March 26th, 2017/4th Sunday in Lent
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13/Psalm 23/Ephesians 5:8-14/John 4:5-42
“Seeing & hearing the Son of Man when he calls”
Summary:The blind man receiving sight is miraculous enough. More profound, however, is the lesson that ‘faith’ is given to him and to us by our seeing and hearing the Son of Man when he calls us. We see and hear in ‘faith’ by believing in the answer of God in our lives.
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I believe it was William Shakespeare who penned the following words as part of a poetry in his work, “As You Like It”: “All the world’s stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances;…”.
It’s not surprising that Shakespeare views the world from the perspective of a drama unfolding. After all, he was an extraordinary writer to whom are attributed many great works of English drama.
As admirable a writer that he was, I would hazard to guess-and I am probably sticking my neck out really far here-that Shakespeare was inspired by the writings of the Bible that predate even him. Take for instance the herculean volume of the Scripture readings that you have endured, especially the Gospel according to John!
John, I believe, was a story-teller extraordinaire. This really becomes apparent in today’s Lectionary reading. The main story is structured around a succession of short scenes that give the reading the feel of a drama, facilitating the development of a story and highlighting the tension between characters. The entire story unfolds within the bounds of this drama.
I would stick my neck out even further and compare this unfolding drama to a “Who done it?” murder mystery!On that note, shall we put on our detective hats and bring out our magnifying glasses to go on a little digging around this drama?
The disciples notice, or ‘see’ someone special sitting off to the side of the road, and no doubt the man was begging. It wasn’t the begging that they noticed, but the fact that this man ‘could not see.’ Scripture says that ‘the man was born blind.’ The disciples seem to ‘see’ this perfectly. Moreover, they want to discuss the man’s malady theologically, meaning, ‘who done it-the bad thing(s)/the sin(s) that could have brought on this malady on this poor man?’ But Jesus will have none of it.
Scripture says that Jesus is interested in ‘seeing’ the occasion as one in which the glory of God can be revealed, and not the answer to a ‘who done it?’ mystery. So, Jesus restores the man’s sight. And then Jesus disappears from the stage of this drama.
Another scene follows wherein the healed man is back in his old neighborhood, surrounded by friends and neighbors alike. They are not there as well-wishers, but as self-declared detectives, each asking, “Who done it?”, meaning, who has healed this man who was blind since birth and up until just recently! I recall reading of any joy, thanksgiving to God, or words of encouragement amongst the people that knew him/’saw’ him as blind. They are curious in a disturbing way.
The very next scene opensamongst the magistrates, meaning the scholars and religious leaders of the community to which this ‘healed blind-blind’ belonged. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have to deal with an unknown healer in their midst, these leaders discovered that the act of healing had taken place on Sabbath, something strictly forbidden by the ancient laws. Sacrilege!!
Needless to say, the clergy do the theological arguing amongst themselves, something the disciples were interested in but Jesus had refused. They clearly see that the ‘man’ is not blind but able to see perfectly, like them. Like all others before this scene, the religious leaders are also interested in ‘Who done it?’, that is, who healed this man who was supposedly born blind! In their heated arguments and questioning, there is no room amongst them to acknowledge any form of ‘thanksgiving’ to God for the good work done!
The ‘healed-man,’ when pressed by the religious leaders then respond in words that would one day inspire a soul-stirring hymn, “Amazing Grace.” So, in response to the question, “Who done it?/Who has healed you?”, the man says, “Whether he(Jesus) is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing, I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25, N.I.V.).
Implied in this response is that Jesus, the one who healed this man, must be of God to have the power to heal. Rather than accepting the fact that God in Jesus has healed this man, the religious leaders choose to champion their view of the law concerning the Sabbath and reject the healed and the healer. More importantly, they determined not to ‘see’ the good works of God! So, in the end, the ‘healed man’ is thrown out from the temple, excommunicated, if you will.
In the following scene of this drama, the healed man meets and confesses faith in Jesus who is the true ‘light that has come into the world.’ By confessing faith in Jesus, the healed man is proclaiming loudly that life is blindness without Christ who is the light of the world! Those who claim to see but have not confessed their faith in Jesus, the light of the world, are truly blind; for they have not acknowledged the glory of God in Christ.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the final scene of the drama that unfolded so long ago remains to be played out, and we are the men and women participants. Scripture invites us to ‘see’ something, the same thing as a matter of fact that was held before the religious leaders and countless others before us: that the love of God in Jesus has the amazing power to transform lives!
We also know the extent to which this love of God has spread. It didn’t just stop at the healing of a blind man, or the feeding of thousands, or even bringing back the dead to life! This love of God was extended to the cross where His Son was not spared the crucifixion, that we might believe and truly ‘see’ the grace of God!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, God calls out to us in Christ every moment of our lives. When we respond in faith, it is then that we ‘truly see’ the power of God in shaping our lives according to the Kingdom of God values.
So “who done it?”, this transformative power that grips us throughout life? God, did it. God graciously offered his love for the world that our spiritual eyes may be opened through our confession of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that we may be liberated from the falseness of this world and become people transformed, to be messengers of the value of God’s kingdom out into our community.
~Amen.
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