s stand for the reading of the first 12 verses…of the 9th chapter of the Gospel of John…
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 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.” 6 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, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 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?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 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.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
This is the Good News, the Gospel of our Lord…THANKS BE TO GOD!!
After attending a seminar on the Gospel of John by Susan Briehl, I’m more and more convinced that the Gospel of John was written to tell the stories of the community of Faith that John was part of…a community made up of many who witnessed first hand the miracles of Jesus…people who told their stories over and over to the others…and John finally wrote them down in his Gospel with the purpose as he tells us in chapter 20:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Thus, today, as we come to this story…the story of the blind man being given sight, we need to ask, what is it that the blind man (and John) wants the community of faith who are reading this today to “SEE”? As we read this story today, we’ll take a few “breaks” along the way to reflect on four of the many possibilities that John wants us to “see” today: and through seeing, you continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name!
The FIRST “truth” we’re invited to see???...marginal people matter to Jesus!! In God’s eyes, Everybody is somebody!!
I’m sure that the blind man was blown away by the attention given him by Jesus…after all, blind people, and all people on the margins of life, were avoided by everyone who passed by them. We can be pretty confidant that most everyone avoided this man; in fact, many didn’t even notice him…he had become a nobody, and he learned that day that “nobodies” matter to Jesus…all are welcome, all are invited…and, he wants us to know this today!!
And…this speaks today in at least two directions. It not only speaks to those who have a tendency to see themselves as unworthy and nobodies, like the blind man…it also speaks to those who tend to look down at others and see them as less-thans, like others in the story today.
Martin Luther once said, “There is NO hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. We are ALL beggars in need of GRACE!!” Then he followed with, “Evangelism is nothing more than one beggar telling another where to find food!!” This is what the blind man is telling us: as he found food: the food of self-worth, healing, meaning in Jesus…and in his community of faith! We continue:
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 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.” 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. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
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 we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 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.” 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.” 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?”
A Second pause…In what light do we “see” the things that happen in our lives…both the positives and the negatives…the good and the bad!!!
I’m NOT a believer that all things are of God. But God can use all things for good…in one way or another!!
Pastor Bill Bouknight tells his personal story in his sermon “Why did God allow that to Happen?” He writes about losing Aaron, his eight-year-old son, to cancer. At the church where he served there was a young man who came to maintain the Air Conditioner unit.
Several years after Aaron died, this young man came to see Bouknight. He said Aaron’s death had changed his life. He said that before that awful loss, he had been living for the devil as hard as he could. But the death of that child whom he knew made him ask for the first time: What is eternal? Where can I find any real security in this world? How would I survive if my own child died? Those questions led him to conclude that Jesus Christ is the only One who could meet his deepest needs…and turned to follow Jesus.
Thereafter, almost every time he worked at the church he would knock on my door and say, “I will never forget Aaron.” You see, that was just one way that God took our heartbreak and used it for good.
Bouknight then writes: If life breaks your heart or health or takes your finances, you can whimper and whine and demand an explanation. But no explanation will be given. People of faith place their sorrows on the altar and ask God to use them. Then even our heartaches and sorrows serve His purposes and declare His praises. And in the process, our own hearts are strangely comforted.
Not all things are of God…but…God can use all things for good…in one way or another. The Apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 8, verse 28: We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. He doesn’t say that all things are good…but IN all things, God works for good!!
As for the good things of life, we’re also reminded that life is lived so much better when all GOOD things are constantly seen for what they really are…a gift of God. We haven’t earned them at all…they are gifts to be received and treasured, shared and enjoyed!!
Think about all the blessings that you and I enjoy each and everyday (again from Luther): food and clothing, home and family, daily work, favorable weather, and all that we need from day to day!! What a difference it makes in our attitude and our quality of life by living in gratitude…thanking God each and every day for the good things he provides!!
Think about it this way: The man born blind was thankful for the gift of his sight. If this man was thankful to receive his sight after a lifetime of darkness, how much more should we be thankful to God for a lifetime of seeing…spiritual “seeing”! We continue with the Gospel story today…
28 Then 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, “Here is an astonishing 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 he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
Let’s pause again…to “see” what the blind man wants us to “see” concerning the nature of God!
There are many who see God as a dispenser of Justice…that there is a cause and effect to things in life…and we get what we deserve!! AND…there is truth in a cause and effect way of thinking.
Drive too fast – have an accident or at the least, a speeding ticket.
Ignore God’s commands on sexual morality – contact terrible diseases.
Smoke two packs of cigarettes a day – develop lung cancer.
There is cause and effect in our world.
Throughout this gospel, people tried to trap Jesus into answering the “why” of blindness. “Rabbi…who sinned” they asked Jesus…indicating a cause and effect theology. Jesus simply says, “Neither…This happened so that the work of God can be displayed in his life!!”
Note that Jesus never answered the “why” question. Rather, in his response, he tells us that God is NOT interested in punishment or judgment…His focus is on our future. He wants to take away our hurts and bring healing so that we can glorify Him in all that he does in our lives!! It’s his nature to want to forgive, to heal, to set people free to be able to serve him joyfully!!
Let’s finish this story…
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 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.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
The Gospel story ends with a spot check on our own “spiritual vision”…with the invitation to receive the eyes of Jesus…
It’s said that someone once said to Helen Keller… “What a pity you have no sight”. She is said to have replied, “Yes, but what a pity so many have sight, but cannot see!”
John tells the blind man’s story to encourage us…and to help us “see”!! And so, let’s do a spot check on our own spiritual vision:
How do you see other people (and yourself)?
As valuable as God has declared them (you) to be!!?? – Open our eyes Jesus
How do you see God?
As the giver of all life and salvation!!?? – Open our eyes Jesus
How do you see all the events that happen in your life?
As events that God can use for good and to give glory to God!!?? – Open our eyes
Jesus
We pray:
Gracious God, continue to open our eyes in order to “see” YOU working in our world and in our lives!! May our lives always give glory to you. Thanks be to God!! AMEN.
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