Fourth Sunday in Lent: Gospel, John 9:1-41                                  

John 9:1-41

I love this account. Jesus the healer. Jesus the Rabbi. Or is there more to it? More to Him?  One of the dangers of reading the accounts of the miraculous works of our Savior is just that-reading the accounts. Please don’t misunderstand. Reading and REREADING the accounts of Jesus in all His ministry is critically important. But how often upon reading them, and especially those with which we are most familiar, do we “file them” and chalk up one more reading exercise? Jesus is real. His works have real effect. People rejoiced because of them. People were angered because of them. Families divided. People chose sides. And that is evident in the gospel reading this week.

But one thing there is here that I want you to pick up on. I find myself almost tripping on it each time I encounter “the man born blind,” as he has come to be known. And it is something the now-seeing man speaks regarding Jesus. The opponents of Jesus are upset because Jesus has done this miracle on the Sabbath. The crowd who has experienced the miracle divides around the Sabbath issue and then the parents of the man are interrogated. Not wanting to jeopardize their standing in the synagogue, they defer to their healed son who is old enough to speak for himself. A bit cowardly of the parents, perhaps. But let’s move on.

So the antagonists confront the man himself with this: “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes” (John 9:17)? Now get ready. How would you have answered? “He’s a miracle man.” “He’s a magician.” “He’s a healer.” That’s where I would have gone. But take this in. The man responds, “He is a prophet.”

Wait a minute. The man points to Jesus as One who brings the light of God’s Word. No possibility that the man isn’t thrilled to see for the first time in his life. But his answer points to a reality that I believe comes to him from the Spirit who works through Jesus. Even the Nicene Creed makes the claim that the Holy Spirit spoke by the prophets. This  sighted man is enthralled with the “Word Man.” “He is a prophet.” The man had heard the thunder of God from the lips of this traveling Rabbi. I have to believe he would have loved and followed Jesus without the healing. But the healing was simply the outward reflection of the Light that Jesus always brings. In His Word.

“In Your light, we see light.”

- Psalm 36:9