Blind Man Sees

In the story of the blind man who is healed it is hard not to think of that old saying, no good deed goes unpunished. Jesus heals the young man; joy and wonder come upon him. Next comes perhaps a desire to celebrate, but before he can plan a party he finds no one who will celebrate with him. The response of his neighbors, friends, and family are a poignant reminder to us that in this fallen world even our experience of joy in the wake of God’s grace is not necessarily shared by those among us, and sometimes not shared by those dearest to us. What happens with the young man’s parents is perhaps the most painful aspect of the unfolding drama of the story. They distance themselves from their son by saying, “he is of age, let him answer for himself”. There should have been light and joy in the community, and a celebration with friends, neighbors and family. With the religious leaders there should have been at the very least a joyful response to a blind man who has been healed. But instead there is only darkness, anger, fear and gloom.

But let’s turn again to the blind man who can see. There is something so raw and so guileless in this young man’s response to Jesus. The drama of the narrative, in the way it unfolds, invites us to see the man’s faith deepen as he sees the darkness of those who oppose Jesus. The man who had been physically blind is now the only one in the story who can see God’s light at work in the world. The contrast between seeing and not seeing is presented as an either/or existential crisis, light or darkness, life or death. The confession that Jesus draws from the young man towards the end of the story reminds us that when Jesus is recognized as God’s Messiah that there will be light; when he is denied, there is only darkness.

Noted author and preacher, Fred Craddock, invites us to see ourselves in this story:

”Jesus heals the man, disappears from the narrative and reappears at the end to receive, confirm and vindicate the blind man now healed and a disciple. Most of the action occurs between Jesus’ two arrivals. It is difficult to believe it is coincidental that the form of the narrative corresponds to the form of the story of the church: Jesus comes with blessing and instruction, Jesus departs, Jesus will return with vindication for his church.”

Just like the blind man who can see we live now in the time between Jesus’ first advent and his next. In our journey of following Jesus in faith and repentance there will be many times where we will hear the voices of skepticism that would put the work of Jesus in our life on trial. Those voices may be the actual voices of friends and family, or, from our cultural worlds. Tragically it is often the case that darkness will creep into us as we doubt and lose heart in the face of our own sins and lack of faith; we will hear a voice - the voice is hissing even if it sounds calm and rational - and these are the sorts of things it will say. “You have confessed this same sin as long as you can remember and you still struggle with it. Just give up. There is no healing work of God going on”, etc. ad nauseam. I suspect that what is going on when we speak to ourselves this way is that are treating ourselves the way we have been treated by others and the way we often treat others, rather than allowing ourselves to be embraced by God and to be energized by his forgiveness.

In our “in between times” the communion table is set for us by God to remind us that confessing our sins always brings us to the light and away from the darkness in spite of what the enemies of the light will screech at us. The sacraments remind us that there is one who has been vindicated already and in his vindication we share.

Questions for discussion:

1. Do you have people who are close to you who celebrate the work of God in your life? How can you foster those sorts of relationships - how deliberate do you need to be in doing that?

2. Do you have people in your life who you perceive to be people who are always putting God’s work in your life on trial? Is it possible to help him or her move to a posture of being one who celebrates with you instead of doubting? Is it possible you could be mis-perceiving their attitude (how would you know)? How should you related to such people?

3. In light of Craddock’s suggestion about Jesus’ absence (see above) how important to our spiritual formation is regular involvement in church and regular reception of the sacraments? Why is it so important?