From John 9 (NIV) 13 They
brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the
day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore
the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my
eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some
of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the
Sabbath.” 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What
have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is
a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been
blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is
this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it
that now he can see?” 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents
answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see
now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. 24 A second time
they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the
truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He
replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I
was blind but now I see!” 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown
him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who
is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus
said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then
the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus
said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and
those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were
with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus
said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you
claim you can see, your guilt remains.
The meaning of this miracle is that Jesus gives
sight to the blind in soul as well as the blind in sight. Jesus is light to the
blind man, and notice that He is at work with a person who does not recognize
who He is. The man born blind gradually comes to see who Jesus is, but his
sight is not simply in believing the right thing about Jesus but in seeing his
rightful responsibility to Jesus. Jesus is light to the confused disciples, and
to the idealistic Pharisees who were serious about their religion. In their
commitment to keeping the ideals of the law of Moses they were blinded to the
truth of Jesus. Commitment to ideologies can blind us to the truth of Jesus
Christ, whether that ideology is loyalty to the state, a commitment to justice,
or even a belief that tolerance is our most important virtue. Ideology is a difficult
blindness to deal with.
Jesus is light to all but not all respond in the
same way. The sight that Jesus seeks to give is not so much making us right as
making us righteous in the true sense of that word. The righteous are aware and
responsive to the work and will of God. The blind man says, “Whether
he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I
see!” In comparison, the Pharisees see the miracle, but they reject the
authority, the power, the care, and compassion and the truth of Jesus Christ.
Are
we so committed to the ideals of tolerance, of having an open mind, even of
caring and serving that we no longer listen to and ask for and acknowledge the
authority and power of Jesus? Living with Christ as the center is not a narrow-minded
life but a focused life. It is not based on an infallible hearing but on a
faithful listening. It does not try to avoid everything that is tainted, but seeks
to be full of grace and truth. I am light
for the world. This is not merely a claim but a commitment. Jesus wants to
give light for your life.
From
a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 17, 1996
©
Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)
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