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As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."


The Lord giveth sight to the blind.
-- Prayer Book, Church of England, 1662



The sixth sign and miracle is the restoration of sight to a man born blind. Along with the gift of physical sight there came an increasing spiritual insight and sight. The blind man in his relationship to Jesus received the gift of a growing and dynamic faith. The mud was truly washed out of his eyes and he received new wisdom and understanding. He received the courage to witness to his faith and became wondrously alive.


Once I had an associate pastor whose wife, Susan, was born blind. She was a beautiful woman with a strong faith and marvelous spirit, and how she could sing. Hers was one of those golden voices with great range that could lift and inspire the listener. To me she had the voice of an angel, and Susan could "see" in many ways. During the coffee hour between our Sunday worship services I would often sit down and converse with Susan. One day I discovered she was a Minnesota Viking football fan and she proceeded to talk about the game that had taken place on the previous Sunday. In fact, she described the game in such vivid detail that I forgot for a moment that she was blind.

My wife, Judy, and Susan became good friends and often sat together toward the front of the worship center. As I led the morning worship I noticed the two of them were laughing so hard that both of them were shaking. Later, I discovered that Judy had said to Susan that she was having trouble singing the hymns because she had forgotten her glasses. Susan promptly replied, "So you think you have problems seeing!"

Susan, though blind, had a sparkling sense of humor. Not only that, she could see and sense the people around her in remarkable ways. How often before the worship people would come up to Judy and talk to her and greet her in the narthex not saying anything to Susan standing next to her. It was almost as if they didn't see or notice her because she was blind. Perhaps they were uncomfortable because they were not used to being around the blind, but Susan felt their presence and noticed them. At times it was as if she could see and feel the personalities and dress of those around her. One day she said to Judy, "That woman is dressed kind of dowdy today, isn't she?"

In the Gospel of John our attention is focused upon a man born blind. Obviously he was a well-known character and beggar in the streets of Jerusalem. Even the disciples of Jesus knew who he was. One day when the blind man was coming down the street the disciples raised the question as to whether the man's blindness was a result of his sins or the sins of his parents. To their way of thinking there was a close relationship between blindness and sin. If a person lived a sinful life it would result in sicknesses and accidents. According to the book of Exodus the sins of the parents had an affect upon the children. The writer pictures the Lord God as saying, "I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20:5-6). Jesus was quick to answer, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him" (John 9:3).1

This is the setting of the sixth sign or miracle through which we can catch sight and insight into what it really means to be able to see. The miracle before us lets us know that there are two kinds of blindness, physical and spiritual. There can be blindness in our eyes, and blindness in our minds and spirits. There can be an inward blindness that can affect what we see or don't see. There can be an inward blindness that can keep us from the abundant life Jesus wants us to have.

Back in 1991, there was an article in the New York Times magazine concerning a group of more than one hundred women who lived in Long Beach, California. These women were Cambodian refugees who witnessed the horror and tortures of the Pol Pot Regime. They were declared certifiably blind even though doctors said their eyes functioned perfectly well. These women suffered from psychosomatic or hysterical blindness. They were really blind, but their blindness stemmed from their minds.

Of course psychosomatic disorders are nothing new. We know that the state of our minds can affect our speech, our hearing, and our memory, as well as our sight. It is said that scientists really do not understand this phenomenon, only that it shows the power of the mind over the body. One researcher attempted to explain the refugees' disorder as follows: "Losing eyesight makes sense if you are trying to escape the stress of a situation. At the movie theater you don't cover your ears when grotesque and loud violence comes on the screen. You'll always cover your eyes."2

Recently there came to my attention a phenomenon called "blindsight." Studies show that certain blind people have become sightless as a result of stroke or brain injury, rather than damage to the eye, and some of these people do a remarkable thing. If an object is put in front of them and if they are asked to reach for the object, they will say it is impossible, since they cannot see it. But if they are persuaded to try, they will find the object with a certainty that amazes even themselves. This uncanny ability is called "blindsight." Anthony Marcel, a psychologist at Cambridge University, who has done research on "blindsight" states that "these people theoretically have superb vision, but they don't know they can see. The brain damage that has rendered these patients blind is not in those areas that have to do with seeing. Technically their vision is fine. What their eyes see, however, is never transmitted to the part of the brain that brings vision into awareness. They can see -- they just don't know it."3

Now we return to the gospel story. Jesus is aware of blindness. He knows that blindness is caused by many things. He knows that blindness can be a channel of healing not just for the eyes but for the mind and spirit and heart. It is Jesus who reaches out to the blind man. It is Jesus who wants this man not only to see physically but spiritually as well. He spits upon the ground and makes some mud and packs it into his eyes and tells him to go and wash out his eyes in the pool of Siloam located within the walls of the city of Jerusalem. This pool of water came from the Gihon Spring outside the city walls and flowed through a tunnel that was dug through solid rock centuries before during the days of Hezekiah. Siloam means "sent" and refers to the water sent through the tunnel into the heart of the city. When one thinks of this pool of water it is easy to think of Jesus as the water of life sent to us to reach out to our blindness that keeps us from being more alive than ever.4

Now we look upon an amazing sight. A blind man stumbling along with mud in his eyes being led by his friends through the streets and down into the pool of Siloam. When he washes out his eyes he can see! He must have run through the streets shouting, "I can see! I can see!" No question about it. This miracle of sight began to stir the whole city.

James L. Kraft, a renowned Christian layperson, recalls as a great turning point in his life the day that he met a certain kindly eye doctor. James was a fourteen-year-old boy, one of a family of eleven children, living on a farm in Canada. In his book, Adventure in Jade, he relates that he had never been able to distinguish objects clearly. His nearsightedness was so acute and so distressing that he assumed everyone on earth suffered continuously from furious headaches, and that all the earth had the blurry image of a boat seen from under water. One summer an eye doctor from the city was vacationing in the vicinity, and young James was taking care of the doctor's horse and buggy. Noting his extreme nearsightedness, the eye doctor insisted that James go to the city with him to be fitted with a pair of glasses. In that gift of glasses Kraft gratefully recalls, "He gave me the earth and all that was in it, completely in focus and beautiful beyond anything I could have dreamed ... I cannot think of another act of human kindness," Kraft concludes, "in my lifetime which can compare with that of the good doctor."5

Jesus not only healed the blind man but sought him out. Some years ago there was a great revival that spread across America. There was a remarkable turning back to God and return to the churches, similar to what happened following the attack upon and destruction of the Twin Towers by the terrorists. In evangelism services people began to speak of finding Jesus. There were even bumper stickers on many cars that said, "I Found Him!" Then I began to notice more and more bumper stickers that said, "Jesus Found Me!" It was true with the blind man and it is true with us today. Jesus has sought and is seeking us out to give us new sight and insight into what we can become. Jesus comes to make us more alive than ever. He comes to give us new abilities to see outwardly and inwardly so that the world around us is more in focus and more beautiful beyond anything we could have dreamed. Some time ago I wrote a little verse that has become a daily prayer in my life, and it can be yours as well: "I'm looking for you Jesus, O find me now today, and lift me on the high road, to walk along your way. Jesus Savior be forever near me. And let me hear you say, Lord, 'Come abide with me.' "

When you read the rest of the ninth chapter of John you discover that when the blind man could see again, it affected many people. It certainly affected the parents who were afraid of the Pharisees. It affected the crowds who more and more believed in Jesus as a prophet from God because he healed the sick and caused the blind to see. It affected the Pharisees who wanted to get rid of Jesus since he had broken the law by healing on the Sabbath. They wondered what was wrong with this Jesus. He could have healed a man born blind on any other day except the Sabbath. To their way of thinking it was an open defiance of the laws. Such a one could not be the Messiah that was to come. Yet even some of the Pharisees had mixed feelings. The healed blind man was a walking miracle that everyone could see. Anyone who could heal a man born blind must be from God.

The blind man who could now see affected his friends and neighbors. They could hardly believe that this man was the former beggar in the streets. If you who are reading this were born blind and suddenly were able to see, you would be different. You would walk differently. Your appearance would change. The way you talked would be more animated and direct. Your whole mind and spirit and actions would be different. You might even run through the streets shouting, "I can see! I can see!"

Yet many people who have physical eyes that can see are blind in many ways. We can have mud in our eyes that keeps us from the sight and insight necessary to really be able to see. Prejudice of any kind is like mud. So is anger and hatred. Ignorance is like mud producing darkness that can keep us from seeing what we should see. The lack of visions and dreams is a mud that keeps us from seeing what we can do and what we can be. Anxiety and worry and stresses of life are like a mud producing blindness that keeps us from being focused on today and the present moment and the opportunity to serve. And Jesus sees us stumbling along. He comes to us. He finds us. He asks us to wash our eyes in his water of life, so that we can see him and his power. And when we can see clearly again, we will know him as our Lord and Savior. We become more alive than ever.

The man born blind was able to see physically and then slowly, but surely, began to see spiritually. Like the dawning of a new day he began to realize who Jesus was. In his first conversation with the Pharisees he spoke of the one who healed him as the man called Jesus. Later on he said to them that Jesus was a prophet since only a prophet could enable a man born blind to see. In fact, he went so far as to say, "Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing" (John 9:32-33). The Pharisees were so angered by his words that they drove him away.

Though now isolated in many ways from his parents, his neighbors, and friends this man continued to search for the truth. He longed for an abundant more fulfilling life. Well, wonder of wonders, Jesus sought him out again. He spoke and reasoned with him. Suddenly there came to him through the words of Jesus the conviction that Jesus was the Son of God sent into the world. We are told quite clearly that he exclaimed to Jesus, "Lord, I believe," and that then he worshiped him (John 9:38). Now he could really see and he became wonderfully alive.

Helen Keller is the name of a woman who not only was born blind but also deaf. She once wrote, "I learned that it is possible for us to create light, sound, and order no matter what calamity may befall us in the outer world."6 Blindness in need of light is such a part of life, even for the very young. As I write this there is, in our state of Iowa, a seven-year-old girl who can see the light. Her name is Annabelle Costanzo. She was born fifteen weeks premature in July, 1996. She was diagnosed with retinopathy of the eyes, a condition in babies born when their eyes are still developing. Sight improves for many children born with the condition, but in Annabelle's case, it caused rapid blindness.

Early on, Annabelle's parents, Nick and Gina Costanzo, designed a light box made with a light that could be turned on and off and it mesmerized Annabelle for a period of three years when she had some limited vision. Then for the last four years she has been completely blind and the light box was put away into storage. Just recently Annabelle underwent eye surgery in Detroit. Her doctor, Michael Trese, said it might allow her to see some light and, possibly, color. After Annabelle came home the parents pulled the light box out of storage. Annabelle pressed her face to the top of the box in the family's darkened basement, as her mother slowly and quietly adjusted a dial on the side.

"Is it on or off?" Gina Costanzo asked when the light was turned on as high as it would go.

"On," Annabelle said.

Gina flipped off the light.

"Off," Annabelle said immediately, tapping her fingers excitedly against the plastic top.

The room erupted in applause.

Annabelle beamed.

It was the first time in four years the girl had detected light. While her family was elated that Annabelle could see the light, there was no indication that she could see colors. Placing blue and red slides on the light produced no reaction, and a flashing, multicolored disco ball did not appear to register in Annabelle's eyes.

Annabelle is likely to require many more surgeries before her sight is noticeably improved. Seeing the light is a first step toward what they hope will be a greater range of sight someday, her parents said.7

Now seeing and experiencing the light of Jesus is important to really being able to see opportunities to serve outwardly and greater truths inwardly, even if one is physically blind. Robert Schuller tells the story of Stanley Krawczyk who was 21 years old when he had an accident which left him blind. Yet his faith and a sense of humor carried him through. Eventually Stanley became a dynamic leader in his community. Stanley had such a zest for fun that it became a driving force to bring some levity into the lives of those who were dreary and depressed. He began to plan parties at the local hospital. Every month he rounded up ninety volunteers, hired an orchestra, and gave the patients the best time of their lives.

Next Stanley put his talents to work in a children's home where he planned picnics with ice cream, pop machines, hot dogs, and an orchestra. All they could eat for free! Over 100 children enjoyed the picnic thanks to Stanley. He also raised $5,000 to construct a shelter for outside activities. Then he planned parties and dances for a retirement home and again, the food was all free.

Stanley laughs as he tells about the time he was called by the American Cancer Society. They asked if he would be willing to drive people to the hospital, and Stanley did not let on that he was blind. Instead he called around and found someone to drive. For two years he and his friends drove patients to their appointments. One day Stanley had a heart attack and wasn't able to do his volunteer work anymore. It was then that the people of the Cancer Society discovered that their reliable driver was blind!

Life has been full for Stanley Krawczyk. He has brought laughter and fun into lives that would have known nothing but despair. Not only have patients' lives been touched, but also all the volunteers that he has ministered to through the years.

After forty years of helping people, Stanley says, "I count my blessings and thank God for allowing me to go blind. It was very difficult at first ... but I wouldn't have lived the life I've lived had I not been blind. One can be blind in his eyes but that doesn't make him blind in his heart."8

With Helen Keller, Stanley, and Annabelle, and a mighty host of others, we can know that there are two kinds of blindness -- the blindness of the eyes and the blindness of the heart. Jesus our Lord, alive today, comes to us and finds us! He seeks to bring us to the light. With his wonderful, immeasurable water of life he can wash the mud out of our eyes and makes us more alive than ever.




Reflection And Discussion

Thought Questions

1.
Why does Jesus say that the man was born blind?


2.
What steps did the man have to take to receive his sight? Why?


3.
Why were the Pharisees so angry at Jesus for healing a blind man?


4.
How do you think you would feel if you were the parents of the man born blind?




Agree Or Disagree

�
It is important to come to Jesus and ask in order to receive healing power.


�
All sickness and disease are a result of sin.




Endnotes

1.�William Barclay, The New Daily Bible Study, The Gospel of John, Vol. 2 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975), pp. 37-52.

2.�"They Cried Until They Could Not See" -- Patrick Cooke, Vol. 140, New York Times magazine, June 23, 1991, p. 24, et seg.

3.�Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., Vital Lies Simple Truths (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985).

4.�Op. cit., Barclay.

5.�Leo Buscalgia, Bus 9 to Paradise (New York: Slack, Inc., 1986), p. 51.

6.�"Annabelle" story from The Des Moines Register, November 4, 2003.

7.�Ibid.

8.�Robert H. Schuller, Life's Not Fair But God is Good (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), pp. 153-157.


Other Resources

V. Eugene Johnson, The Seven Signs in the Gospel of John (Rock Island, Illinois: Augustana Book Concern, 1955), pp. 52-60.

Roger L. Fredrikson (Lloyd J. Ogilvie, General Editor), The Communicator's Commentary -- John, Vol. 4 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1985), pp. 167-178.