THE WORLD AS YOU’VE NEVER
SEEN IT BEFORE
March 2, 2008
John 9:1, 5-9, 13-17, 34-38 (NIV)
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.... 5 “While I am in the world,” [he said], “I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man...."
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see."
16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. 17 Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet...."
34 To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
In a previous church I served, we had a young couple in our congregation whose names were Barry and Cindy, and both Barry and Cindy were blind. This was an impressive young couple who managed to live a normal life despite their disability. They maintained their own apartment, held down jobs, cooked their meals, managed their finances, and all that. There was almost no place they couldn’t go on their own, almost nothing they couldn’t do.
For example, one Friday night, my wife and I went to the local movie theater, and there, to our surprise, were Barry and Cindy. We sat down on the row just behind them, and, after saying our “hellos,” we settled in for the movie, just like they had.
As the film was starting, Barry asked me if I would do him and Cindy a favor. “Sure,” I said. I didn’t know what they might need, but I was willing to do it. “Could you narrate the action of the film for us?” Barry said. “You know, just describe to us what’s happening on the screen.”
I looked at my wife. She nodded. And I leaned forward and said, “Of course.” And I positioned my head just behind and between theirs. And from that moment to the end of the movie, I did my best to give them a running commentary on everything I saw. I described any and every detail I noticed on the screen. Indoor and outdoor settings. Climate conditions. Who was on camera. Movements of the characters. I don’t believe I’ve ever worked so hard trying to take in every aspect of a movie. I was concentrating to make sure I didn’t miss a thing so that our friends wouldn’t miss a thing.
When we left the theater that night and said our farewells to Barry and Cindy, I realized once again how precious and beautiful a gift is sight, the simple ability to see. Imagine, if you were blind, and someone were able to make you see. How would it affect you?
Think about this man Jesus encountered. John tells us that he was “blind from birth.” And in that day and time, of course, society made no provision for unsighted people. Programs that taught independent living skills were not available, and so, unlike my friends Barry and Cindy, this man could not work; in fact, he could not do much of anything -- because he could not see. He was reduced to begging.
But Jesus changed all that. And I love the way he did it. Talk about detail! John tells us that Jesus “spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” Whenever I read these words, I think about another occasion when God did something remarkable with mud. In Genesis 2:7 we read that, at the very beginning, at the creation of all things, “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.”
I wonder if the two events coalesced in Jesus’ mind. After all, what he did on this more recent occasion was certainly every bit as creative as what he did on that more distant occasion. It was for the man anyway. A whole new world was now available to him. He was in many ways a new creation. Even his friends, we are told, had a hard time recognizing him. He had to convince them that he was actually the same person.
Speaking of his friends, you might think that all the other people in this man’s life would have been ecstatic over his new condition -- but it doesn’t seem that they were. There wasn’t much joy around this man. His neighbors and friends did little more than interrogate him, and when they brought him to the Pharisees, when they took him to the religious leaders, they did more of the same and then proceeded to insult him.
But their real problem wasn’t with this man. It was with Jesus. And you know what it was that got their attention? Not that a man who had been “blind from birth” could now see. No. Not that Jesus had this unparalleled, matchless power to restore the gift of sight. No. You might think these two facts alone would be worthy of mention. But no. No. What got their attention was the fact that Jesus had healed this man on the sabbath -- a day when no one, not even the Creator of the universe, was supposed to do any work.
I’ve got to to tell you, it seems petty tome. Not to diminish the importance of the sabbath; its observance, after all, is one of the ten commandments. But Jesus himself once said, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). And to place strict observance of a legal requirement over the compassionate act of giving a man his sight -- it doesn’t make sense to me.
But then, the Pharisees were not inclined to see anything that might alter their preconceived notions about Jesus. They didn’t like him, and they wanted to be rid of him. And so they used whatever ammunition they could find to build a case against him. Even the blind man thought they had blinders on.
In stark contrast to their unbelief is his faith. The man once blind affirms that Jesus is one sent from God. At first, the best and only way he knows how to put this is to say of Jesus that “he is a prophet.” And he says it to the Pharisees. And their only response, of course, is to take offense, call him a hopeless sinner, and then throw him out.
But it is then that Jesus finds him again and asks him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” I think this once blind man would have believed or done anything Jesus told him to, and so he asked, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Now look at the situation here. There are all these people. The once blind man, his friends and neighbors, even his parents. And, of course, the Pharisees. But out of all these people, only this man is willing to put his faith in Jesus. Only he is willing to trust him. Why do you suppose that is?
If we perceive someone to be a threat to us, we are not likely to trust them. By the same token, if we perceive that they have our best interests at heart, we are inclined to put our faith in them. What is sad is that the majority of the people in this passage saw in Jesus some sort of threat; they thought that Jesus’ presence would mean the loss of something they valued. Their vision, of course, was impaired. Ironically, only the blind man could see clearly. Only he knew that Jesus was no threat. Only he could see clearly that Jesus was in fact the light of the world.
What about you? How do you see Jesus? Are you blinded by your fears? Are you afraid that, if you follow him with total abandon, you will actually lose something of value? Or, do you see him as the blind man did? The truth is, he is your Creator. And not only that. He is the one who can create you anew. And he can help you to see the world as you’ve never been able to see it before. If you trust him, and if you entrust to him your very life.
