Seeing Blindness
Love Never Dies, prt. 8
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
May 23, 2010
Today we’re in chapter 7 of the Gospel of John, as we continue our break-neck cruise through that book, one chapter (or at least a few verses from one chapter) each week. Raise your hand if 7 is your favorite number. It has always been mine and as usual, seven does not disappoint. There is so much great stuff in John 7 that we’re going to read all of it, and I’m going to base this message on the whole thing today. Fortunately it doesn’t contain multiple scenes so it has a bit more focus than some of our previous chapters.
I have titled today’s message “Seeing Blindness.” What I saw when I read through this chapter was that the whole thing is dealing with people who are unable to see who Jesus was (and a few who do). They just didn’t get it. So if we want to know what spiritual blindness looks like, if we want to see the face of blindness, this is a good place to look.
Now before I go here, I need to prepare you properly. The sun is amazing, but it’s ignorant to try to look directly at it. You have to prepare yourself, and learn to see in a new way. The same is true when we look at God. We simply cannot look just any old way and expect to see him. In fact that’s the surest way to make sure we MISS him! Jesus was intensely concerned with this idea of seeing.
Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
John 9:40-41 (NLT)
40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
True spiritual understanding begins not with what we see, but with the WAY we see. The people alive at the time of Christ all saw him – he went into town and everyone saw him. But people saw him differently because they saw in different ways – they saw, you might say, with different eyes. When Jesus says the word, “Repent,” the Greek is “metanoia.” Metanoia literally means “to think differently,” or “to come to understanding in a new way.” That is metanoia. Repentance does not strictly mean being sorry for sin. I’m not saying there isn’t a genuine place for being sorry for sin – in fact being sorry for sin will often be an important PART of metanoia. But sorrow over the way we have lived and how far we have missed the mark can only be genuine as we come to understand how lost we have been and how truly we have missed out on the opportunity in every moment to connect to God and live his life NOW. That requires metanoia – coming to understand, think, see in a new way.
There’s an entire branch of philosophy called “epistemology” that deals largely with the question of how we come to know things. The way we come to know something determines what we end up knowing about it. If you learn about sex from Penthouse magazine (and some do), you’re not going to get a very rich, and certainly not a very spiritual, understanding of sex! If you decide to learn about Wall Street by watching Sesame Street, you’ll learn some good things, but you are not going to get a very good picture of Wall Street. If you decide to learn about God by watching the George Burns movie, “Oh God,” or watching Jim Carrey in “Bruce Almighty,” you can learn a few things, but you’re not going to get a very good idea about God. Watching Avatar in 3D without your 3D glasses is not really watching Avatar, is it? The way you come to know something determines what you end up knowing. The light by which you see something colors the way you see it. In our text today we witness different groups of people who all see Jesus, but they see him in different ways. I hope as we move into looking at the text, you can get ready to see with new eyes, because that’s what I’m going to ask you to do this morning. I know the way you’ve seen Jesus most of your life. I know the way our tradition teaches us to see him. I know the way we’re conditioned. I know the color and the shape of the light we’re prepared to let in when we look at the Son – of God. The way we’re going to look at him today will involve some repentance – some learning to think and to see in a new way. And new does not necessarily mean bad. Jesus said, “A tree is known by its fruit.” You should easily be able to determine if the way I’m asking you to see today would yield good fruit or bad fruit or any fruit at all!
One more thing by way of preparing you to see this morning. As we move into the text, I need you to keep in mind what I said last week. If we are the ones in the scripture – if we are the characters in there – then we simply must assume that the struggle many had to see Jesus 2000 years ago is a struggle many of us still have today. And since the main struggle was with the religious people of that time, we should easily be able to conclude that the religious people in our time will struggle as well. Religion is nothing if not a claim to see and those of us who claim to see, according to Jesus, are in very great danger of not seeing at all. The only way we can so easily miss this in Christ’s teaching is by doing exactly what the Jews did, which is make the claim that our way of seeing sets us free from the need to see in any other way. Just as the Jews said, “Thank God we really get it and aren’t in the dark like the Samaritans,” it is the most natural thing in the world for us to say, “Thank God we really get it and aren’t in the dark like the Jews.” It’s the same thing and when we insist that we’re okay in thinking this because we’re Christians and they were stupid in thinking it because they were Jews, this is an adventure in missing the point. Does the Christ who warned the Jews,
Mark 7:8 (NIV)
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
not warn the Christians of the same thing? Why would we read scripture, trying hard to learn everything that is there for us to learn, but ignore what is actually most important, which is Christ’s constant admonitions about spiritual sight and spiritual blindness?
If you believe Christianity has made everything about Jesus clear to us in its doctrines and creeds, then I have very little to say to you today. If however, you assume that we see are in the greatest danger of not seeing, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF OUR CONFIDENCE THAT WE ALREADY SEE (which was the frequently testimony of Christ), then I think you’ll be challenged today.
Let’s proceed through the chapter, and one thing I want you to notice. Whether you agree or disagree with what I’m saying, everything comes directly from the text, and I’m trying to put in other texts as well that help to paint the picture as clearly as possible. All I ask is that you listen – not sit agreeing or disagreeing with every word, but just listen, allow this to sit in there for a while, and see what God makes of it.
John 7:1-53 (MSG)
1 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn't want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him.
2 It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
So already, seven chapters in, people are looking to kill Jesus. And when? It’s almost the Feast of Tabernacles. Know what that was? It was when the Jews commemorated the 40 years that their ancestors wandered in the desert after the exodus. How ironic. They’re getting ready to commemorate wandering, but they are still wandering – as they plot to kill Jesus. There they are, all wrapped up in their well-intentioned, well-meaning, commanded-by-God-according-to-their-religion feast – while they look for a chance to kill God.
3 His brothers said, "Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do?
4 No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world."
5 His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.
6 Jesus came back at them, "Don't crowd me. This isn't my time. It's your time—it's always your time; you have nothing to lose.
7 The world has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me. It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions.
8 You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don't wait for me. I'm not ready. It's not the right time for me."
9 He said this and stayed on in Galilee.
Here we see another group of people who don’t see Jesus. His own brothers. They can’t accept who he is. (Of course they did later. The book of James was written by a brother of Jesus, and so was the book of Jude.) Here the problem is familiarity. Michael Jackson was not the king of pop to his kids – he was daddy. My brother is not Mr. Flowers, President of the Akron-Canton Foodbank to me. To me he’s Dan -- the guy who comes over and we eat pizza and play Gears of War and deal out high RPM death. Jesus was not the Messiah to his brothers – he was just Jesus. He says, “It’s not my time, but it’s always your time – you have nothing to lose.” In other words, “Even though you love me, you’re one of them – you think in the same way as those seeking to kill me – you think more like them than like me.” I wonder how many of us Christ might say that about today – that even though we love him, we think more like his enemies than like his friends, because we do not, cannot, will not see clearly who he is.
10 But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself.
11 The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, "Where is that man?"
12 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, "He's a good man." But others said, "Not so. He's selling snake oil."
I’ll be honest. The overall lack of contentious talk about Jesus in Christianity makes me nervous. A lot of people believe because the creed says believe, but have not questioned, have not determined to be obedient, have not seriously faced up to the controversial things he said. Christians are so comfortable and okay with Jesus –just comfortable. I don’t think that’s the kind of figure he was and is – not if he’s truly the Logos – the same God from whom Moses had to hide his face and could not look directly upon. Too much comfort with Jesus – not enough wrestling and contention. Throughout history, when someone wants to really wrestle with Jesus, we throw the word heretic at them to get them to shut up. Calling someone a heretic is simply a way of not listening, and making sure no one else listens either, as if there’s something wrong with listening. It is a fear-based tactic that works remarkably well. Look what happens here:
13 This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
14 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching.
15 The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: "How does he know so much without being schooled?"
Jesus did not have the right credentials.
16 Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me.
17 Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up.
18 A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality.
There again we have God, saying that if we are willing to simply look to truth, we can see it for ourselves. It is self-evident. Many of us cannot see the truth unless our denomination gives it the stamp of approval. For example, what if I began referring to God as “she?” That would make about 75% of the people in this room uncomfortable, even though we know God is spirit, that both male and female reflect God, and that God is not this sex or that. We’re uncomfortable with it, but it’s not wrong. In fact calling God she is as accurate as calling God He, but it’s totally outside of our box. If next week I preached a sermon referring to God as “she” all the way through, I’d get emails from upset people. I encourage you to think about that. There’s absolutely no reason other than tradition and personal comfort level that compels us to call (and thus to think) of God as “He,” even though aspects of God can be better understood in a feminine way. Are we prepared to see this? This is a great example of how we are often repulsed and recoil at certain words and ideas, even when we have to acknowledge there is nothing actually wrong with them. It’s our own tradition – it’s our own container – it’s our particular way of seeing that makes certain ideas hard to understand and be open to on any level at all.
19 It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?"
There were the Jews – extremely religious people, observing 613 laws. Doing FAR more than you or I today. And yet God says they’re not “living it.” In that time before Christianity, what would “living it” have meant? I mean, obviously steadfastly observing the rules that God himself gave them doesn’t count as living it, according to Jesus. There was no Christianity back then, so living it obviously wouldn’t have had anything to do with conversion from one religion to another. Living it, at the moment Jesus talked about living it, went beyond the rules of the Judaism, and did obviously did not need the systems of the Christian faith. I know that sounds controversial, but it’s just the fact. If they’re observing all these rules, but Jesus says they’re not “living” their faith, what would “living it” have meant? Does “living it” mean something different at this moment than it did then? Why? What changed that? Should it have? If it was possible for the Jews to steadfastly observe the God-given rules of their religion and yet not be “living it” and not get it, isn’t it possible for Christians to steadfastly observe the rules of our religion and yet not be living it and not get it? Or do none of those lessons of scripture have anything to teach us? I’m telling you, if we fail to get this, we are then insisting that we see and, according to Jesus, this puts us in great spiritual danger.
21 Jesus said, "I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you're still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I'm up to.
22 Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it's the Sabbath.
23 You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man's whole body well on the Sabbath?
24 Don't be nitpickers; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right."
Oh what trouble I’d get into today if I preached a full sermon on that! Here again we have Jesus saying that we can use our own heads and hearts to determine what is authentically right. In last week’s sermon we have Jesus saying we can be taught by God personally. But clearly we cannot use our head and our heart – like the Jews, we often can’t even HEAR or UNDERSTAND something unless it uses language we’re comfortable with and looks the way we’ve been told (by an authority or in a book or someone higher up than us) it should look. Jesus healed a guy on the Sabbath and broke their rule – their rule, by the way, given to them by God. Christ himself made the rule, and then Christ broke it. But not only did he break the rule, he held them accountable for not understanding why he broke it – for not being willing to do the same thing! Perhaps the point is that when we’re “living it,” and “getting it,” we’ll know when it’s appropriate to keep the rules and when it’s okay to break them. In fact wise teachers have said, “Learn the rules so you’ll know how to break them properly.” We say, “It’s all about Christ, it’s all about Christ, it’s all about Christ,” but when someone says, “Learn the rules so you’ll know how to break them properly,” we start going, “As long as you don’t break this one, or that one, or this one.” This shows that many of us are far more bound by the rules than we want to admit. It shows that most faith is not “Christ alone” but “Christ AND.” This is a good place to land for a second because anyone who gets nervous about what I’m saying needs to hear this. All I’m proposing is that Christ and Christ alone is mighty to save. Not Christ AND, but Christ. If there are Christ-ANDers who get nervous about this I can perfectly understand that but definitely I’m not proposing a LOWER view of Christ – that’s for sure!!
25 That's when some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Isn't this the one they were out to kill?
26 And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah?
27 And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from."
Interesting. Here’s where the people begin to use their heads and hearts. “Isn’t it possible that the religious leaders know he’s the Messiah, but they don’t want us to know – because it threatens their system of power?” But then they’re drawn back from their intuition by their own knowledge of scripture. “The scriptures say we’re not supposed to know where the Messiah comes from, but we know where Jesus comes from, so maybe he’s not the guy after all?” Isnt’ that what we still do? What does Jesus say to this?
28 That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, "Yes, you think you know me and where I'm from, but that's not where I'm from. I didn't set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don't know him at all.
29 I come from him—that's how I know him. He sent me here."
What Jesus says is, “Yes, I’m from Galilee, but that’s not really where I’m from.” In other words, it’s not as simple as just reading your book, finding out my hometown, and then thinking you get it. While you stand there thinking you get it, you don’t get it at all.” Furthermore, Jesus says that these people who obviously knew the scriptures that God had given to them and were obviously keeping all these rules, DID NOT KNOW GOD. Let’s see. They were steadfastly following the rules of their religion, given to them by God, and in good faith trying to fit into the system, most of them not in some devious way – but just being good religious people. And Jesus says the result of this was that they didn’t know God at all. Talk about seeing in a new way. Is it possible that we can faithfully follow the rules of our religion, given to us by God, in good faith trying to be a good Christian, and good religious people – and have this result in our not knowing God at all? To me this is not only possible but the greatest danger we are in, just like it was the greatest danger they were in. The system, the rules, can and often will prevent us from seeing clearly. I know that’s scary to some people, but it’s historical fact, not only with regard to religion but with regard to governments, businesses, and all other systems.
30 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn't yet God's time.
31 Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, "Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?"
32 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him.
Here’s where the common people – the riff-raff, lose their religion. They shuffle off religion, put their faith in who Jesus is, and that’s the best thing that ever happened to them.
40 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, "This has to be the Prophet."
41 Others said, "He is the Messiah!" But others were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he?
42 Don't the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David's line and from Bethlehem, David's village?"
43 So there was a split in the crowd over him.
44 Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 That's when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, "Why didn't you bring him with you?"
46 The police answered, "Have you heard the way he talks? We've never heard anyone speak like this man."
47 The Pharisees said, "Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble?
48 You don't see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees?
49 It's only this crowd, ignorant of God's Law, that is taken in by him—and damned."
50 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up.
51 "Does our Law decide about a man's guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?"
52 But they cut him off. "Are you also campaigning for the Galilean?
53 Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee." Then they all went home.
How ironic. The Pharisees insisted that those who believed in Christ were damned. Why? Because they were heathens? Nope – they were rigorously following the law God himself had given them. And that in itself was the problem. That was precisely what kept them from seeing.
So that ends the chapter. No doubt some of you right now are asking, “What’s your point? What specifically are you saying needs to change?” If that’s what you’re asking, that’s the wrong question. The point is not, “Which part of my belief system needs to change so that my system is correct and I can be certain that I’m right.” That’s just swimming around inside the problem. A far better question is, “How do I see Jesus?” Another question might be, “Am I so deep into the system that, like the Jews, I wouldn’t recognize Jesus if he came back today and – as in those days – did not fit what I understand about him from the Bible?
The Messiah came into a world that was expecting him to look a certain way and those to whom he came, by and large, missed him because of their expectations. How are our expectations, formed from scripture and from our religious upbringing, keeping us from seeing God in all the people and places where he might be presenting himself? That is the question we must wrestle with from this text. I don’t know what your answers are, but I think I know what the text is asking of us.
