Law & Order: The New Testament - The Healing of the Man Born Blind

The sermon manuscript from the fourth Sunday in Lent.

Based on John 9:1-41 - The Healing of the Man Born Blind. 

The story of the man born blind in John’s Gospel reads like the script from the TV show Law & Order. Produced by Dick Wolf, it ran for 19 years, artistically documenting the struggles and triumphs of the criminal justice system in New York City. It had drama and mystery and intrigue. A great cast of characters we could all relate to. And the main characters always seemed to have some life altering moment. This morning’s story from John could be a lost episode of Law & Order. It’s got all the makings of a good drama. Intense dialogue. Intrigue. Mystery. A cast of characters we can all relate to. Just imagine - Law & Order: The New Testament...

    “In the Jewish temple system, the people are guided in their lives of faith by the Pharisees. In John’s Gospel, the power of the Pharisees is challenged by Jesus, the Son of Humanity. These are there stories.”

    In this episode of Law & Order: The New Testament the plot is driven by Jesus’ healing of a man born blind. The show opens with Jesus and his disciples continuing their journey to Jerusalem. Today they encounter a man who was blind from birth. The drama begins with the disciples and Jesus in a dialogue about the cause of the blindness - who sinned to make this happen? Jesus declares that sin is not the cause. He rubs the man’s eyes with mud made of dirt and saliva. And sends him to the pool.
    The drama continues when the man discovers that he can see, but upon returning  to the village, there is confusion over who he is and what has happened. As as he walks into the village, the whispers begin. “Is that the guy who used to beg on main street?” “ I don’t know - sure looks like him.” The man begins to frantically defend his healing - “It’s me, I promise you.” He fumbles in his wallet for his I.D. card….
    The confused neighbors take him to the experts, the Pharisees. The remainder of the episode involves tense questioning of both the healed man and his parents. There are multiple interviews and commentary from the “experts” - those law abiding Pharisees. The Pharisees’ arguments provide intrigue. Facts are uncovered - the healing took place on the Sabbath, surely this man cannot be of God, can he? The mystery of the healing must be solved - just who is this Jesus. And all the while the man who has been healed gets the run around by the so-called experts. No one celebrates the healing. They all get lost in arguments.
    The episode concludes with Jesus, who has been absent for most of the show. Having over heard the shouting match, Jesus talks to the man he healed, who ironically has never seen Jesus. Its a brief exchange that leaves the man confessing his faith in Jesus. Jesus comments that he has come into the world as a reversal, so that the blind may see and those who can see may become blind. The Pharisees overhead this statement and question Jesus about their blindness - surely we are not blind, are we? Jesus leaves them with the statement that their sin remains, as good as declaring them blind to his activities on behalf of God. The Pharisees miss their life-changing moment. The camera pans out. The show rolls to credits.  Cue the theme music.
    It is a story riddled with drama. Perfect for our high-strung viewing pleasure. And with such great characters, the ratings are sure to be high.
    This story from John almost preaches itself. That’s what good stories do. The theme of light and darkness that starts from the prologue of the Gospel, sets the tone right out of the gate. Jesus has come as the light of the world. He is different from the darkness of the world - the brokenness, the sin, the separation from God. He has come to demonstrate how God engages the world - in self-sacrificing love and healing. Today, we encounter this in two ways from Jesus; his statement and his signs.
    Jesus declares, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The “I am” statement points us back to Moses and the burning bush. When Moses asks who shall I say send me God tells him to say “I AM WHO I AM.” God is the great “I am” - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the living. Jesus takes up the divine name as part of his ministry and uses it to declare exactly who he is and what he has come to do. 
    The second moment comes when the Pharisees ask about a sign - “How can a man who is a sinner preform such signs?” The clue from John is found in the word “signs.” The signs moments are key moments in John’s Gospel. We encounter the signs of Jesus in the turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, the feeding of the multitude in the wilderness, Jesus walking on water, or the raising of Lazarus. In the signs, John is telling us something important and true about Jesus - that is what the signs are meant to communicate. The sign in the healing the man born blind points us to Jesus, who renews our ability to be in relationship with God.
    Jesus is the sign. Jesus is the light of the world - literally. Jesus is the way for us to encounter God. The lesson for us to take away is not so much about physical sight. It’s about how we encounter and engage Jesus, and thus, about how we renew our relationship with God. The result of the man born blind’s healing is that he confesses his faith in Jesus. That’s it. Jesus’ act of healing brings about a confession of faith and a life that is now engaged in a relationship with God. While this is not the end-all-be-all of Jesus’ ministry, its a starting point for the community that follows him. We are drawn into a relationship of trusting and knowing that Jesus is the light and salvation of the world.    
    The problem with the Pharisees is that they think they know it all. They were not open to God’s continuing revelation in their midst. They were not open to what Jesus could teach them about being in a relationship with God and with the world. The Pharisees spent all their time trying to prove that they are right. They do everything by the book, that is to say the law. They live out their call to keep the law, but they do it with such a judicial hammer that they completely cut out the light of Christ that has come into the world.
    One of the rules they follow is the Sabbath. The Pharisees guarded the Sabbath with an iron fist – so much that they could not see God at work when Jesus was giving new life to the man born blind. According to the Pharisees, the man could not possibly have been healed outside of their system of healing. But it was not so much the healing. It was the method. Jesus, a sinner according to their rules, was wrong.
    What makes Pharisees is us here in the season of Lent is our quest to play God. And we come by this naturally. It’s a part of our broken world and the fallenness of sin. From an early age we learn to build walls and boundaries. Churches and denominations assume the power to decide who is in and who is out of the kingdom of God. And sometimes we get caught up in this movement. We attempt to mark the boundaries of God’s kingdom. We decide who is in and who is our based on rules that are not of God’s decree. And we fall into the trap of the Pharisees. We struggle to see God at work. We struggle to encounter the light of Christ.
    Jesus does not get caught up in the game of the Pharisees - he simply heals. He does not kneel down to the man born blind and ask if he wants to be healed - “Do you want to be healed…ok…fill out these forms…sign on the dotted line…get them notarized at the court house…see you tomorrow.” This is not how Jesus works. Jesus encounters those in need and reaches out to meet those needs. And we are called to deal with it.
    In a time of requirements and forms and red-tape, Jesus simply heals and demonstrates God’s saving love for the world. Its no deeper than that. Jesus heals because that’s what God does. God heals. That’s grace. And we are called to follow. We are called and empowered to live out the depths of God’s grace. That’s the heart of baptism.
    Baptism is not our event - it’s God’s promise for now and forever more. We are invited to participate, to wade into the waters of new life. The waters of God’s promise. As we draw near the cross, we are reminded of our need for God’s grace, and for what God has already done for us, and for the world, on the cross.