"Sight for the Blind"

It’s amazing what they can do with your eyes these days! Having cataracts removed is outpatient work. Laser surgery restores vision so that glasses and contact lenses can be tossed in the garbage. But as much as science is able to do, we haven’t learned how to eradicate blindness completely from the human experience.

All the same, there is amazing technology out there to make life easier for those who can’t see. In Japan scientists are making cameras that are small enough to fit on a blind person’s glasses. The mini-cams recognize the white crosswalk lines and the stop & go lights, and through a miniature computer, processes the information, and gives verbal commands, like when it’s safe to cross the road, or which direction will keep him in the white lines. They are working on walking canes that detect approaching objects, warn of moving or parked cars, and they’re working on GPS technology that will map a blind man’s route, informing him when to turn and when he is near his favorite café.

Yet, as amazing as this technology is, it still can’t make every blind person see. What Jesus did in our Gospel reading simply cannot be outdone, even 2000 years later in this age of technological and medical achievement.

Imagine being blind. I don’t think you and I can really imagine that. Even in the darkness of Carlsbad Caverns, ten stories underground with all the lights off, if you hold your hand up in front of your face, you brain sees your hand there – even though there is no light. So being blind is really is hard to imagine.

This morning, we’re going to see how Jesus healed a man that was born blind. And as we look at this story, it’s going to become clear that this is also our story. We’ll see that Jesus has healed us too, but from a different kind of blindness. Jesus literally changed the way this man saw the world, and Jesus has done the same thing for us.

Jesus and his disciples were walking along, and they saw a blind man begging on the side of the road. They didn’t have a welfare system back then, and so if you couldn’t work, you were often forced into the street to beg. It was a common belief back in Jesus’ day that a disability was a punishment for sin. So the disciples asked Jesus what seemed like a logical a question; "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" They wanted to know whose fault it was that this man was blind.

Jesus answered that it was no one’s fault. The reason Jesus gave for this man’s birth defect is almost surprising; "This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." God was going to do something special in this man’s life, something big, something out of the ordinary – and being born blind was part of God’s plan.

Jesus immediately connects this situation with his earthly mission. "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work." In other words, Jesus was telling his disciples that he wasn’t going to mess around when it came to doing the work of the Heavenly Father. The time to deal with this blind man and to reveal the glory of God was right now.

Jesus told his disciples, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Jesus is giving a hint of what he’s going to do for that blind man. "I am the light of the world." For those living in darkness, for those that are blind - I’m going to do something for them – I’m going to be their light. I’m going to heal their blindness.

Then he spit on the ground, made some mud, put the mud on the blind man’s eyes, and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. And when the man did that, he was able to see, for the first time in his life. Can you imagine what that must have been like for that man? He could finally see what people looked like, what food looked like. The trees and flowers. The sky. Himself. Water. All these things he knew about, maybe even imagine, but could never see – and now he could.

Some things probably surprised him – how beautiful some things looked, that he had never seen before. And maybe there were a few things that he could now see that weren’t so pretty – things like crime or disease. His eyes were opened by the light of the world. What people don’t realize when they read this miracle is that Jesus probably had to rewire this man’s mind to be able to interpret what he was seeing.

There are stories of people who were born blind, and later in life, they had some of their sight restored because of some sort of operation. But they all had problems processing what they were seeing. Their brains couldn’t interpret the colors and the shapes because they had never dealt with those things before. That wasn’t the case with this man. Jesus totally healed him – his eyes, and his ability to understand what he was seeing.

But there was something else Jesus wanted to do for this man. You see, the eyes on his face were now opened. But the eyes of this man’s soul were still shut tight. But not for long. John goes on to describe how the religious leaders of that day were spiritually blind. The eyes on their face worked, but the eyes of their soul were shut tight. Those religious leaders interviewed the man who had been healed by Jesus, and the interview did not go well. They didn’t think Jesus could possibly be connected to God, because he had healed on the Sabbath – a direct violation of their man made additions to the Law. They asked the man what he thought, and the man said, "He is a prophet."

John tells us that they also interviewed the man’s parents. They were blind themselves and gave politically and socially correct answers. So the Pharisees still couldn’t see. They interviewed the man again, and the man held firm to his

The formerly blind man gives them a little lecture, a little lesson about the fact that if Jesus were not from God, he couldn’t do the things he does. The Pharisees were so spiritually blind that they finally said to the man, "You were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out," out of the synagogue. They literally kicked him out of church, which made him a social outcast. For the first time in his life, this man has a chance to make his own way, and just as quickly as the man’s sight is restored the Pharisees end that chance. Jews didn’t deal with Jews who had been put out of the synagogue.

But now we see Jesus perform the big miracle here – he opens the eyes of this man’s soul. Jesus found the man and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man. "Tell me who he is," the man said. Jesus basically says, "You’re looking at him." And then look at verse 38 – here’s the real miracle of this story – "Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him." The man became a believer.

In contrast to the spiritually blind Pharisees, the eyes of that man’s soul were opened wide by Jesus. And when he saw Jesus, he didn’t see just a prophet, or a man of God. With his brand new eyes of faith, he saw Jesus for who he really was – the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and he worshiped Jesus.

After Jesus healed the man, he said that this is why he had come into the world – so that those who do not see may see, and those see may become blind. In other words, so that he could give eyes of faith to those whose souls are spiritually blind. For those who think they know everything and keep rejecting the Word of God over and over again – for them, Jesus has come to make them even more blind.

Do you see how this man’s story is your story and my story? You and I were born into this world with the eyes of your soul glued shut. We were born spiritually blind. On our own, we can’t see Jesus. And when we can’t see Jesus, we can’t really see who God is. And when you can’t see God, lots of things don’t make sense in this world. Why am I here, on this planet? What is my purpose for existing? What am I doing here? Where am I going? When you can’t see Jesus Christ, you can’t see the answers to these questions. Maybe for some of you, you can remember how that felt, to be wandering through life with the eyes of your soul glued shut – trying the best you can to find your way, but without any success.

A number of years ago in California, fierce winds from a dust storm triggered a massive freeway pileup. At least 14 people died and dozens more were injured as topsoil whipped by 50 mile-per-hour winds reduced visibility to zero. The afternoon disaster left a three-mile trail of burning vehicles, some stacked on top of each other. The problem was, no one was able to see. But many of the motorists blindly drove ahead, right into the disaster. Spiritually, this is how we’re born. We can’t see what we need to see. And unless someone intervenes, we’re going to blindly drive our souls right into the disaster of hell, condemned and separated from God for an eternity.

But Jesus didn’t let this happen to us. He intervened. What Jesus did for this man in this story, Jesus has also done for you. He came to you, and he opened the eyes of your soul. For some of you, Jesus opened the eyes of your soul when he came to you in baptism. There, through water and the Word, Jesus gave you eyes of faith, so that you could see him, so that you could see God and understand and believe all these things that you had never seen or understood before.

For some of you, Jesus gave sight to your soul when you were older – and he came to you through the Word, and opened your eyes with the message of the Gospel. I forgive you, Jesus said. I died for you. You are my child, and I will be your shepherd. That’s the Gospel – and that’s how Jesus has opened your eyes to things about God you had never seen before.

There is the story of a 51 year old man who was blind, but after a complicated operation, he could see, and it worked out for him. And this is how he talked - "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow. I don’t have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can’t believe red. I can see the shape of the moon--and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful it to be able to see." And so it is for us. If it not for Jesus, we never would have known that God was so forgiving. If not for Jesus, we would never know that God is so wonderful, so good, so loving, so full of grace. It’s amazing that God would love me enough to send his Son, to die for me on a cross and take my sins away.

That’s why Jesus came. He came so that you can see all these things, so that you can believe all these things, and understand all these things, and have life, and have it to the full.

Three weeks from today is Easter Sunday. What better time than Easter to introduce someone to Jesus Christ? He can open their eyes, so that they can see the grace of God, just like you can right now. Jesus says the time to do that is right now. As long as it is day, as long as the world still exists, it is the time to share your Savior with others. Night is coming, when the opportunity to do that will be over.

By the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, we are empowered to lead those whose eyes haven’t been opened yet to meet their Savior. Christ is the Light of the world. Your eyes are open now. The blindness that condemns you has been vanquished. Jesus wants those who cannot see to be able to see. As the light of the world, He wants to illuminate the darkness of our lives. Amen.