One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. St. John 9:1-38
Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:1-14
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Jesus’ giving of sight to a man born blind is more than a miracle of healing. It takes us to creation, to Jesus’ identity as the Word by whom all things were made, the Light which is the Light of men. The giving of sight to the blind is also one of the special signs of the Messiah.
The man presumably overheard Jesus’ disciples ask if his blindness was the result of his own sin or his parents; and heard as well Jesus say it was not that the man or his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be made known in him. Then Jesus spat on the ground. Jesus’ making clay from his spittle and putting it on the eyes was the instrument of recognition for the blind man to obey, “Go, and wash in the pool of Siloam.” So he went and washed and received his sight.
The man then takes an extraordinary journey from darkness into light. When he comes back seeing, people aren’t even sure he is “the blind man” who was a familiar beggar at the Temple. “I am he,” he said. When he explained what “the man called Jesus” had done, the people took him to the Pharisees, the religious authorities.
Clearly the Pharisees are not interested in the miracle, except to be offended that Jesus violated the Sabbath by “working.” Their antecedent hostility to Jesus set their agenda, which was to use the sign against him as an accusation. While the man born blind, helpless as a new-born baby, takes his journey into light, the Pharisees, with all the power of religious authority, take their own journey into darkness.
Once again the man’s identity is challenged, this time in the interrogation of his startled parents, intimidated by the Pharisees. The parents know this is their son, but how he sees, they don’t know. “He is of age; ask him.”
Then comes an inquisition revealing spirit and life in the man born blind, who clings to the truth he has experienced for himself and knows: “One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” At the same time, the blind malice of his interrogators grows ever darker and thicker, as they manifest their ill will towards Jesus: “We know this man is a sinner.”
But the man holds on for dear life to the link between what has happened to him and the goodness of God. When the Pharisees again ask him, how did [Jesus] do it, he says, “Why do you ask again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” The Pharisees revile him: We are Moses’ disciples. You are a disciple of this man and we don’t know where he comes from. “Why this is a marvel!” exclaims the man. You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. This is unheard of; Jesus could not have done this unless he were “from God.”
All hell breaks loose. “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they throw him out. Hearing about this, Jesus finds the man. “Do you believe in the Son of man?” “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” “You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.” The man said, “Lord I believe; and he worshiped Jesus.”
He was the subject of discussions whether he was result of his own or others’ sin. He was doubted, even as to his identity, by his neighbors and friends. He was left to fend for himself by his parents. He was interrogated, insulted and cast out by the authorities of his own community. As this happened, the blind man, helpless and vulnerable in the extreme, stumbled his way from 1) loyalty to the truth that “the man called Jesus” had led him to receive his sight; to 2) the opinion that Jesus must be “a prophet”; to 3) the conviction that Jesus must be “from God”; 4) finally to worshiping Jesus as the Son of man sent from God; indeed, the Son of God.
Just before today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” “Once you were darkness,” says the Apostle today in his Letter to the Ephesians, “but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
As human beings, the one thing we know is the truth we have experienced and seen for ourselves. This truth is our life, our integrity, our freedom. Most of us, one time or another, can face challenges that make us wonder who we are and if perhaps we are crazy, especially if we are met by an onslaught of incredulity, prejudice, and bad will. Great literature is full of people in such predicaments who become heroes by clinging with all their strength to the truth that they cannot deny: “One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The truth belongs to God. It comes from God. The devil, said Jesus, is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. On trial for his own life before the gathered powers of religion and empire, Jesus said “I came to bear witness to the truth.” Pilate, speaking for power, dismissed him with the words, “What is truth?”
Living in the truth brings light and clarity. Exposure to the light is the great disinfectant against falsehood, malice, and all the unloving deeds of darkness. Walk, says the Apostle, walk in the light, and learn what is pleasing to the Lord. The truth welcomes transparency, accountability, communion and fellowship. Truth bears up under examination. Even when your memory fails you, if you live in the truth, fear not; the truth will out. Truth is the instrument by which we work and play well and fairly with others. Truth is the material of justice. Truth is not only the source of freedom, it provides the ground for faith. If our loyalty to the truth causes us to be abandoned, insulted, or even cast out, we need not fear. It is very likely that there, just on the other side of our worst fears, Jesus will find us and ask us if we believe in the Son of man. We are in the very best of company.
And we are free to worship and follow him. Hear what he says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”1
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
