“That the Works of God Might Be Displayed” (John 9:1-39)
I didn’t know it was against the Law
to make mud pies on the Sabbath. That’s
apparently what the Pharisees believed.
They seemed to be upset about the fact that Jesus made some mud and put
it on the eyes of a blind man.
But why DID Jesus use mud and tell the
man to go wash? If he wanted to—and at
other times he did—he could just say the word, and the man would be
healed. We don’t know for sure why Jesus
did what he did in this case. We can
take an educated guess, though, seeing how the Pharisees reacted.
For one thing, Jesus was probably sending
a message about the foolishness of man-made traditions and laws that had been
added to God’s Word and by which people thought they were gaining God’s
favor. One of those laws was that you
weren’t supposed to knead dough on Sabbath.
That would be work, something you weren’t supposed to do on the Sabbath
Day. “NO MUD PIES!!!” And so Jesus broke that man-made law by kneading
some mud together. Or perhaps the
Pharisees thought that making mud was the work of a bricklayer, again something
you weren’t supposed to do on the Sabbath.
When he reached down to the dirt, Jesus
may also have been pointing us back to the book of Genesis. In the beginning, God’s creative power was
shown as he took some dirt and made a man.
Here, Jesus’ creative power as God was shown as he took some dirt and
made a man see.
Even the place where Jesus sent him to
wash has significance. On the last day
of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, water from the spring-fed pool of Siloam
was taken and poured out at the temple. And
throughout the feast, a huge menorah gave light in the temple courts. Perhaps Jesus told the man to wash in the pool
of Siloam to emphasize that He is the living water who gives light to blind
eyes. Remember how last week we heard
Jesus tell the Samaritan woman at the well that he would give her living
water. And here Jesus says in the
hearing of this blind man, “I am the
light of the world.”
All this was meant to show “That the
Works of God Might Be Displayed” in this man’s life through Jesus. That was the issue at hand for the disciples,
when they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?” That was the common belief in those days. Not much different than today, either, is
it? When bad things happen to us, our
first questions may go something like this: “Have I done something to deserve
this? Is God punishing me for my sin?” We might also blame our parents for something
that has gone wrong in our life, rather than take personal responsibility and
admitting our faults. Moreover, when
tragedy strikes, people often begin to wonder where God is in all of it.
Jesus used this occasion to teach his
disciples—and you and me—that our circumstances are not necessarily the direct
result of any particular sin. Regarding
the blind man, Jesus said, “It was not
that this man sinned, or his parents.”
That’s not to say they were not sinners.
They were. And we all live in a
broken world where bad things happen…like blindness or other diseases. Or tragedies, like mudslides that bring death
and destruction. But Jesus explains that
this man was born blind so “that the
works of God might be displayed in him.”
And that’s the way you can look at anything that happens to you. God can use the circumstances and
events of your life and display his works in you.
The works of God were displayed in
showing the blind man mercy (1-7, 13-17). Jesus first showed
mercy to the man by explaining his ailment.
You can be sure the blind man heard what Jesus had to say. The blind often have a keen sense of hearing,
so this man probably hung on every word that Jesus said. Not only that, but Jesus was right there in
his presence, talking to the disciples.
Having heard what Jesus said, you can imagine the relief which he felt
after years of guilt and resentment. He
probably thought, like everyone else, that he was being punished for something. That’s why he was blind. But Jesus offered him hope, when he
mercifully declared, “It was not that
this man sinned, or his parents.”
Also, Jesus showed mercy to this man by
giving him attention and touch. This man
is representative of all who are overlooked in the world, all the lonely and
hurting whom we pass by without giving a second thought, but for whom Christ
also died and rose. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me
while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” Notice that Jesus says, “we” must
work. You and I share in Christ’s work
as we show mercy to others. He has given
us daylight—every day of our life—to work for him…to serve others with his love
and mercy. There will come a day when no
one can work…the day of our death. Our
time is limited here. Therefore, God
calls us to take every opportunity to reach out to others with his love and
mercy so that the works of God might be displayed.
The works of God were also displayed in
leading this man to Jesus (35-38). But first, our text says, “They had cast him out.” The Pharisees kicked him out of the
synagogue. This poor man went seemingly out
of the frying pan and into the fire…from blindness with its accompanying guilt
to excommunication with its accompanying condemnation. And all this because of his confession that
Jesus was a prophet, acknowledging that his healing came from God.
But Jesus never loses sight of those in
whom he has taken a personal interest, and so he seeks the man out. He earnestly desires to draw this man closer
to himself, to lead him to a saving faith.
Likewise, Jesus never loses sight of you! He has taken a personal interest in you, and
he earnestly desires to draw you closer to himself. And isn’t that obvious, considering all that
Jesus has done for you…going to the cross for you, washing you in the waters of
Holy Baptism, giving you his very own body and blood in Holy Communion?
Like the blind man, God can work in
the midst of your suffering to draw you closer to Jesus. As we do the work that God has sent us to do,
sharing in Christ’s work, we can bring Jesus to others, too, helping them to endure
their troubles and tragedies, their illnesses and ailments…even if physical
healing does not occur, even if things don’t get any better. Jesus is still with us and will give us
strength to endure…because he gives us his light to SEE in the midst of our
darkness. With the light of Christ, we
can see the bigger picture. We can see
that God is working even when absolutely awful events occur.
Patricia
St. John was an English author who spent over 25 years of her life as a missionary
nurse and aid worker in the Middle East and Africa. At one point, she was in Sudan serving war
refugees. They had suffered terribly and
had lost everything, yet those among them who were Christians still gave thanks
to God. One night, she stood in a
crowded little Sudanese church listening to those uprooted believers singing
joyfully. This was a life-changing moment
for her. “We would have changed their
circumstances,” she said, “but we would not have changed them.” She realized
that God “does not always lift people out of the situation. He Himself comes into the situation … He does
not pluck them out of the darkness. He
becomes the light in the darkness.”[1]
The works of God were also displayed when
spiritual life was worked in the former blind man (38).
You know, a person can have perfect 20/20 vision, but still not see
Jesus…not know the true God…not know who Jesus is. That’s the way it was for the man in our text
today. Jesus had to come and work
spiritual life in this man. He could now
see, but his spiritual sight was still imperfect. He had been a part of the synagogue. He had heard the promises of the Messiah .
Perhaps he even trusted in those promises. Now, Jesus graciously reveals himself to this
man.
The understanding of this man about Jesus
grew from a man he had never seen but only heard, to a man he saw with his eyes
and confessed to be a prophet, to a man in whom he trusted, a man whom he worshipped. The eyes of his heart were opened, and he
truly saw Jesus for the first time…not just as a prophet, but as God. Jesus received the man into a new life, apart
from the old ways, apart from man-made laws and traditions, into a life of
faith in Him.
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see,
and those who see may become blind.”
That is the terrible judgment that is laid upon those who cling so
tenaciously to their own self-righteousness.
For the Pharisees, their hearts were hardened even more. Even though they could see with their eyes, they
were in reality truly blind. But for the
man who was once blind, his heart was opened to faith, he was truly enlightened. And that is the gift that God gives to all
who come to him, acknowledging their own blindness, and receiving true sight to
know Jesus as their Savior.
The faith that God gives assures us
that suffering serves a great purpose. God
uses suffering to mold and shape us. God
uses suffering to drive us to his Word and promises.
More important, however, than what our
suffering does is what Christ’s suffering has done for us. Christ’s suffering served a great
purpose. The works of God were displayed
at the cross. The Light of the World
endured the darkness of the sin of the world and shined forth when the stone
was rolled away from the tomb.
Jesus is the Light of the World for you. He has put the mud of his creative power on your
eyes, so that you can see him for who he is.
You have been washed in the pool of Siloam which we call the font, and
the Spirit was poured out upon you so that you might believe and worship Jesus …
so you can rightly see how the works of God are displayed in your life.
Amen.
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