A Resurrection Story?
As Jesus is walking along, he sees a man blind since birth.[i]
His disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he is
blind?” Jesus says that neither the man nor his parents sinned. Jesus
speaks of the urgency of working on behalf of God now, for the “night” is
coming. He then says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the
world.” Jesus then spits on the ground, makes a little bit of mud to put on the
man’s eyes, and sends him to the Pool of Siloam to wash his eyes. Voila! The
man can see. At this point, Jesus disappears altogether from the story until
the very end.
The neighbors, we are told, are disturbed and confused. Is
this not the blind man we see begging every day? If so, how is it he can now
see? They call over some Pharisees to “see” what’s really going on! The man
then needs to tell his inquisitors how it is he can see. He tells them about
Jesus, the mud, and washing in the Pool of Siloam. But are you the same man
that once was blind. Yes, he says. Then they call his parents to verify if he
is man blind since birth. They say, yes. Then how can he see, they ask. Ask
him. We don’t want to get involved. Then the man is grilled again.
As with the Samaritan Woman at the Well, suddenly he is
another unlikely character who becomes an eloquent theologian able to argue his
point-by-point with the Pharisees. It cannot go without saying: this is what
Pharisees love to do – to argue over all the details of living a righteous life
as instructed by Moses who was instructed atop the mountain by God. Oh, yes.
Narrator John says it was the Sabbath. Some, not all, of the Pharisees say that
Jesus cannot be from God because he made mud on the Sabbath which is work. Still,
some Pharisees did not think this was a Sabbath violation.
The questions seem to be: How did you come to see again? Who
is Jesus? Is he of God? Or, not? Were you really blind to begin with? Are you
the same man that was blind? In the end, there is no resolution, but lots of
very good arguments back and forth! The Pharisees give up in frustration, because
the man’s arguments are too good! Only then does Jesu return. He asks if the
man believes in “the Son of Man.” Who is that, he asks? “The one who is
speaking to you is he.” The man says, “Lord, I believe.” And he worships Jesus.
It ends with an enigmatic saying about some people who are blind can see, and
some people who can see are blind. Again, some of the Pharisees overhear this
and wonder if Jesus is talking about them.
First, it is important to reestablish that the Pharisees in
1st century Israel, under the occupation of Rome, were the good
guys. And that those who seem to be giving the man who was once blind a hard
time are just some; a few; not all. And those few are simply doing due
diligence at the neighbors’ request. It’s the neighbors who cause all this
trouble for the man. They appear to be threatened that they have lost a town
beggar. They represent those of us resistant to change. Blind beggars should
remain blind beggars! The neighbors like to think they are better than disabled
folks. Or, better than foreigners. They are suspicious of those like Jesus who
work to bring about change, even if it is positive change. The story casts
these folks in a poor light. Because, if for no other reason, 1st
century Israel was in need of serious change. The darkness that prevailed was
the occupation of the Empire. Somethings need to change to get out from under
being enslaved by Caesar and Rome!
Second, for the Fourth Gospel, it is always about light vs
darkness; a metaphor for good vs evil. The gospel begins by announcing Jesus is
the light of the world, the kosmos He will only be here for a brief
time. Sabbath or not, he has work to do to free people who have been chained by
circumstances beyond their control. The man had been blind since birth. How
could he possibly have “done” anything to deserve being blind. And does God
mean to blind people? Or, does he send his Son, Jesus, his Beloved, to bring light,
and life, abundant life, to the world; to all people: male or female or LGBTQ+,
Gentile or Jew, slave or free, Israelite, Roman, Asian, European, African,
Indian, Persian, or the yet to be discovered, Americans – the first peoples of
America that is.
Third, the Pharisees keep calling the man who was once blind
back over and again to tell his story. They want to know. They want to believe.
They just cannot fit his story into their standard categories of belief. But
they keep trying! Does narrator John make them out to be blind while it is the
man who can now see? Of course. The Pharisees are a mere prop for the Fourth
Gospel. They stand in for all who refuse to find out the truth; those who
cannot imagine change is possible. But in real life everyone knows Pharisees
were enacting change every day. Pharisees worked to make life easier and at the
same time more sanctified, more holy, for everyone. Holiness was not just for
the priests. The Pharisees imagined a kingdom in which everyone is a priest!
Which was important since soon the Temple and the priests would be gone.
Fourth, Sabbath is not just something that the Jews have
kept for millennia. It is the Sabbath that has kept the Jews a people. A people
free from being addicted to working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The
Pharisees know this. And in the annals of their arguments about Sabbath
restrictions, saving a life or healing a person or an animal on the Sabbath is
overwhelmingly not considered work. Not a sin. But worth exploring, because the
practice of Sabbath defines the difference between being free or being
enslaved. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes this about the Sabbath: “There is a
realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give,
not to control but to share, not to subdue, but to be in accord. Life goes
wrong when…the control of things…becomes our sole concern.” [ii]
Finally, I am persuaded this is not a story about healing,
or Sabbath, or righteousness, or a coming time of darkness. And it certainly
does not mean to disparage the Pharisees. If anything, we need to adopt their
practice of seeking truth in any and all circumstances. This is a resurrection
story. All of the rest is metaphor. Note carefully, Jesus is absent altogether
as people try to figure out just who he is, and how a man once blind can see. Then,
as it is after the dark night of his crucifixion, Jesus returns. When he does, some
know who he is and believe, and others do not. But he returns, and is present
to those who believe. He is here as the tangible presence of God in all of
life, all of the time. He comes to affirm that all persons, those who can see
and those who are blind, are all children of the One God. That all are
deserving of love and care, and dignity, and respect. That’s why some of us,
like the man born blind, believe, and worship him. Here. And now. For the light
shines in the darkness, all the time, and in all times. And the darkness does
not, and cannot, overcome his light, and our light. May we all come to see and
be seen. As it is said, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will
shine on you.” [iii]
[iii] Ephesians 5:8-14
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