Reflection on John 11:1-45

 

John 11:1-45 (NRSVue)

¹ Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶ after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
  ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.” ¹¹ After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

  ¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

  ²⁸ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to weep. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

  ³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

  ⁴⁵ Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.

Reflection

If you have ever wanted to have a glimpse of what the resurrected life might look like, if you have ever wanted to see what eternal life and peace could be, then we need look no further than the story of Lazarus.  The story of Lazarus gives us a glimpse of what eternal life is all about, just as it gave Lazarus a glimpse of that life with Jesus.

But, to show you that life, I want to start by looking at the scenes immediately following the raising of Lazarus.  We see scenes that show Lazarus and Jesus sitting at the table together.  But, the image of tables and chairs created in our modern heads is not quite the image for which the writer of John was going.  The Bible says that “Lazarus was one of those reclining with [Jesus]” (John 12:2).  You see, in the ancient world they did not use tables and chairs as we do today.  Rather, people ate at low tables or on large, fancy rugs, and they lay at these low tables filled with food, reclining next to one another, with their heads facing the middle, facing the food.  So, Lazarus is lying close to Jesus at the table.  In fact, during one of these meals, the disciple that Jesus loved (a follower of Jesus who I am convinced is Lazarus) that beloved one is lying with his head against Jesus.  So, the image that I want you to have in your head is one where Lazarus is leaning against Jesus; lying as close to Jesus’ heart as one can get. 

It is an ancient image of close friendship.  It is an image of compete trust.  It is an image of being as close to a person as you can possibly get.  It is an image of what the resurrected life is all about: being close to Jesus’ heart.

I like that image.  I need that image.  It is an image of trust, and rest, and hope in the middle of a dark and threatening world.  Lazarus is reclining at peace near Jesus, even though religious leaders are plotting to take this newly raised man’s life.  Jesus is holding onto Lazarus, unwilling to depart from him, even though the cross looms in the near future.  Like a flower that clings to its lily pad even in the roughest of seas, Lazarus clings to his savior as the waters rage and roar around.  And, as he does so, he is at peace.  He is at peace as he reclines at the table, close to his savior.

I just happen to know that the waters of many of your lives have definitely raged and roared recently, if not raging and roaring right now.  For some of you, illness is creating a wave of uncertainty and fear.  Death also knocks on the door of some of your lives, creating a wave of uncertainty and fear.  Some of you have seen long time relationships fail in mere moments, threatening to drown you with sorrow.  It all makes me think of a man that I worked with who used to say, “If there was nothing to worry about, I would worry about that.”  I suppose he has a point, you never know when the next wave is going to crash.  The dark waters are always there, threatening to drown us. 

Yet, Lazarus is a peace, resting near his Lord.  How?  How can he be so at peace?  Maybe, it is because he has been raised from the dead.

Apparently, knowing that Jesus will raise you from the dead changes things. 

Remember, at the beginning of the story, Lazarus was sick and his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus, telling him that he needed to come quickly.  However, Jesus did not come quickly.  The Bible says that even “though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus…[Jesus] stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:5-6). 

That means that Lazarus was not healed.  Lazarus died.  When Jesus did not come to heal his friend Lazarus, you would think that Lazarus and his family would fear that the Lord does not care and cannot be trusted.  How could they have known that God had better things in mind that they could not possibly know about at the time?

Eventually, Jesus does come.  Do not forget that this is a dangerous choice for both he and his disciples.  The authorities are already onto Jesus, and they are waiting for a chance to capture him.  Jesus’ decision to come and do signs in Bethany, a region that is dangerous to him, will eventually bring about tragic and amazing cross related consequences, but not yet.

First, Jesus meets up with his good friends, Mary and Martha.  The anxiety and sadness of the days explode onto Jesus as they both accuse him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” (John 11:21 and 11:32). 

How could he have neglected Lazarus.  They know Jesus has healed a dying boy, healed a paralytic, healed a blind man, changed water into wine, and has even walked on water without drowning.  He and the Father are one.  God the Father will do whatever Jesus asks.  So, why was he not there?  Why was he not present when he was needed?  Why did Jesus not stop the tide from raging in and drowning them all? 

A drowning rush of anger and grief crashes out from the sister’s lips.  Someone nearby joins in: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37).

And, I want to stop right there for a moment and just allow that anger to exist.  Because it is real.  Sometimes grief crushes us and we do not understand why it happened.  Why were you not there Jesus?  Why did you not stop a terrible thing from happening?  I do not have answers for you, but I just want to point out that the Bible shows us that it is OK to be angry and it is OK to ask those questions.

To Mary and Martha’s anger, Jesus answers their accusations, not with anger of his own, not with words of rebuke, not with words of defense concerning what he is up to; rather he answers with a promise, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  And then, “Jesus began to weep” (John 11:35).

Jesus is not unaware of their pain.  He feels it too.  Jesus is not unmoved by their loss.  He grieves his friend too.  Jesus is not distant from them.  He is right there, sharing their pain.  And, Jesus will soon join the rest of the world’s pain on the cross, but not yet.  First, he will give life, and give it abundantly.

Coming up to the tomb, Jesus calls out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43).  And Lazarus comes out!  Lazarus is given new life!  And, as the scraps of burial cloth that reek of death are unwrapped from his eyes, Lazarus finally gets to see Jesus, his savior once again.  Lazarus sees the one who can overcome pain and death.  Those first glimpses of the one who restored his life provide the most important gift any of us can possibly get: the gift of a deep, deep trust. 

From this time forward, whenever the destructive waters of life rage, Lazarus can trust that Jesus will bring him through.  He trusts that he will once again see the Lord. 

This is called this faith.  But, it is not the sort of faith that believes in a set of dusty doctrines or musty smelling beliefs.  Rather, it is faith that trusts a person.  It is the sort of faith that trusts in the one who brings resurrection and life.  It is the sort of faith that trusts in the one who accomplishes the right thing at the right time, especially when the waters rage and roar. 

Why is Lazarus so peaceful in a time where his very life is threatened?  Jesus.  He trusts Jesus.  He trusts the one who came and raised him from the dead.  After-all, if the Lord cares enough to raise you from the dead, then what else is there to fear?  What amount of drowning water could cause you concern?  As the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (NRSV, Romans 8: 35).  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  Life is found in him.

So, as the chaos of the world threatens and crashes and rages, I will take a moment to picture that flower clinging to its lily pad in the raging waters.  I will take a moment to think of the peace on Lazarus’ face as he rests his head against the Lord while at a table filled with good things.  I will ask Jesus to hold me close.  And, when I do, Jesus will remind me, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40).

Reflection on Matthew 6:16-18

 

Matthew 6:16-18 (NRSVue)

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Reflection

Imagine that you are standing at one of those crossroads in life where you must make a choice, and the choice you make will completely reshape the rest of your life.  While you stand, looking down each road, you try to decide which road will lead to a good place and you try to decide whether or not a bumpy and rocky path is good or bad.  This is the sort of thing that you lose sleep over, and you wish that the need to choose could just go away.  But it is not a decision that you can simply ignore.  You must make a choice, and soon. 

To help you make your decision, you decide to fast.  You fast so that you are not lulled away from your decision by the comfort of food or intoxicating drink.  You fast because this is an important life decision and you cannot be distracted.  You fast because you need to listen to God, and listening to God takes great amounts of attention.

I know you have been at those crossroads of life before.  I know that you have had the sleepless nights.  But I am willing to guess that most of us have to decided to make fasting a part of the decision making. 

Tonight we are focusing on the Lenten Discipline of fasting.  It is not a common practice within our own times, but in the ancient world deciding to begin a fast during important periods in life was as commonplace as deciding to have cake at a celebration.  In our culture, if there is a birthday or graduation or special recognition of year served, we serve cake.  Have you ever thought to ask, “Why do we serve cake?”  “Why not serve granola, or banana, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?”  Of course, you have never asked that.  Serving cake is what we do in this culture.  It is so baked into our bones…or rather our stomachs…that we do not even question the practice.  And in the ancient world, when faced with important turning points in life, instead of serving cake you begin a fast. 

Like cake in our culture, fasting was so commonplace in the ancient world that you did not intentionally choose to do it, you just did it because that is what you do when facing an important turning point in life.  It was an automatic response that was of immense value for the people.

When facing a tough task ahead or when mentally exhausted from one you just completed, people would begin a fast.  Think of Elijah after he defeated the priests of Baal and how he fasted before he was willing to face his uncertain future (1 Kings 19).  He needed time to think and grieve, and heal, and be encouraged without distraction.

When ancient people were racked with guilt after sinning and hurting a loved one, they would begin a fast in order to seek a word of forgiveness from God and seek a new direction in life.  Think about David after his sin with Bathsheba and after the death of his child as a result.  David fell to his knees, humbling himself before the Lord with a fast of repentance (2 Samuel 12).  Maybe after the fast God would give him a new direction in life?

And then there were the Apostles who were constantly committing themselves to a fast before big decisions, opening themselves up to hear God’s direction for their lives (Acts 13).

In other words, fasting creates an opportunity to listen closely to God without distraction.  Now, understand that God the Holy Spirit is already present with you, but we often cannot hear the words whispered because of our distraction.

In our loud and busy lives in this loud and busy world, with the distractions of work and school and multiple activities and TVs and game systems and handheld devices and the endless scrolling through social media all clamoring to claim our attention and claim our souls, it seems to me that this age could use a resurgence in the practice of fasting.

Fasting from food, like the ancient people, is good for the soul and the body, but think also how good for the soul it would be to fast from social media for a good length of time.  Think how good for the soul it would be to fast from the news for a few weeks.  Think how good for the soul it would be to fast from gossip for a month.

Then, devote that same amount of time that would have been wasted ding those things to praying and listening to God.  Devote that same amount of time to helping others rather than peeking in on their lives on social media.  Devote that same amount of time to looking down the paths of your own crossroads and ask God to guide you in the right ways.  How good fasting could be!

At its best, fasting allows us the time to intentionally strive to align our lives with the ways of the Lord our God.  As the Lord says in Isaiah: 

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

(Isaiah 58:6-9)

In the end, fasting is about allowing God to connect with us, free from distraction, in a state of dependance.  Fasting reminds us that we need God, and through fasting God connects with us once again.

And I think that is why Jesus gets so frustrated at people who fast for show.  Jesus is frustrated with people who fast for attention.  These people love to hear comments such as, “You are so faithful.”  “Wow, fasting!  You are so committed to God.”  “I couldn’t possibly do that.  Good for you!”  Because, in the end fasting is not about some sort of self-praise or self-congratulations for being so faithful.  The world cares about getting praise.  Jesus cares about connecting with God and with others.  Fasting is a great way to do that, unless you make it all about yourself.

If that is your problem, Jesus suggests, “whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:16-18).

Fasting is not for show.  Fasting is not a challenge that you accept for some sort of earthly reward.  Fasting is about the Lord connecting with you, apart from all of the distractions.  It is allowing God to work some grace in your life.

Reflection on Matthew 4:23-5:12

Matthew 4:23-5:12 (NRSVue)

²³ Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Reflection

Recently Father Jose Kuriappilly gave a great talk on how we Christians follow Jesus in a wounded world.  The whole thing was great, but I have to tell you that the parts that stopped me in my tracks were the very first three sentences.  He said:

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded Church is the real Church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

I guess that it was so powerful to me because so often Jesus is portrayed in our culture as some sort of warrior king who has arrived, with sword in his hand, to hunt the sinner and crush unrighteous.  We hear echoes of this image whenever we hear the phrase, “God is on our side” as we go and fight our wars and crush our immoral enemies.  But, if the wounded Christ is the real Christ, and the warrior one is fake, then it seems that Christ will look a lot more like the one who is crushed than the one who is the crusher.  Christ’s throne will look a lot more like a wooden cross than it does a gold encrusted seat.  Christ will look like the one slaughtered by an empire rather than the one leading an empire.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The Christ who chose to go to the cross for the sake of saving sinners is a God who chooses to live with the losers.

That makes me think of the story of the paralyzed man in Matthew 9 who was carried by his friends and brought to Jesus.  Jesus welcomes the man and forgives his sins.  The religious leaders, who were standing nearby, were shocked that Jesus forgave a sinner.  In response to their objection, Jesus gets even closer to the sinner and heals the paralyzed man.  The man picks up his mat and runs home.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The wounded Christ chooses to live with the losers.

That reminds me that the very next story in Matthew is the story of Jesus eating with the losers.  But before we get to the eating part of the story, if you recall, it starts this way: 

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13).

Jesus calls the sinner to follow.  Jesus calls the despised to serve alongside him.  Jesus calls the deeply wounded to feast with him.  And he does it because, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”  The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The wounded Christ chooses to live with the losers and the wounded.

Our theme this year for the Lenten luncheons is “Following Jesus in a wounded world.”  And what has occurred to me more and more is that the followers of Jesus are those in the world who are wounded.

    “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,

    that saved a wretch like me.

    I once was lost but now am found.

    Was blind but now I see.”

One day very early on in his ministry, Jesus climbs a mountain, preparing to give his big sermon: “The Sermon on the Mount.”  And as he stands atop that mountain and looks out at the crowd, guess who he sees?

Actually, you do not need to guess because we know who he sees.  The writer of Matthew tells who is gathered together with him.  Right before Jesus talks about how the good life belongs to the powerless, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit,” and right before he proclaims that the good life belongs to those who are deep in grief because life is not what they had hoped, “Blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus shared the good news with some special people.  

These special people that he gathered to be his followers were, quite frankly, the last people that we would expect.  The Bible tells us that he taught and touched “all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them” (Matthew 4:24). 

As Jesus prepares to teach his followers essential things such as “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) and “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7:1) he looks out at this crowd of formerly sick, diseased, demon possessed, and bodily stricken and seems to say, “These are my people.  These are the ones who will actually follow me.”

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded Church is the real Church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

At a dinner table in the church fellowship hall a man from the street walked in, sat down at a table where finely dressed church members had already gathered, and slowly rocked and hummed to himself.  One of the finely dressed church members got up and went over to the pastor and asked what the pastor was going to do about the man.  “He stinks, his humming is annoying, and I am certain I can smell alcohol on his breath.  What are you going to do?”

And the pastor, who is a very dear friend of mine, answered, “Six years ago I was that man.  Six years ago, I wandered into a church, seeking food after having not showered for a month.  And, six years ago that pastor served me food like I was in a fine restaurant, then sat with my stinking soul, and told me about Jesus, who invites people just like me to follow.  So, what am I going to do?  I am going to go get him some food and pull up a chair.  I expect that you are able to go get him some coffee?”  And that is what happened.  A wounded pastor ate with a wounded man and introduced him to a wounded savior.  That wounded man now cooks for those meals, and a fine cook he is.  Jesus looked out at the crowd, saw the wounded man, and invited him into a life that seeks to heal even more of the wounded.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded church is the real church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

    “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

    And grace, my fears relieved.

    How precious did that grace appear

    The hour I first believed.”

Reflection on John 9:1-41

John 9:1-41 (NRSVue)

¹ As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ 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, ⁷ saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸ 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?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” ¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ 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.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

  ¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷ 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.”
  ¹⁸ 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 ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, ²¹ 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.” ²² 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. ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
  ²⁴ 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.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ 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?” ²⁸ Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰ The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

  ³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ 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.” ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

 

Reflection

Everyone who sees this blind man sees a scandal, but Jesus sees a person.  The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”

The disciples see the blind man and wonder whose sins caused the man to go blind; the man’s own sins or the sins of his parents?  It is like when I saw a guy with hair that resembled a rat’s nest walking down the street the other day.  I uncharitably thought to myself, “What is that guy on?”  He was a problem.  He was a scandal.  He must be nasty in some way. 

Of course, it was completely possible that the man was actually very sick and just needed to get out of the house for fresh air.  Maybe, he had done nothing wrong.  That very likely possibility never crossed my mind at the time.  I was too interested in imagining the scandal.  Like the disciples, wondering if the blind man’s life is tainted by sin, I wondered what this crazy haired man had done wrong.  We tend to see scandals walking past on the sidewalk, but Jesus sees a person.  The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”

As he and his disciples are walking along, Jesus sees the blind man.  He sees his distress.  He sees the man’s need.  He sees that the blind man needs to be restored.  In a flashback to the beginning of creation where God takes some mud and shapes it into a human, giving the human life, Jesus spits into some dirt, mixes it into mud and spreads in on the man’s eyes so that his life can be restored.

Children do something like this all the time.  Whenever a beloved creation made out of Play-Doh gets broken, like an arm getting broken off, creative children simply open the Play-Doh container and fashion a new arm. 

Of course, some children get distracted trying to figure out who broke the arm.  Who caused the harm?  Who caused the scandal?  And, then a fight ensues where one says, “She did it!”  And, another says, “No, you did it yourself.”  And the bickering goes on and on and on and on until a certain parent’s head starts to pound.  Does this sound familiar?  When it is all about the scandal, what was broken never gets fixed.  The scandal becomes a distraction to seeing the need.

But Jesus sees the need and heals his beloved creation.  Jesus makes the special mud to heal the blind man’s eyes.  The blind man goes and washes in the waters just as instructed.  And, after the man has washed, he can see!  It is amazing.  This man, who has been blind from birth, can finally see! 

It should be a wonderful day, but that is not how the world works.  Remember, where Jesus sees a person, the world sees a scandal.

            “Is that the guy who was blind?”

            “It’s not him.  It just looks like him.”

            “I’m the man!  I’m the man!  I’m the man!”

            “You can’t be.  How did your eyes get opened?  It is impossible.”

“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.”

“Where is this man Jesus?”

The man was healed of a lifetime of blindness.  It was supposed to be a day of rejoicing.  Sadly, the people do not see him, not really.  They only see the scandal.  They only see a hoax being played on them.  They are blind to the man.  They do not see him.  They do not rejoice with him.  They do not welcome him, and eat with him, and discover his amazing story.  They become fixated on the scandal.  The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”

Here is the scandal: Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.  Jesus had done work.  The Pharisees forget about the man and become fixated on the scandal of Jesus.  “Is the formerly blind guy who he says he is?”  “Did the healing actually happen?”  They drag the man’s parents into the situation to establish that he really was blind and thus was really healed. 

The religious leaders then turn their attention back to Jesus.  They focus on what a sinner Jesus must be since he healed on the Sabbath.  And, though they are giving the formerly blind man lots of attention, thoroughly interrogating him, they do not actually see him.  They are distracted, worrying about establishing how sinful Jesus is for healing on the Sabbath, against the Law of Moses.  The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”

The religious leaders are blind to the formerly blind man.  They cannot see him.  This is why they fail in the end.  Sin still clings to them.  The scandal has blinded them to a very real person.  The scandal has blinded them to the work of the Lord to restore the world, one person at a time.  The scandal has blinded them to the amazing goodness of Jesus.  And, because the scandal has blinded them to Jesus, it has blinded them to God.  They cannot see.

When I first saw the young teen, I glanced briefly into her room in the children’s psychiatric ward at the hospital where I served as a chaplain.  She was singing quietly to a young girl, cradling her, rocking her back and forth as the young girl cried over and over about how she missed her mom and dad.  The nurses had placed the little girl into the bottom bunk of the teen’s room, and they were wise to do so.  She was a gift to that psychiatric ward.  She was a gift to that little girl.

Later, in the children’s spirituality group that I led, I had a chance to talk to the loving teen.  The little girl was still clinging to her arm, even at group time.  I asked the teen why she was in the children’s psychiatric ward.  She responded, “I do not always make the right choices.  I am here a lot.  But lots of kids don’t make good choices.  Do you want to know what I think?  I think it is because my parents don’t see the good that I do.  They can only see the bad.  Plus, I think they wanted a vacation this week and couldn’t convince anyone to take care of me.” 

Of course, you and I know that parents cannot just put children into a psychiatric ward because they want to take a vacation, but there was still some truth in what she thought.  It seemed as if her parents did not really see her.  They did not see her the way the staff saw her, as a loving asset; someone who would love a little child in the throes of grief.  They did not see her the way the little girl saw her either, as a loving someone to whom she could cling. The parents seemed distracted by the scandal of their own daughter, and the scandal caused them to push her away.

The formerly blind man would relate to the teen.  He would have nothing but sympathy for the girl because the Pharisees drove him away from his family and community also.  The formerly blind man tried to convince the Pharisees that Jesus could not possibly be a sinner, because God does not obey sinners.  Jesus must be the real deal because God listened to Jesus and healed the blindness.  The Pharisees did not buy it, and they threw the guy out of their community, even though he was telling the whole truth.

Everyone who sees this blind man sees a scandal, but Jesus sees a person. The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”

Jesus finds the man.  Jesus searches for the man who had been cast out.  Jesus finds the man who had been lost, not because of anything that he had done, but because he was pushed into being lost by those who need to blame. 

I wonder how many good people are pushed out, even today, for no good reason, becoming lost?  How many people have nowhere to go and no one to care about them?

Fortunately, the formerly blind man has someone who cares.  The formerly blind man has someone who searches and finds.  The Bible says: 

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.”

Everyone who sees this blind man sees a scandal, but Jesus sees a person.  The world wonders, “Who should we blame?”  Jesus wonders, “Who should we heal?”  

Because Jesus sees him as the beloved child of God that he is, someone who needs healing, someone who is lost through no fault of his own, Jesus welcomes the man and invites him to be one of his sheep.  The formerly blind and scandalized man is found. 

What if we, the followers of Jesus, did a little more seeing of people rather than scandalizing?  What if we, the followers of Jesus, committed ourselves to look at a person, not as a problem to be taken care of, but as someone who needs to be healed?  What if we admitted to Jesus that sometimes we are the blind ones, only seeing the scandal and not the person?  What if we admitted that sometimes we search for someone to blame rather than searching for someone to heal?

What if Jesus comes and finds us?  What if Jesus seeks us out whenever we become lost, like a sheep who has wandered away?  What if Jesus walks into our dark valleys and finds us, not wanting us to live in fear?  What if we who are lost are found? 

We are found, after all.  Jesus finds us and draws us close.  The world pushes people away, but Jesus embraces us all.  That seeing, that finding, that embracing of the people of the world, is called, “grace.”  It is a grace that opens its arms wide on a cross to embrace the entire world.  What if we embraced that person of grace back?

Seeking to embrace Jesus in return, the man declares to Jesus, “’Lord, I believe.’  And he worshiped him.”  The formerly blind man trusts in the Lord.  He trusts the one who saves rather than blames.  He trusts the one who welcomes and heals, rather than pushing away.  The formerly blind man trusts in Jesus, and so do we.

Reflection on Philippians 4:6-7 and Matthew 6:5-8

 

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:5-18

⁵ “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^[a]

⁷ “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 

Reflection

Do you follow Jesus around until your prayer is answered?  Do you pursue him, or do you tend to try to fix everything yourself, not wanting to bother God?

You see, I think a lot about those two blind men in Matthew 9:27-30 who heard Jesus pass by and then followed the sound of his footsteps and cried out after him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David” (Matthew 9:27).  The guys did not give up.  They followed him around.  They followed him into the house.  They went to Jesus with their need.  They talked with Jesus, and Jesus healed their blindness.  It is a story about prayer.

“How?” you might ask.  Sure, there were no knees bent and hands folded.  They did not go to church or light a candle.  And even though those are all shapes that prayer can take, prayer is none other than talking with God and trusting that God will listen and do something.

“Jesus said to [the two blind men], ‘Do you have faith that I can do this?’  They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’  Then he touched their eyes and said ‘According to your faith, let it be done to you.’  And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:28-30).

We might say, “Sure, it is easy to talk with Jesus and trust in him if we can see him right before our eyes.”  But that is the point of the story, is it not?  They were blind.  They saw Jesus no better than we see him today.  Yet, they pursued him, spoke to him, and trusted that the one they could not see could do something.

How many times have I simply got stuck in my anxiety, in my own head, thinking endlessly through the night about how to deal with my situation?  It is almost as if I continually forget that there is someone to whom I can talk and who will listen and act.

The Apostle Paul advises: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

In today’s words he said, “Instead of being anxious about everything, talk to God and God will trade your worthless anxiety for a priceless shield of peace.” 

Talk to God.  Put your hearts and minds side-by-side with Christ Jesus.  The one who went to the cross to die for you will certainly take the time to listen to you.  The one who traded death with you so that you could have eternal life certainly has the time to give you some peace.  In fact, nothing would delight Jesus more.  Jesus wants nothing more than to be close to your minds and hearts.  Jesus wants nothing more than to walk and talk with you. Jesus invites you to open your eyes to his presence and pray.  Maybe you will finally be able to see clearly?

I think that this is why Jesus abhors those who use prayer to show off.  Jesus is not happy with the simple appearance of a close relationship with him.  Praying loudly in the church and on the street corner to appear as if we are really close to God might do a lot for our own ego, but it does not have anything to do with God.  If prayer becomes about show, then go shut yourself away in your room Jesus says.  “Pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

Again, prayer is about being seen by God, not by others.  It is about talking with God.  It is about being of one mind with Jesus.  It is about being in a close relationship with our loving savior.

So next time that you feel the anxiety starting to take hold, rather than fix the world’s problems yourself, or even your own problems, seek Jesus out in prayer.  You just may find yourself in the presence of the one who will see you and answer.