John 9:1-41

          As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.

Another no name, like the Woman at the Well

Named after his condition instead of his person

          “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, "Whose sin was it that caused this man to be born blind? Did he sin, or did his parents?”

Did you hear that

They see sin as a discrete act

A controllable something

Twisted up with suffering

If/Then

If I don’t sin

Then God won’t strike me blind

Then God won’t strike my son blind

If I don’t sin

“He didn’t sin, “Jesus replied, "nor did his parents; it happened so that God's works might be revealed in him.

This thing, hurtful and so defining

Defining him as “The Bind Man”

Can be re-defined by God

Revealing God

That which cripples us

That crippling act won’t have the last laugh

God laughs with us

Joy bubbles up when God upends our pain

We are the broken jar

Glued back together with gold

Our scars reveal majesty

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, and no one can work then. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Day and night again

Day and light stand for belief

Jesus brings belief to us

Jesus says I AM

Again

With a period

For he creates

He creates faith

          With these words, he spat on the ground and made mud from his spittle and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Off you go, wash in the pool called Sent.”

Now that Jesus exits the scene—his longest absence in any gospel

I ask you to close your eyes until his return

To feel the difference between darkness and light

And see what it is like to open your eyes when he appears with you

(Close eyes)

          Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

          His neighbors and those who used to see him before, begging, began observing:

          "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"

          Some were saying, "Yes, it’s him."

          Others were saying, "No, it’s someone like him."

          But the man himself spoke

          “Yes, it is me, I’m the man,” he said.

How frustrating

When someone jumps the box you’ve put them in

You try to shove them back in their place

How frustrating when God acts

--

How liberating when God acts

Proving the identity given to you

The name welded to your flesh on account of your flesh

Isn’t the only name

For you are a beloved Child of God!

          “Well then,” they asked him, “How’d your eyes get opened?”
          He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to the Pool Called Sent and wash.' So I went, and I washed, and I could see!"
          "Where is he?" they asked.

          He replied, "I do not know."

Listen carefully

To how his testimony expands

How this man names his experience more fully

Each time he’s asked

I don’t know

He’s a prophet

I was blind, but now I see.

If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.

Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          They took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees.

          Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had come to see.

          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 keep the sabbath."

This question again and again

What is the purpose of the Sabbath?

Liberation or Rest

Can the captive truly rest?

No says Jesus

Only the Free can Rest

Only the Liberated can Relax

          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? He opened your eyes after all."

He responded, "He is a prophet."

His testimony expands

I don’t know

He’s a prophet

I was blind, but now I see.

If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.

Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          The Judeans did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight. So 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?"
          “Well,” his parents answered, "we know that this is definitely our son, and that he was born blind. That said, we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He’s a grown man after all, he can speak for himself."
          His parents said this because they were afraid of the Judeans; for the Religious Authorities had already decided that anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah would be kicked out of the synagogue.
          Therefore his parents said, "he’s a grown man; ask him."

          So for the second time they called the man who had been blind.

          “Give glory to God!” they said to him, "We know that this man is a sinner."
          He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner or not. There is one thing I do know, I was blind, now I see."

His testimony expands

I don’t know

He’s a prophet

I was blind, but now I see.

If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.

Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

“I’ve already told you,” he replied, “You wouldn’t listen… Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too… do you?"

The questions are so sharp in John

Last week, “He can’t be the messiah… can he?”

Brought a whole village to Jesus’ feet

Today “You don’t want to become his disciples too… do you?”

Cuts to the core of things

You are expending so much energy and words

It must be for good use, right?

Expending so much energy for negative reasons

Would reveal you to be the greatest of fools!

          “You’re his disciple,” they scoffed, "Not us, we’re disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from."
          “Isn’t that a surprise?” The man answered, "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 wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything."

His testimony expands

I don’t know

He’s a prophet

I was blind, but now I see.

If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.

Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          “You were born in sin from head to toe,” they replied, “but you are trying to teach us?"

And they drove him out.

Drove him out

Drove out because he saw

Because he sees

Driven out because he’s someone else

A blind beggar is okay

A man who can see

Never

(Open Eyes)
          Jesus heard that they had driven the man out. So he found him and he said to him, "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."
          The man replied, "Yes sir, I do believe." And he worshiped him.

His testimony expands

I don’t know

He’s a prophet

I was blind, but now I see.

If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.

Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who are blind may see, and those who do see may be blind."
          Some nearby Pharisees heard this and said to Jesus, "What? We’re blind too?"
          Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We can see,' your sin remains.

Did you hear that

Jesus sees Sin

As ignoring the works of God

Refusing to come to terms with the uncontrollable grace of God

A Because/Therefore God

Because I love you

Therefore you are lovable

Because God see his suffering

Therefore the Blind Man gets to see the Jesus

Because God acts for those in need

Therefore their needs are met

Sin is

Refusing to come to terms with a God found in the midst of suffering

A God drove out from the city walls

Out here with us

Jesus is driven out here with us. Amen.