Have you ever had an argument with
someone when you absolutely knew you were right and they absolutely would not
believe you and insisted that they were right? Most of the time, I suppose, we
would say that of course we were right and the other person was wrong, but
sometimes we may find out that in fact we are wrong. How easy is it then to
say, “I was wrong, I made a mistake”? I suppose it depends on whether we’ve
made some rash statements like, “I bet you a million dollars I’m right!” In
cases like that we might want to continue to argue our case, even when the
evidence is stacking up against us.
Someone once told me a story about when he was in college in New England. He had a roommate who came from another part
of the country. They were in his car driving someplace,
and his friend was saying that there are no opossums in New England. They don’t
live this far north, he said. And the student was saying, yes there are possums
in New England because I’ve seen them. But his roommate argued with him and
said, it must have been a different animal, because there are no possums in New
England. And then they passed a dead possum on the side of the road. And the
student said, “Look, there’s a possum!” So he turned the car around and they
both got out and looked, and sure enough, it was a dead possum. As they stood
there looking at it, his roommate said, “Well I don’t know how it got here, but
there aren’t any possums in New England.”
To admit when we’re wrong means having to let go
of our old ideas of how things are, and opening our eyes to a new reality. The
Pharisees in the story of the man born blind (John 9:1-41) are stubborn too. They doggedly cling to their
false beliefs, even though the evidence is stacking up against them. They are
dead sure that Jesus, this teacher who breaks the Sabbath, could not possibly
be from God and therefore could not be performing amazing miracles. And they
are sure they are right.
John’s telling of the story of Jesus
healing the man blind from birth is an interesting interplay between blindness
and sight, darkness and light. We’re invited to ask the questions, “Who has
sight and who is blind? Who is in the light and who is in darkness?” Through
the imagery of darkness and light, blindness and sight we are challenged to
move out of darkness and into light, out of blindness and into sight. We are
challenged to move into spiritual enlightenment, having the eyes of our hearts
opened to see who Jesus truly is.
The healing of the man born blind
happens in an unusual way, because it is not the man who asks Jesus to heal
him. Rather, it’s the disciples who ask Jesus a question. Who sinned, this man
or his parents that he was born blind? As usual, Jesus doesn’t directly answer the
question, but takes the discussion to a deeper level. He says, “He was born blind so that God's works might be
revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;
night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world." Jesus is saying that the man’s
blindness is all about the work of God revealing himself to the world. It is
about night and day, dark and light. And
then, without the blind man even asking him, Jesus makes some mud with dirt and
spittle, puts it on his eyes, and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam.
Jesus reveals God the creator, making new eyes for the man out of the dust of
the earth, just like God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth. Jesus, the Light of the world, opens the man’s
eyes and he sees light for the first time. The healing of the man blind from
birth reveals Jesus as the Son of God.
The
authorities, however, who are willfully blind to who Jesus is, are very
disturbed by the healing because rules were broken, the man was healed on the
Sabbath. They interrogate the man, and also his parents. They ask questions
about how it was done, who did it, who is responsible for this breach of the
law. But these are the wrong questions. For Jesus, the question is “What is the
Father doing?” Jesus keeps his eyes on the Father, so that he only speaks and
does what he sees the Father doing. Earlier in John 5:19 Jesus says, “Very
truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the
Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” So Jesus’
question is, “What is the Father doing?” For the Pharisees the question is “who
is right and who is wrong?” And, as they
are concerned about keeping rules and maintaining purity more than they are
concerned about God’s love and compassion, they are sure that they are right
and Jesus is wrong. To admit the
possibility they are wrong and that there is something deeper happening here, would
call into question their whole system of power and identity; it would upset
their whole view of reality. So they try in every way they can, including
intimidating and humiliating the newly healed man, to discredit Jesus and prove
him wrong.
So while Jesus is doing what he sees
the Father doing, doing good, healing and bringing life and light on the
Sabbath, the Pharisees have their spiritual eyes tightly shut and refuse to
open them. They are spiritually blind. They are calling what is light,
darkness, and what is darkness, light. They are calling what is blindness
sight, and what is sight blindness. But Jesus does not judge them for being
spiritually blind. It is their arrogance that is the problem. Their hearts are
hard. They cannot bear to be wrong. They cannot bear to repent. Jesus judges
them for walking around with their eyes shut tight and insisting that they are
not blind. The Pharisees say, “’Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to
them ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We
see,” your sin remains.’”
The newly seeing man, on the other
hand, is a man of faith and humility, a man with spiritual sight. Jesus looks
for him after he has been thrown out of the synagogue. When he finds him he
asks him, ‘“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “And who is
he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have
seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And
he worshipped him.’ The man has had not only his physical eyes opened, but also
his spiritual eyes opened. He sees Jesus and believes in him, the Light of the
World.
Our Old Testament passage this morning
from I Samuel 16 reminds us that, “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Spiritual sight sees beneath the surface to see the state of the heart. The
passage from Ephesians 5 that we read this morning says, “Once you were
darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the
fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find
out what is pleasing to the Lord.” What a beautiful passage. Once you were
darkness, but now you are light. Live in the light.
In our John 9 Jesus says, “I am the light of the
world.” Remember also in Matthew 5:14-16
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be
hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the
lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your
light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven.” Paul is saying the same thing in Ephesians. Jesus is
the light of the world, but you are the light of the world too. So live like
you are the light. Be the light of the world. Live by what is good, and right
and true. By doing that, you give glory to your Father in heaven. Try to find
out what is pleasing to the Lord. Look to see what the Father is doing like
Jesus did. Ask yourself what is the Lord doing. Where is the good and the right
and the truth, that I might participate in it, and thereby bring glory to God.
Are
there places of blindness or darkness in you? Jesus is the Light of the world.
He opens the eyes of the blind so that we can live in the light, live in the
truth, and become Light for others. We
need to stay close to Jesus, to allow him to heal our blindness. We needn’t be
afraid of his light or of his truth. For it sets us free, and brings us out of
darkness and into light so that we too might be light as he is Light. You are
light, so live in the light and be light. Amen.