John 9:1-41
“Seeing and Not Seeing”
by: Rev. Ken Sauer, East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN wwww.eastridgeumc.org
When Ross Perot was running for President against George Bush Senior and Bill Clinton, Perot’s running mate in the Vice Presidential debate began his remarks with: “Who am I? Where am I? And What am I doing here?”
Many people thought this to be a very clever and funny way to begin...
…but as the debate went on...
…it became painfully clear that this poor guy was serious.
And I think that this is the question that many of us find ourselves asking.
“Who are we, where are we, and what are we doing here?”
Let’s face it many of us are living with an identity crisis.
After Jesus healed the man who was born blind, there was a question as to whether this newly sighted man was really the same guy who “used to sit and beg”.
All his life he was known as the blind beggar.
This was his identifying characteristic, and since he was no longer blind, he must be someone else!
Sometimes when people receive the Good News of Jesus it so transforms their lives that people ask the same question: “Is this really the same person?”
A year or so ago I overheard my dad speaking with Clair at the breakfast table.
He was saying, “When Kenny got back from his first year of college, he was a completely different person. We could hardly believe it. He had completely changed.”
That was the year I had given my life to Christ.
And, did I change? Wow!!!
Lives are transformed through Christ.
It is the greatest miracle.
The changes that occur in a person who puts their complete trust and life in Christ—everything they are and everything they have into Christ’s healing hands—is astounding!!!
When the man in our Gospel Lesson was finally able to convince his neighbors that he was who he was they asked him, “How did this happen?”
Their next question was “Where is this man; meaning Jesus?”
And the guy didn’t know the answer.
But John’s whole Gospel is written so all of us can find Him.
And in finding Him, we find ourselves!!!
We begin to get a clue as to who we are, where we are, and what we are to do about it.
And thus, our identity crisis moves out of crisis mode.
And this occurs because, by grace, through faith in Christ our broken relationship with God is mended.
And our sins are forgiven.
The theme of sin runs through this entire chapter right from the beginning.
Coming upon the blind man, Jesus’ disciples ask Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The disciples were Jews, and they and the Pharisees assumed that sin and physical suffering went hand in hand.
The notion that the parent’s sins are visited on the children was a common worldview and reaction to suffering.
Thus, in verse 34 the Pharisees dismiss the man born blind and his testimony about Christ with, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!”
Christ’s Words turn the conversation away from this way of looking at the world.
And what an awful worldview this was!
Imagine what an outcast this caused the man born blind to be!
Imagine how disgusted persons were with his very existence.
Praise the Lord that God’s powerful, loving justice shines much more brightly than this kind of outlook.
The world is not some kind of moral slot-machine, where people put in a coin ( a good act, say, or an evil one) and get out a particular result (a reward or a punishment).
This is not to say that actions don’t have consequences.
Good things often happen as a result of good actions, like kindness produces gratitude…
…and bad things often happen through bad actions, like drunk driving causes car accidents.
But this isn’t inevitable.
Kindness is sometimes not appreciated, and some drunk drivers get away with it.
So, “Being born blind doesn’t mean you must have sinned,” says Jesus.
“Nor does it mean that your parents must have sinned.”
No: something much stranger, more mysterious and more hopeful is going on.
And with Christ, nothing is a dead end.
There is always hope!!!
When the townsfolk bring the now-seeing-man born blind to the Pharisees, an interrogation takes place.
And the Pharisees seem to be more caught up, from the start, with the fact that Jesus “had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes” on the Sabbath, than with celebrating a miracle.
“How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” they protested.
The Pharisees wanted to drive a solid wedge between Jesus and God.
“Give glory to God,’… We know this man is a sinner,” they say in verse 24.
In other words, they are saying to the man born blind, “if you have indeed been healed, it must have been God’s doing alone, and had nothing to do with Jesus.”
But the man is giving God the glory…
…precisely by sticking to his story and insisting that Jesus had healed him.
“He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see!’”
Later, in verse 33 the man born blind says, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
And so the Pharisees throw him out of the synagogue.
And when Jesus hears about it, He goes looking for him until He finds him.
That is one of the most exciting facts about this passage.
It is always Jesus Who initiates healing and saving.
And that is how it is with you and I.
Jesus comes looking for us.
Jesus offers healing to us.
It’s up to us to accept it or reject it.
The Pharisees just wouldn’t believe that Jesus had healed the man.
Because if Jesus had healed him...
…then Jesus must be Who Jesus claims to be......
….and that means that things are going to have to change.
So they went to great lengths to disprove the validity of Jesus’ miracle.
And when they can’t do that, they shut their eyes and turn their backs on the Truth!
So, Jesus told them, “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
And He tells the Pharisees,
“If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
The Pharisees do have physical sight; the sight they lack is the ability to see God revealed in Jesus, and their refusal to acknowledge this blindness on their part is sin.
Why?
Because in the Gospel of John, sin is defined not by what a person does, but by a person’s relationship with Jesus.
Jesus offers us the miracle of miracles—He makes it possible for us to redefine our relationship with God.
Our sin is our refusal to believe in Jesus.
And the only way to be excluded from Jesus’ offer of salvation is to turn our back on that offer.
The Rich Young Ruler wanted to follow Christ, but he was unwilling to make that decision because his identity was in his riches.
The things of this world, the lusts of the flesh, the dreams of wealth and privilege are what many of us cling to as our identifying mark.
Therefore the decision to follow Christ is a big decision.
The Pharisees must have known, deep down inside, that Christ had healed this man, but they made the decision not to believe it.
And many people can see the truth, but make the deliberate decision not to embrace it.
We are very good at making excuses.
We are very good at lying to ourselves...
…and saying, “no that’s not really what happened.”
Many experts in the law and psychology say that it is very possible for a murderer to deny the truth with such conviction, that even though they committed a horrible crime, they can come to believe their own lies...
…that they didn’t actually do it!
The earliest Christian confession of faith is found in Romans chapter 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
By confessing that Jesus is Lord, the earliest Christians were marking their identities, and were literally risking and in many cases giving up their lives.
If we believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, Our identity is in Christ Who has come to save those who are lost.
We are Christians or “little Christs.”
And our answer to the question: “Who are we, where are we, and what are we doing here?” is all wrapped up in what Christ has done for us, where Christ is leading us, and what Christ is calling us to do!
Praise God!
Amen.
