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❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
Jesus Healing the Blind Man and Our Society that Continues to Discriminate (Part I)
Series “Theology of Interdependence and Disability,” Part 2 (John 9:1-23)
Mari Ikeda
Last month we began a series on Kathy Black’s book, and today is the second in the series. In the first part, we read the first five verses of John 9 and talked about what Kathy Black calls “the theology of interdependence.” Today we will read the entire chapter 9, which is a continuation of that series, but since it is long, I decided to split it into two parts, one for today and the other for the next time. This is the story of Jesus healing the eyes of the blind man. Let’s begin by reading verses 1-5 again first.
A. The work of love that Jesus entrusted to us
1. Theology of interdependence (1-5)
1 As he went 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 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Last time reading this passage, we confirmed that innate disabilities are not the result of anyone’s sins. God is the one who gives us forgiveness rather than punishment for our sins, and He does not intentionally test us or make us suffer. No one can answer why some sufferings and difficulties, including various disabilities, are given to some people and not to others. We cannot understand everything about God. But what we do know is that God expects us to help each other through such difficulties. That is the work of love that God has entrusted to us. This work consists in the interdependence between God and us and our mutual dependence on each other. This is the theology of interdependence.
Today we will read the rest of this story, and as we read it, we will see that the key to the theology of interdependence is whether or not the person giving help and the person asking for help can see each other as totally equal as individuals. We are totally equal before God, no matter what we can or cannot do. We can say that Jesus got in trouble for practicing that. Let’s read verses 6-7.
2. Jesus loves us unconditionally and indiscriminately (6-7)
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Before I start, let me tell you that no one knows what deeper meaning, or if any, lies in Jesus’ actions here. In other passages, Jesus heals the sick with words alone, and rarely does he take steps such as kneading mud with his own spit and applying it to a person’s eyes, as he does in this passage. We don’t even know if the “Pool of Siloam” had any special significance. If you are really curious, please ask Jesus when you see him in heaven someday.
Now, I think the most remarkable thing about this scene is that this blind man has said nothing. He does not even ask Jesus to heal him. He may have known from the noise of the people that someone named Jesus was nearby, and perhaps he could have heard the conversation between Jesus and the disciples in vv. 1-5. But it is also possible that he was completely unaware of Jesus. For such a man, Jesus made his hands dirty with mud, touched his eyes with his hands, and healed him.
This action of Jesus proves that no matter what state we are in, whether we have faith or not, whether we are seeking help or not, Jesus loves us and knows our needs better than we do. We may not know what we need as much as we think we do. If our expectations are continually ignored and unmet by people, we may give up on continuing to ask. Jesus knows our hearts well. He approaches us, reaches out to us, and helps us.
I believe that in order for us to share Jesus’ love with one another, it all begins that we understand this love of Jesus. It is Jesus who knows the needs of each person better than anyone else. We need to recognize that Jesus loves others much more than we love them. So in order to practice the love of Jesus, we must put aside our judgment of what we think of the other person and accept both their strengths and weaknesses as they are. We also need to be convinced that even if we don’t understand or cannot love someone, the fact remains that Jesus loves them. If someone does not know Jesus’ love for them, we love them in place of Jesus for a time so that they can feel loved. When we treat someone that way, we ask nothing in return, no conditions. We don’t ask them to believe in Jesus. We don’t ask them to become a member of our church. That is the way Jesus loves.
But our society was and still is a discriminatory society that is constantly hindering the love of Jesus. This society unfortunately includes the church. The following verses illustrate this point. First, read verses 8-12.
B. Social conditions surrounding people with disabilities
1. Not recognizing and depriving them of strengths they have (8-12)
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.
The sad thing we can see from this passage is that the people around him were more suspicious and unwilling to believe than rejoice that the blind man was now able to see. If they had seen him as a person of equal worth with themselves, they would have been able to rejoice with him, even if they did not understand what had happened to him. They could not do so, because they did not see him as an equal. Compared to biblical times and today, social conditions surrounding people with disabilities have improved considerably. There are many people with disabilities who are playing an active role in society. Nevertheless, in some poor countries, people with disabilities still have no choice but to beg. Even in rich countries, having a disability can cause financial hardship. Also, I think there is still a perception among people without disabilities that being blind, for example, is something to be pitied, that if you are blind you can’t do anything, and that it is inevitable you are poor. Such a false perception disempowers people with disabilities. We all feel powerless when we are looked down upon by a large number of people who do not know us personally, who assume that we are pitiful or that we cannot do what we actually can do. Kathy Black says that people with disabilities, such as blindness or deafness, know a world that people without disabilities do not. They can decide which direction to walk according to which side of their body is illuminated by the sun. They can touch a statue and be emotionally impressed by its coldness and the texture of its surface. They can feel the presence of their loved ones by the sound of their footsteps and their smell. Let’s move on to vv.13-17.
2. Disrespecting their words (13-17)
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
I suppose people thought it was beyond their control to know how to interpret the miracle of a blind man becoming able to see. If such a miracle really happened, then who was this Jesus who had performed such a miracle? So they took the blind man to the religious leaders. In response to their question, the blind man plainly told what had happened to him. But they did not believe him. Kathy Black says that even today, eyewitness testimony of blind people in court cases is often not believed. She says that because they are blind, there is no way they could have “witnessed” the incident, so their testimony by the sounds they heard and the smells they felt is doubted. This is because those who can see cannot imagine the world in which blind people live, and they underestimate their abilities. One thing is worth noting in the passage we just read. It is that a man who was blind confesses that Jesus is a prophet. He must not have known Jesus, but he may have begun to think that Jesus was not being given due credit because people did not believe in the wonderful miracles that He had performed for him. He may have been sensitive to injustice because he himself had been treated unfairly in his life. Now, let’s read today’s last part, vv.18-23.
3. Treating them as children (18-23)
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
The blind man, even though he was already an adult, got even his parents called to see if what he was saying was true. This is a prejudice that still exists today. People with disabilities are treated as children, even when they are adults, and their own will is taken lightly, sometimes as if they have no will of their own. Even when they do have the means to express their will, those without disabilities hesitate to speak to them themselves, preferring instead to speak to their family, friends, or caregivers. As a result, people with disabilities are made to feel as if they are not there. There is nothing more disempowering and heartbreaking than to have one’s presence ignored.
In this passage, the parents of the blind man respect their son as an adult, even if it was out of fear of the Jews. They see him as a subject who can speak for himself and has the right to make his own decisions. We will see in the following verses that he took this respect and expectation of his parents to heart, but we will return to that in the next time.
I would like to close by adding one more thing about this passage as a whole. Traditional interpretations of this passage have taken the miracle of the blind man coming to see as a metaphor for the fact that only Jesus can free sinners from sin. Not only in this passage, but throughout the Old and New Testaments, there are many passages in which blindness or deafness is used as a metaphor for the state of sin. In the famous hymn Amazing Grace, the lyric “Was blind, but now I see” is often used to express that before one had faith one was blind, but after one had faith one could see. I myself have used it in my own songs and in my messages. I had never thought about how people who are actually blind or deaf would feel about such expressions.
Even if it is a metaphor, it is disrespectful and oppressive to use the condition of blindness or deafness to mean the same thing as the condition of sin. And if we use that expression too often, we may encourage the mistake of viewing disability as the result of sin. That is why Kathy Black teaches that it is important to re-read the Bible from the perspective of those with disabilities. I have decided to be careful about the language I use in my messages and I am trying to figure out what to do with the lyrics of the songs we have been singing.
It is important for society to change, but I would like to ask for God’s love to be truly realized, at least as much as possible within this church. For those of you who do not have disabilities, including myself, please think carefully about whether you have any prejudice or discrimination against people with disabilities as we read in today’s passage. Also, if you are a person with a disability or a family member of a person with a disability, please let us know if you have ever felt discrimination in this church.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, help us to understand more that your love is equally poured out on all of us and to care for those around us as you love them. Please humble us so that those without disabilities can learn from those with disabilities. Use us too, so that when people with disabilities are treated unfairly and feel disempowered, they can see that it is unfair and wrong, and that they can have people around them who will stand with them. Lord Jesus, guide us with your love. In Your name we pray. Amen.
Summary
<This is part 2 in a series of readings of Kathy Black’s “A Healing Homiletic -Preaching and Disability.”> Jesus knows and loves each of us even before we recognize Him personally, even before we ask Him for help. Everything should begin with our conviction that Jesus’ love is poured out on all of us in such an indiscriminate and unconditional way. The social conditions surrounding people with disabilities were and still are contrary to the love of Jesus. Our society does not recognize the abilities and attractiveness of individuals just because they have disabilities, and treats them as children, damaging their self-esteem and taking away their strengths. Such discrimination is unconscious and the discriminators are not aware that they are discriminating.
For Discussion
- If Jesus’ love is unconditional, what changes before and after we have faith?
- do you think about discrimination against people with disabilities?