Sermon Text: John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39
Date: March 19, 2023
Event: The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A
John 9:1–7, 13-17, 34-39 (EHV)
As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that God’s works might be revealed in connection with him. 4I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the World.”
6After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man’s eyes. 7“Go,” Jesus told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
They brought this man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15So the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight.
“He put mud on my eyes,” the man told them. “I washed, and now I see.”
16Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others were saying, “How can a sinful man work such miraculous signs?”
There was division among them, 17so they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
They answered him, “You were entirely born in sinfulness! Yet you presume to teach us?” And they threw him out.
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. When he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36“Who is he, sir,” the man replied, “that I may believe in him?”
37Jesus answered, “You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you.”
38Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” and he knelt down and worshipped him.
39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, in order that those who do not see will see, and those who do see will become blind.”
I Was Blind, but Now I See
Have you seen one of these viral videos on the internet? The shot is usually of a very young child, a baby, sitting with his or her parents in the doctor’s office. Someone comes over with the child’s first-ever pair of glasses to correct eyesight that has been terrible for the child from birth. Then, the moment happens. They put the glasses on the child, and he or she can see Mom and Dad clearly for the first time. The reactions range from a bit scared to overjoyed on the child’s face. It’s difficult to watch this without a bit of a tear developing in your own eyes.
Something like that can make you appreciate your vision—something that’s easy to take for granted. Well, maybe vision is actually the easier thing to realize how valuable it is on a regular basis. If you wear contacts or glasses, you regularly experience the blurry haze of not having corrective lenses. Without my glasses on, I’m not sure I could confidently identify anyone here at church from the pulpit, even the members of my own immediate family. But with them? I can see you all!
The focus of our lessons from God’s Word this morning, to one degree or another, deal with vision. But the blind/seeing dichotomy is not only literal but also a figurative way to describe our spiritual reality. Jesus, in healing the blind man in our Gospel, not only gives him his physical sight, but also his spiritual sight, as he reveals himself as the Savior of the world and gives the man the faith to trust him as the one who takes away our sins—the promised Son of God.
Jesus and his disciples are walking around Jerusalem and come upon a man that was born blind. The disciples ask a fascinating and revealing question: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” We’ll come back to that question in a little bit. But Jesus makes clear that no specific sin caused this problem for him, but that it was so God’s true power could be shown through him--that God’s works might be revealed in connection with him. And so it was. Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man’s eyes. “Go,” Jesus told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
There are a couple of interesting things to note about Jesus’ miracle. First, he used means—in this case the mud he made with the dirt and his spit and the waters of the pool of Siloam—to accomplish this work. We know that Jesus had the power to heal the man with a touch, or a word, or even just a will that it should happen. But here he uses these means, these tools, to bring about the healing. This made the man’s healing very physical—he could feel things happening. It also meant that this man was healed only hearing Jesus, but never seeing him.
This man has never seen clearly in his entire life and now, as an adult, he has perfect vision. The people brought the man to the Pharisees, likely because they were certain that the religious leaders would want to see the great things that God had done for this man. But the reaction that they received from these leaders was overtly negative. Instead of rejoicing in God’s miracle for this man, they complained that Jesus was breaking the man-made additions to God’s laws about rest on the Sabbath day. They didn’t see this miracle as evidence of Jesus’ divine nature. Rather, they saw this act as a clear testimony of the sin they supposed Jesus had. They couldn’t see what was happening right in front of them.
Unbelief is often described as blindness in the Scriptures. Paul said in our Second Reading, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). That makes sense, doesn’t it? Unbelief is not understanding God and not seeing things as they really are. Unbelief either fears the retribution and punishment of God, supposing there is no escape from it, or it is confident in its own ability to be right before God on its own. Both are wrong; both stem from blindness.
The Pharisees saw this man’s blindness as a reason to look down on him. They shared the same sentiment that the disciples did when they asked whether the man’s blindness was the result of his or his parents’ sin. The Pharisees were blind to the fact that they, too, were entirely born in sinfulness.
The reality is that our sinfulness blinds us to just how blind we truly are, but truly we need Jesus’ healing. And this healing doesn’t come about with mud and washing but with blood and hell. Jesus used means to heal our sin—he gave his life for us. And by his grace, the Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts to trust him as our Savior. As you and I look at our own lives, we must join the chorus with the hymn writer, “I was blind, but now I see.”
Jesus went and searched out the man after his run-in with the Pharisees. When [Jesus] found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” “Who is he, sir,” the man replied, “that I may believe in him?” Remember, the healed man had never actually seen Jesus, and we would certainly understand if in the swirl of everything going on, perhaps he didn’t quite yet recognize his voice after the very brief exchange they had earlier. Can you, in your mind’s eye, see the smile that comes across Jesus’ lips as he prepares to answer the man’s question? “You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you.”
The miracle and this word were all this man needed to know that Jesus was his Savior and God. “Lord, I believe!” and he knelt down and worshipped him. The man was given physical sight, yes, but the greater miracle was the faith worked in his heart—the spiritual sight he received that day. The religious leaders thought they could see but they were utterly blind to the promises and work of God. But this man saw Jesus as he was, and at this Jesus rejoiced.
Why are those videos of a young child receiving corrective lenses for the first time so powerful? Because we can almost universally appreciate what it means to be able to see clearly—and especially the intimacy that comes from being able to see those you love. How much more powerful is it to see with the vision of faith? You can see God as he is—not an angry tyrant, but your loving God who saves you. You can see clearly what lies ahead—not an eternity of hell but the unending joys of the perfection of heaven. You can see the power and purpose of simple means—words spoken and read, water, bread, and wine connected to that word—which God uses to create and strengthen faith.
Those are the means he sends us out with as well. Jesus had observed, “I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.” We are living in the daylight of this world. If there is breath in our lungs, we have time to work. Perhaps our work is in sharing the good news of sins forgiven in Jesus. Perhaps our work is to invite someone to come to church so that they too may see the real love of God. Perhaps our work is to continue to petition God’s throne of grace with our prayers that his kingdom come—that faith comes to us and others. Perhaps our work is all of the above. Regardless, we have God’s Word and the sacraments that, like the mud and washing in the pool, bring sight to people born blind. Not physical blindness, but spiritual. God’s power works in these means to bring people from the blindness and condemnation of unbelief to the vision and certain hope of trust in Jesus as Savior.
You were blind, but now you see. Rejoice in the spiritual vision that God gives and perseveres in you through his Word. Take that Word into the world to share it because it is the means through which God will bring true, spiritual vision to others. May we all clearly see Jesus as Savior. May we all clearly see heaven standing open for us. May we all clearly see the love God has for us now and forever! Amen.
