Fourth Sunday in Lent

 The story about the man, blind from birth whom Jesus healed and which we read in John 9:1-41 is both joyful and sad.  You would have thought such a miracle would have everyone rejoicing, but we notice it is only the man whose sight is restored who is joyful and giving thanks to God.   So why is this the response? Perhaps we might reflect on the prophet Samuel who anoints young David fresh from the fields, as the next, unlikely, king of Israel who is told: 

The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ (1 Sam. 16:7)

These words are prophetic as Jesus is living dangerously with his healings and preaching.  His most recent conversation with his followers, described as ‘Jews who had believed in him’ (John 8:31), involved a discussion about true discipleship, and by the end of it, this group, whom we might have assumed would be open to Jesus’ teaching, instead, ‘picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. ’(John 8:59)

Jesus was making deliberate choices about what he says, does and the places where he acts. So, we pick up our story again in the next verse (John 9:1), where we hear about the blind man and Jesus’ disciples asking him about who had sinned, the man or his parents?  It was a common belief that disabilities and personal misfortune were punishment for sins either by the person involved or their parents.   We have the same response today with blessings, the other side of the same coin, where some people believe wealth, power and health are God’s blessings for good behaviour, and if you are suffering, you’ve clearly not yet earned God’s blessings.  Today we call it the Prosperity Gospel.  Now in its latest form, we recognise it as Christian Nationalism, as country, race, white supremacist power and control are used to claim God’s special blessing and status as God’s chosen ones and so not needing to be held to account like lesser countries and peoples.

Jesus’ response once again to such self-serving, entitled beliefs, is to pick up the theme of God’s Light in the world, as Jesus says, ‘as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ (John 9:5) Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reminds us we must:

Live as children of light – for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead, expose them. (Eph. 5:8-11)

Jesus is shining a light on all our hypocrisy, our sense of entitlement, the abuse and misuse of power and control, and the shameful works of darkness.   Jesus deliberately chose to heal on the Sabath, a day of rest. It was a rule the Pharisees policed vigorously.  They were alert to the subversive nature of Jesus’ acts and words. The Pharisees stated the Sabath’s purpose of rest, overrode the need for healing which is work, and anyone who broke God’s law about the Sabath was clearly not from God.

They disconnected the two ideas, and so they went back to the blind man to go over his story again, each side trying to get sufficient details to validate their positions and win the argument. We see this today in the wars spreading across God’s creation: the disconnection between the desire for war and the deliberate harming of innocent civilians, children whom God loves, with a different story, driven by those who want power, control and, I suspect, an end to their own fear.  What is not acknowledged, is while one person or group’s safety is prioritised over everyone else’s wellbeing, the harder it becomes to maintain their own safety.  The greater the abuse and tyranny which has to be embedded to ensure ongoing control, with the spreading of corruption while holding the fragile edifice of the hypocritical lie in place.

The blind man now seeing, is caught at the centre of an argument which has nothing to do with him. His parents are placed at risk of being put out of the synagogue, being rejected from their community because of the healing. They too are also innocent of any wrongdoing. The man is rejected from his community for being healed, and ‘they drove him out’.  They did not want to hear his story, or his conclusions, or his experience really, they wanted validation for their arguments, so were wilfully deaf and blind.  It is no wonder:

‘Jesus said: I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ (John 9:39)

Such betrayal and hypocrisy described so clearly, is still visible today. It is profoundly devastating for all those forced to choose a side other than God.  People are being pulled into conflicts created by those determined to maintain their power and control, carelessly using others, deemed less important, as collateral damage while they try to make a dreadful point and the argument is lost before it can be found.

Where does this leave us, as we listen to Jesus being threatened with stoning, while he continues to teach and act in ways others find offensive. I hope we thinking about our own response to such a witness.  Jesus was religiously educated; he was brave but avoided traps where he could; he deliberately continued to act in ways which showed God’s love and light in the world; he spoke boldly but chose his battles wisely, choosing his confrontations to ensure maximum impact. He avoided unnecessary risks, but knew he was going to be caught eventually so the threats, abuse and temptation to quit, did not deter him.  He refused to be controlled by his fear.  He prayed regularly and made sure he did what was right each time.  He was not careless in his actions, he knew the consequences, but he knew God was with him.  His message was consistent, loving, fierce and unstoppable.     We need to be reflecting on his behaviour and words and our own as we journey to the cross with Jesus this Lent. We must be ready, prepared, not flustered, nor distracted. This is a powerful story to remember.  The arguments inviting us to deny God or to put a different spin on God’s precious, scandalous abundant love are coming thick and fast, but we have faith in God’s love and we can hear Jesus’ question to us, just as he spoke it to the man who had been given sight:

‘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.’ (John 9:35-38)

Let us, like the one who now sees, say:  Lord I believe! And speak and act accordingly. The Lord be with you.