A
person has to learn to see; it doesn’t “just come naturally.” But someone also
has to make an effort not to see.
The
gospel account about Jesus giving sight to a man born blind raises a number of
interesting questions. (The man isn’t named in the gospel, but I’ll call him
“Simon” to avoid repetition of “the man.”) How could Jesus give the
power of sight to someone just by putting some mud on his eyes and telling him
to go and wash it off? Why do people so often, like Jesus’ disciples, assume
that a disability like blindness must be due to someone’s sin? And did God
actually cause Simon to be born blind so that, years later, “God’s works
might be revealed in him”?
A
sermon could be devoted to any of those questions, but that would miss the
point of this story in John’s gospel, the gospel that at its very beginning
tells us, “The light of all people ... shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it.”1 And from that point on, there are a number of
references to light and darkness, which also suggest the ideas of being able to
see as well as not being able to see. We’re told that those who are
illumined by that light, Jesus Christ, are brought to know the true God and to
have fullness of life.
Thus,
in the third chapter of the Gospel of John, there is a conversation between
Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, and Jesus.2 We’re told that Nicodemus
came to Jesus “by night,” which might seem to be a minor detail. But John’s
gospel often operates on two levels. There’s the obvious meaning of the text
and a deeper “spiritual” meaning. Nicodemus may have come to Jesus after the
sun had set, but he also comes as a person with some lack of spiritual insight.
He just doesn’t get what Jesus is about. This is shown by the fact that when
Jesus speaks of the need to be born “anew,”3 Nicodemus is puzzled,
thinking that he’s talking about being born for a second time in the usual
biological way. In reality, Jesus is referring to being born of God’s Spirit. But
Nicodemus is b
...approximately 1,327 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.
