The Man Born Blind
Sermon preached by Dn. Jeff Smith on Sunday, May 25, 2025
About a generation after His crucifixion, God faced a crisis. He had promised Israel after leading them out of Egypt that he would always protect them and keep them under his covenant. But He was about to break his promise. Had he already broken it by allowing Israel to be dragged into slavery in Babylon? The prophets all say that God allowed this because of their unfaithfulness or their sin, but what does a covenant mean when its people remain under subjugation for centuries, with no end in sight? In fact, just after the life of Christ, things were about to get MUCH, much worse. Rome would descend on Israel, murder close to a million Jews and deport the rest into slavery utterly depopulating the country. This is the background against which John is writing his Gospel, and every word points toward a solution. A new promise, not just to Israel, but to every human being, and in particular, a promise to the poor, the maimed and the blind. This is the crisis that John and the apostles faced. What could God do, except to sacrifice himself in solidarity with his people, and in so doing point to a new way of being in the world, a way in which we are called to love our enemies and know that the poor in spirit are the most blessed inheritors of eternal life. Today, in the healing of the blind man, we see that promise born out.
That is the background to today’s gospel, in which we can read a microcosm of salvation history. Like most Bible readings there are multiple lenses to see what we are reading. On the one hand, this is an encounter between two people: an invalid and a healer. On the other hand, it’s our story. Allow me to unpack.
So many of the healings in the Gospel appear almost random, and in a way they are. Jesus is just passing by people, on his way to the Temple in Jerusalem, and he happens to notice a man who had been born blind. Of course, the church gives him a name: Celidonius. At one level, the healing that happens is not for the person being healed. It happens for a much larger purpose, because healing allows Jesus to declare who he is: the Son of God who comes in power – even while he is still hidden. He declares himself in the face of opposition. His disciples ask the Lord if the man’s blindness is the result of sin, his sin or his parents? That question leads us back to my opening: is misfortune, including the misfortune of Israel occupied by Rome, the result of the sins of the people? Are we causing our own suffering? That’s what the disciples really want to know when they ask if the man’s parents are responsible for his blindness. Jesus replies that his sin or his parents’ sin (or the sin of Israel) is entirely beside the point. Celidonius stands before them so that the Word of God will be made manifest. In a way, this man is a cipher, or a tool being used to reveal God’s glory.
Jesus knows that he does not have much time left before he is captured and crucified. He says repeatedly, “We must do the good work while it is day. Night is coming soon. But while I am here standing before this man who lives in utter darkness, I am determined to share my light. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (“John 9:5) This reflects the moment of creation when the world was dark and void and the Lord God said, “Let there be light.” And those in darkness could see for the first time. Just as the Lord God created Adam from the clay of the earth, so now does Jesus mix clay with the fluid of his own body. Like his father, he is the creator and restorer of life.
Then Jesus sends the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam, which means sent. The man is sent to the Pool of Sent. Is there a universal meaning here? Indeed, we are all baptized and sent as messengers of God’s love into the world.
So, this man washed and came back seeing. He is a new man. A new creature. He is washed. He is sealed. He is anointed. It’s all very close to baptism. Before he was a beggar (as we are all beggars). Now he is the man who sees. And a man who sees on multiple levels. The neighbors are confused. Does this man who is healed of infirmity, mean that his sins are forgiven? There is that implication, and it rises to a pitch.
The man tries to remain innocent in the face of allegations. He says, “It’s not my fault that I can see. Go ask Jesus.” He feels fear and with cause, because he is immediately dragged to the Pharisees and put on trial. Now he hears the accusation that Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the healing causes outrage, accusation, and division. In the midst of an uproar, the man declares that Jesus is a prophet.
There is more confusion, and the man’s parents are called to testify that he was indeed born blind. Everything is leading to a climactic conclusion that Jesus deserves death for healing on the sabbath. When the man is questioned again, he asks the court if they would like to become his disciples, a comment worthy of laughter, and his awareness of irony. Nothing is as it seems because Jesus, who is accused, is also the king of heaven. But the Pharisees declare unequivocally, “we do not know this man.”
Celidonius declares in wonder, “This is a marvel that you don’t know where he comes from. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but anyone who worships the Lord and does His will, God will listen to him. Never since the creation of the world and the creation of the first man, has anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. (John 9:32) If Jesus were not from God, he could do nothing.” So, they cast him out of the synagogue, ostracized from the people of God, and into the arms of Jesus, who asks him, “do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man replies, “who is he, sir, that I may believe?” Jesus answers him, “You have been made to see, and now you see me standing in front of you. I who speak to you am He.” And the man declares, “Lord, I believe, and he worships him.”
To conclude, let me say that all of us have been granted sight in this beautiful temple, we have been washed, and yes, we are called to worship the Lord with a new vision.
Thanks be to God.