I am continuously amazed at how a group of people can see, hear or experience the exact same thing but walk away with vastly differing conclusions about what they saw, or heard or experienced . . . This has been especially true over the past few months.
But here's why . . . we each see the world through a differing perspectives; different life experiences, different understandings, different cultural norms. We each look at the world with different lenses. And the perspective or lens that filters the world becomes your reality.
But the problems is that sometimes our persepective, or then lens in which we see the world, blinds us from the truth.
In other words, we see but we don't see.
Over the past few weeks we've been looking at the Signs Jesus performs in the gospel of John and this kind of thing happens over and over. People see but they don't see.
And that is especially true with this sign. Let's listen.
There was just something exciting and magnetic about the personality of Jesus that drew huge crowds wherever he went. And they all came for different reasons.
• Some had heard about his preaching and teaching,
• Others had heard about his miracles and they wanted to get close enough to experience the unusual energy that seemed to surround him.
• And there were some who were critics and just wanted to challenge his every move.
But the problem was that the crowds were so caught up in their perspective of what Jesus was doing and could only seehim through the filter of their expectations of him that they were unable to see who he was.
People see, but they don’t see.
And on this particular day, the disciples were out on a walk with Jesus having an intellectually stimulating discussion with their rabbi, after all from their perspective Jesus is a teacher.
And as they are walking along, they happen to come upon a man who is blind—has been, from the day he was born and he is a beggar, because there is no help for the visually handicapped, there is no Braille, there is no job-training, there's no government disability and so in order to survive he had to rely on the handouts of people.
So they're walking along and when they see this blind beggar, they see an object lesson or proof text of their own theology and so they seize the moment to pose a question:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
You see, in that culture and perhaps a little in our culture . . . they believed that there was a direct correlation between what you did and how God responded.
• If you were good and did all the right things, then God blessed you and your family.
• If you were bad, then God cursed you and your family.
So if someone had an ailment, like blindness, it wasn't a question of why it happened but rather who was responsible for it happening . . . who was the sinner?
And because this was a sin issue, people like this blind man were cast out of community and weren't allowed to worship because they were unclean.
And this is the question they are asking . . . "obviously this guy got what he deserved but we want to know who was responsible?"
Now, Jesus looks at the man, and he sees something else altogether. Jesus looks at the man, and he sees an opportunity to show the world just what God is up to. Jesus looks at the man, and he knows the goodness of God can be revealed through him.
And then, casually, as if he does this sort of thing every day, spits on the ground, and makes mud with his spit, and he rubs the mud on the man’s eyes.
Now there are a lot of interpretations as to why Jesus would do this but the one I am most comfortable with says that this action brings to mind the story of creation.
When God created man, he scrooped and molded the earth from the ground.
And here, Jesus scoops the earth from the ground and molds it to this man's eyes as if to say, "I am making you a new creation. You are no longer defined by your blindness. Through me, you are no longer defined by your sin."
And after he places the mud on the mans eyes, he sends him to a pool called Siloam which means “Sent,” with instructions to wash.
And as the man washes the mud from his eyes, his world changes.
Just like that he is able to see the world as it is: fluffy clouds, blue skies, flowers pushing up through the dirt. Trees moving, just a bit, from the ocean breeze. He is a man whose blindness has been removed and can now see all of God's creation and all it's beauty.
This should be cause for celebration The worship band should come out and there should be dancing and celebrating in the streets . . . this guy was blind but now he sees.
But the problem continues, of seeing and not seeing.
First, the neighbors. They are all abuzz. And they see everything in terms of cultural norms and standings.
They see the man, but they are not convinced that it is him because the man they know is blind, the man they know is a beggar . . . I mean, even the text calls him the blind begger. That's his place in community.
But this man can see.
And so they start arguing amongst each other. Some where saying it was him, others were saying this guys just looks like him but there's no way it's actually him.
And eventually the guy was like, "You know I'm standing here, right? There's never been anything wrong with my ears so I can hear you. If you'd just ask, I'll let you know that it’s me."
When they finally see that it is, really, truly, him, they want to know how it happened.
He tells him, “This guy named Jesus made mud with his spit and put it on me and sent me to the pool to wash and now I can see.”
And when they heard his story, they wanted to know where they could find Jesus, I don't know exactly why . . . most likely because they wanted to verify that a healing had occured because in that culture when someone was healed they had to present themselves before a Rabbi to confirm that indeed a healing had ooccured but it could also be that they wanted to see if Jesus could do something really amazing for them as well . . . but the guy had no idea where Jesus was and so they took him to the religious leaders.
And when they hear this man's story, they see: evidence.
Because they see everything in terms of who is keeping the law, and who is breaking it. And this Jesus guy has been on their radar for a little while now for some of the stuff he's been doing and the things he's been saying.
And now . . . he's doing stuff on the Sabbath and you just can't do stuff on the Sabbath because that was a day of rest and there were very strict rules about the kind of things you could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath.
And, for the religious guys . . . keeping the Sabbath according to the rules was a sign of loyalty – to God, to Israel and to national hopes of liberation because they were convinced that what they did determined God’s movement.
And so, they were watchful for movements that ignored or trivialized the Sabbath because they posed a threat to their hopes for liberation and the coming kingdom of God.
The problem was that although there were very strict rules, there were also exceptions to those rules based on the interpretation by the religious leaders.
So when they heard that this man who had been born blind was given sight on the Sabbath the religious guys started arguing among one another trying to determine if Jesus was breaking the rules.
And again, this blind man ceases to be a person made in the image of God but rather he becomes a tool, a device they will use. He becomes an issue.
• The disciples look at the blind man and they see a question of sin.
• The neighbors look at the blind man and they see a question of community standings and cultural norms
• The Pharisees look at the blind man and they see an opportunity to make trouble for Jesus.
Even the blind man’s parents, God bless them, don’t seem to be able to see their own son. They look at him, and they see the loss of their place in the community because if they acknowledge the truth and boldly proclaim that their son was blind but now can see than they run the risk of being kicked out of church.
But Jesus looks at the blind man and he sees an opportunity for God’s goodness to be revealed.
The man who was born blind is given sight but he is also given faith, but it takes him a while to find it.
By the end of our passage, after having navigated all these people who see him as a metaphor, as a symbol, as an issue, he knows one thing. He can literally see now, he's been restored into community and is no longer defined by blindness.
And so he proclaims, strongly, “Lord, I believe.” and it is in this moment that the healing is complete . . . not only is he restored into the sighted community but now, through Jesus, he has been restored into relationship with God.
Through Jesus, he has indeed become a new creation.
The Gospel of John begins with these words . . .
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
That light is Jesus, who shines a new light in our lives.
And I'm wondering . . . are you able to see him for who he is?