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The Fourth Sunday in Lent 1 Samuel 16:1-13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Gospel according to John 9:1-13, 28-38 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; 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.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He 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 worshiped him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The early church in 3rd century Rome, about 200 years after Jesus’s death, put converts to Christianity through one to three years of teaching about the faith before their initiation into the Christian community through baptism and celebration of the Eucharist at the Great Vigil of Easter. Near the end of their catechumenate, or time of teaching, they took sort of a final exam, and the day of the exam was called the day of the great scrutiny. When the catechumens passed their examination and were judged to be worthy of baptism, lessons from the Old Testament about cleansing water were read to them. Then came the opening of the Gospel book and the reading of John, chapter 9, just as Jim has read it today. The climax of the story, then as now, was the confession of the man who was blind from birth, miraculously given sight by Jesus, as he said, "Lord, I do believe."
We don’t know his name, this blind man. He was not like blind Bartimaeus, who asked Jesus to heal his blindness. This man was an ordinary man who asked nothing of Jesus. Unlike many of the healing stories in the Gospels, Jesus did not ask anything of this man, either. Jesus didn’t ask this man, before mixing dirt and spittle into mud and spreading it on those sightless eyes, whether he had faith, or if he believed in God, or even if he wanted to be healed. This was unconditional healing. As a matter of fact, the story of this man began as a discussion between Jesus and the disciples about whether the man’s blindness was a payback for sin. Jesus was not interested in the past cause of this man’s blindness, but, instead, focused on its future purpose. This purpose was no less than revealing the works of God. Jesus told the disciples, "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." Though the exhortation to work the works of God is directed to the disciples, it is the man who was born blind who carries it out.
So Jesus made the mud, put it on the man’s eyes, and then Jesus instructed the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man came back, washed and able to see, Jesus was gone. The rest of the drama unfolds in several scenes of interrogation involving at various times the man, his neighbors, and the Jewish authorities. The man’s neighbors don’t recognize him. Some argue that he is the blind man who used to sit and beg, and others suggest that he only resembles that person, but is really someone else. The man does not hesitate to announce to the crowd, repeatedly, "I am the man." In the Greek, the words are ego eimi, literally, "I am." This is a bold statement coming from this man with new sight, and a remarkable identification of himself with the one who healed him. Jesus uses the same phrase repeatedly throughout the Gospel when he is revealing his divine nature. To be sure, this man is not claiming to be divine, but he is bold in the face of the skeptical crowd. Of his healing, the man can only give the earthy details – the mud on his eyes, the command from the man called Jesus to wash in the pool of Siloam, the receiving of his sight.
Next, the Pharisees question the man. He explains once more how he gained his sight. At this point the narrator tells us that the healing took place on a Sabbath. This spawns a debate among the Pharisees, as some view Jesus’ making of clay as a violation of the Sabbath prohibition against working as evidence that he is a sinner, while others argue that a sinner could not perform such signs. Divided, they look to the man for clarification. "What do you say?" The man answers them: "He is a prophet." He has reflected on the person of Jesus. Earlier he referred to Jesus only as "the man." Now he has identified Jesus as a religious figure.
The scene shifts. After determining from the man’s parents that he was, indeed, born blind, the Pharisees again summon the man. They begin by urging him to "Give glory to God," meaning, "Tell us the truth!" Then they express their view of Jesus: "We know this man is a sinner." Again the formerly blind man answers them, "Whether he was a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." He is relying on his own experience of Jesus as a measure of truth. The authorities want him to tell them again how Jesus healed him. The man’s retort shows us that he is a man of courage and intelligence. He responds, "I have told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also wish to become his disciples, do you?" Disciple? This is the first indication we have that he saw himself as a disciple of Jesus. Well, we know the rest of the story, about how he confronted the Pharisees with logic that they couldn’t refute, reminding them that never before in the history of the world had a blind man been healed this way, and telling them that if Jesus "were not from God, he could do nothing." The Pharisees, having no good answer, could only resort to personal attack, and they drove him out.
Jesus began this story by stating that the man was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We discover as the story moves along that this revelation goes far beyond the miracle of healing. The work of God is even more evident in the man’s witness to Jesus, in his gradually increasing faith and conviction before those who opposed Jesus. This man, whose name we do not know, entered the Christian family and became a disciple in a rather ordinary way. He came to a decision to witness to Jesus, gradually, thoughtfully, and, finally, with conviction, "Lord, I believe."
I must say that I’m relieved that we don’t have to train to be Christians for one to three years like they did in 3rd century Rome. I’m especially relieved that we don’t have a Great Day of Scrutiny. It feels good, though, to carry out the tradition of the early church by reading the story of the man who was born blind today. You know, most of us are a lot like him. We are mostly just ordinary members of the Christian community. Most of us have grown gradually in our faith in Jesus. As we participate fully in the church in preparation for Holy Week and for the Great Vigil of Easter, we can learn from one another what it means to do God’s work. We can think about what our own baptism means, and maybe about how we might try to live out our baptismal covenant -- to seek and serve Christ in all people, loving our neighbors as ourselves; reaching out to do justice to others, even when doing justice isn’t popular; to be peacemakers, respecting the dignity of every human being. When Jesus comes to us, seeks us out, and heals us with his unconditional love, we, too, can say, "Lord, I believe." Anne Meroney, Seminarian - St. John’s Episcopal Church, College Park, Georgia
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