How do we recognize sin when we are unable to see?
Gospel Reading: John 9:1-41
For Sunday, April 3, 2011: Year A - Lent 4
The Man Born Blind is driven from the synagogue, found guilty and excommunicated. The Pharisees tried to get a witness to pin it on him, tried to force a confession out of him and in the end settled for guilt by association and their own uncertainty as proof of his sin. Being unable to quiet Jesus, they turn to trying to quiet any would-be followers by threatening them with excommunication.
No Sin Here
Before running into the Man Born Blind, Jesus has just narrowly escaped a rock attack in the temple. But this doesn’t stop Jesus from committing a grave sin right under their noses. His disciples point out the MBB and ask whose sin is responsible for his blindness. There is no sin here, Jesus responds, but through his blindness God’s works will be revealed.
Jesus, without being asked, makes a plaster of mud and saliva applies it to the man’s eyes and has him wash it off. When he does, the creative nature of God’s work is revealed. He sees. Light streams in where there was previously darkness. The rest of this very long narrative pericope is given over to a debate about the nature sin.
The How Question
At issue are the work that Jesus did on the Sabbath (making the plaster) and the work of God that was revealed in bringing light to the Man Born Blind. The Pharisee’s repeatedly ask the question, how Jesus gave him sight. That is, did he perform work on the Sabbath? The neighbors seem out to get Jesus, also. They ask MBB the how question and when he tells them about making the plaster, they immediately turn him in.
It doesn’t just happen to be the Sabbath, the author uses it to make a point about the Pharisees' understanding of God in contrast to Jesus’. The Pharisees, in John, see God work as restrictive. Jesus sees God’s work as permissive. They see sin as transgressing the restricted, Jesus sees sin as limiting the continuing of God’s work of creation, that work which is imaged from Genesis forward as bringing light into the darkness.
Opposing Impulses
What strikes me in this extended drama is that the Pharisees really are not sure of Jesus’ guilt. They really want him to be guilty; chapter after chapter, they are trying hard to get something on him. Here the MBB has testified that Jesus did work on the Sabbath, they cannot get past the astounding fact that he brought light/sight to the Man Born Blind.
They are so conflicted by opposing impulses that they momentarily break down and ask the MBB what he thinks. When the man begins to tell them without hesitation, they regain themselves and drive him out of the synagogue. I cannot help thinking that as they slam the door after throwing him out of it, a little light leaks through its cracks.
The Hardest Question
How do we recognize sin when we are unable to see?
Russell Rathbun is a preacher at House of Mercy in St. Paul, Minnesota, the author of Midrash on the Juanitos (Cathedral Hill Press, 2010) and the curator of The Hardest Question.
