Reflection by The Rev'd Dr. Deborah Broome

I can see clearly now

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. 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 observe the Sabbath.” 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? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

 …

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, 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 were not from God, he could do nothing.”                 John 9:1-18,24-33

This is a long except from the even longer Gospel reading for this Sunday.  It includes a whole lot of questions, some of which aren’t that helpful.  Jesus’ disciples ask him, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Essentially this was the wrong question.  Back then people tended to attribute sickness or disability to moral failing, either direct or inherited, but this isn’t the right way to think.  If a person is suffering it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.  That question, “who sinned?” is about looking for someone to blame – and that’s not helpful.  Jesus deals with suffering as a mystery, not as a problem.

We see the man’s journey from blindness to sight.  It’s not just healed vision that happens, but sharpened understanding, courage, and voice.  He begins as a passive recipient (“a man who used to sit and beg”) and ends as a courageous truth-teller who even teaches the Pharisees.  They question the healed man and his parents, trying to get to the bottom of what had happened.  I have a lot of sympathy for the healed man.  He sounds so frustrated at the continued questioning: “I have told you already and you wouldn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again?”  He’s finding his voice.  He’s gaining a new identity and discovering he has agency.  That’s what encountering God can do for us.

Later Jesus comes to the man and asks him another key question, “do you believe in the Son of Man?”  Ultimately, that question about belief is less a question about intellectual assent, and more about relationship.  “Who is it that you trust?”  Jesus is the light of the world.  It’s through encountering Jesus and coming into relationship with him that we’re led to see clearly, to understand what’s going on in our lives, and in the world around us.  The man born blind is very much the hero of this story: he tells others what Jesus had done in his life.  How are we doing at that?