Sermon – 4th Lent – "Jesus Gives Sight And Vision" – John 9:1-41 – 3/2/08
March 2nd, 2008Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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I. The Miracle of Sight.
A. Debate vs. Compassion.
As we make our way through this season of Lent, we are making our way to the cross of Christ crucified. As we follow Jesus, we know where He is headed and we know why He goes there. Every man, woman and child from the first man, Adam to the last man on the face of this earth, is totally dependant upon Christ crucified for their life and salvation.
As we follow Jesus on His way to the cross, we’re introduced to one person after another for whom Christ is going to the cross. And so far, we have found ourselves in each of them and today will be no different. We are Nicodemus who come to Jesus with our credentials expecting Jesus to be impressed with us and congratulate us for our pious life. We are the woman at the well to whom Jesus came. Like her, we expect nothing more from Jesus than that He make our lives a little easier, a little less burdensome. Now this morning, we will easily find ourselves in the man born blind.
There is one other thing to notice as we follow Jesus to the cross, and that is His compassion for the individual. Sometimes people come to Jesus as did Nicodemus. Sometimes Jesus comes to people as with the woman at the well. In either case, He stops and gives them His full attention. Now today we meet a man who neither comes to Jesus, nor does it seem that Jesus comes to Him. John says, “as He passed by He saw a man blind from birth.” It’s as though, as Jesus makes His way to the cross, He cannot simply pass by without seeing each individual along the way. And His compassion forces Him to stop.
In his gospel, St. Luke includes the parable that Jesus told about the good Samaritan. In his gospel, St. John includes the episode of the man born blind. Here is the parable of the good Samaritan being acted out for real. Unlike so many who pass by this man born blind, Jesus could not just pass by. He saw the man and had to stop and give this man what this man needed.
In the book of Exodus, we read that when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, He says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt…” (Ex.3:7). Jesus surely sees the affliction of His people who are in this world. As Moses led Israel out of their bondage and suffering under Pharaoh in Egypt, now, this greater than Moses is leading all who will follow Him out of their affliction under the Devil, the power of sin and the grip of death.
I want to make of point of this because I think that it is sometimes very easy for us, as we read through the gospels, to allow the whole thing to become a study in theology or philosophy or to make it all about certain ethical or moral principles. It’s easy for us to loose sight of the flat out compassion Jesus has for people.
We need to be reminded of this. It is because of His compassion that Jesus did not just pass by you in your blindness and sin, but He saw you and stopped and brought you out of eternal darkness and into His marvelous light.
And so it is that as Jesus went along he saw a man blind from birth. You kind of get the feeling that Jesus’ disciples don’t even notice this man until Jesus stops. Maybe they’re more concerned with much bigger things than blind beggars. What, with the kind of popularity that Jesus is attracting, the time may be ripe for the new world order to be established and they stand to be seated at His right hand and at His left.
But now the master has stopped… again. So much for making progress. Who knows how long they’ll be held up this time. Might as well make the most it. Lets see if we can at least learn a theological lesson from this. “Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind?”
B. The Perspective of the Blind Man. We learn in a few verses that the man was a beggar. I’ve sometimes wondered how this all sounded to the blind beggar. Most beggars can see when someone is coming, and they make their appeal. But this man has to listen for the sounds of people passing by. He hears the sounds of several men coming down the road and he’s encouraged by the fact that they stop rather than just pass by. He’s been seen. That’s good. He has no idea just how good it is to be seen by Jesus.
He hears what they are saying. They’re talking about him, but not to him. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he is blind?” one of them asks. They act as if his blindness means he can’t hear. “Neither the sin of this man or his parents is the reason for his blindness,” replies another, obviously the Rabbi. “This man’s condition is the opportunity for the works of God to be displayed in him.”
What were the thoughts that you suppose were running through this mans head? He doesn’t know what’s going to happen but it sure sounds like this Rabbi is going to drop a sizeable sum into his lap. He hears one of them, he can’t make out which, clear His throat as if to spit. Maybe he flinched, because more then once, that’s been the offering dropped in his lap, or his face.
He hears the man doing something on the ground, scratching or scrapping at the dirt or something. And then, before this poor man knows what hit him, suddenly there’s a mud pie plastered on each of his eyes.
Up to this point Jesus has said nothing to this man, at least not directly. Yet again, maybe every word that Jesus has spoken was meant for this man to hear. And as we know, faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. (Rom.10:17). Now Jesus speaks directly to the blind man, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” He promises the man nothing, gives him no explanation of what to expect.
John packs the rest of this episode with wonderful little snippets of the conversation that later takes place. Yet strangely, he includes nothing of what the blind man may have said in response to this very strange encounter. John simply reports, “So he went and washed and came back seeing.” Could it be that he said nothing. Could it be that faith simply believes the word of Christ and does what it says?
What follows is a detailed and somewhat humorous description of the dialog between this man and others. They seem to get so caught in their curiosity about what happened, that they miss the main thing. And if we’re not careful, we may miss it too. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” What we see Jesus doing in this man is the work of God. Watch closely what He does for this man, for what Jesus has just done for this man, He intends to do for all mankind.
The point here is, we are this man born blind. We can no more see the wretchedness of our own condition than we can see the remedy for our affliction. The way we see things, we’re doing just fine. We’ve got a secure job, a few bucks in the bank, a nice roof over our head, a spare car in the garage and cable TV. We are so wrapped up in ourselves that we are blind to our sinful condition before God and oblivious to the suffering of others around us. But Jesus is not blind. He sees you. And in His compassion, He comes to you. And if you want to know what He intends for you, just look at what He does for this man who is born blind.
II. The Miracle of Vision. A. Second Meeting As we move to the conclusion of this account, we suddenly realize that this man has never actually laid eyes on the one who gave him his sight. By the time he comes back from the pool of Siloam, Jesus and His disciples have moved on. But Jesus’ work with this man is clearly not finished until this man knows who it is who gave him his sight so that he may know who it is that he should worship.
Jesus saw him before he could see, and now Jesus finds him before this man knew who Jesus was.
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he sir? Tell me that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” And at that the man replied, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.”
B. Vision
Jesus had given this man sight. Now, in a second miracle even more amazing as the first, He gives this man vision. This kind of vision is the work of God. It is a work that He works not by mud in the eye, but by His Word in our ears; and the pool of Baptism that He tells us to go wash in; and His body and blood that He spits into the bread and wine and plasters onto our lips and tongue.
Don’t confuse vision with seeing. Seeing is not believing. Vision is being sure of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1).
A man named Saul had eyesight but no vision. Jesus had to blind him before he could give him vision. Saul was once blind but now he sees, and he writes, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18). Now, that’s vision.
“Despite our afflictions, we do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” That’s vision.
“We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. Because what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:16-18). That’s the vision that Jesus gives to all who will only confess their blindness.
At one time, you too were darkness, but Jesus saw you, and now you are light in the Lord. Because you have been seen by God, you too may say, “I was blind but now I see.” So, let us follow Jesus with the vision that He has given us. Let us walk as children of light.
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