Preaching Paths, 19 March 2023

by Sally A. Brown,

Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

Today’s Gospel text, John 9:1-41, unfolds as a drama in several short scenes that presents Jesus’ encounter with a man born blind. The entire text should be read, and read well; but attempting to cover the full range of theologically rich insights that this narrative yields in the sermon can wear out both preacher and congregation. Each short scene yields theological insight worthy of a sermon. These scenes reverberate with questions about who is “blind” and who truly “sees.”

Vv. 1-7, Scene 1: Jesus and his disciples encounter a man born blind. The disciples’ question—”Who sinned, this man or his parents?”— reflects the widely popular notion that disability was a sign of moral fault. Jesus firmly rejects this idea; the man’s blindness presents an opportunity for God’s work in the world to be done, revealing Jesus as “the light of the world.” Light will confront darkness. Jesus mixes saliva and mud, coats the man’s eyes, and sends him to wash. The man returns, “able to see.”

Vv. 8-12, Scene 2: Townfolk interrogate the now-seeing man. So astonishing is his transformation that they doubt he is the former beggar they’ve seen for years. He insists repeatedly that he is the same man, but folks challenge him. It is not plausible that anyone could have healed a man blind from birth! We may recognize something of ourselves in their skepticism about “transformed” lives.

Vv. 13-1,7 Scene 3: The stakes are higher now: the man is interrogated by the learned Pharisees. A dispute breaks out. Clearly whoever spread mud on this man’s eyes is a Sabbath-breaker; yet surely one who has such power to heal must be of God–? Divided, the Pharisees turn on the healed man. Perhaps they hope to trick him into making a blasphemous claim: “who do you say he is?” Pressured, the healed man declares his healer “a prophet”—which is indeed part of the truth, albeit not the full revelation of identity of Jesus. We sense the background tension between spiritual “sight” and spiritual “blindness.

Vv. 18-23, Scene 4: The Pharisees, who do not believe that the man could have been born blind, summon the man’s parents. They evade questions about the identity of Jesus; v. 22 tells us why: anyone who hints at the possibility that Jesus is Messiah will be put out of the synagogue. They turn the question back to their son. It is hard to own the truth when there is much to lose.

Vv. 24-34, Scene 5: The Pharisees now convene a religious tribunal, of sorts, that commences with the oath “Glory to God!” (indicating that this is akin to a heresy trial). They challenge him to agree with them that whoever “healed” him is a sinner. The man responds with a retort as brilliant as it is brief, turning on them own criterion for righteousness (cf v.16)—deeds of power, as demonstrated by the one whose disciples they claim to be, Moses (vv. 28, 29). Willfully blind to the obvious conclusion to which the man points, they dismiss him as one “born entirely in sins” (which is exactly what Jesus has denied back in v. 3). They drive him from the synagogue.

Vv. 35-41, Scene 6: Jesus seeks out the man, now shamed and declared an outcast from the synagogue (precisely the fate of many early readers of this story). In something like a baptismal formula, Jesus asks the man to declare his faith in the “son of Man.” He answers, “Who he is, that I may believe?” Jesus answers: “You have seen him, and the one speaking to you is he.” He confesses: “Lord, I believe,’ and worships. This is precisely the path of aspirants to join the early church: seeking, hearing the Word, confessing, worshiping. The scene closes with a sort of epilogue that summarizes the preceding drama.as Jesus briskly settles the matter of who truly sees, and who it is in whom sin resides—those stubbornly blind to the present work of God.