Talk about getting it wrong!
In the closing period of the Lord’s, Jesus Christ, ministry there is one account that I found spellbinding and deeply thought provoking.
In the 9th chapter of the New Testament John we read about a blind man who was begging on the side of the road when Jesus and his retinue passed by. The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned, this man or his parents? Part of the question itself sheds an interesting light on the beliefs of the Jews; the begging man (born blind) raised a question in the minds of the disciples about the blind man’s condition; was it divine judgement as a consequence of sinning in a “pre-mortal life”? The response of Jesus is critical, because he does not state that their acceptance and belief of pre-mortality was wrong but he rather states that neither party had sinned (neither the parents nor their son), but that the blind condition of the man was to enable the works of God to be manifest (shown) in his life. A remarkable prophecy of events about to unfold in this community.
From this I glean three important things:
- There is a premortal life for our spirits (before we are born on earth), thus it may mean that although our physical bodies are created here on earth, the spirit part existed before mortality.
- There is a condition where choices can be made in that pre-mortal life; good choices and bad choices.
- The consequence of those choices seems to result in the station of life that a spirit is placed in when here on earth. What choices were made by us and for us is outside of our current knowledge, although there is speculation on the subject.
Just something to think about, but it is not the main focus of my discourse.
The Saviour spits on the ground and makes clay, anoints the eyes of the blind man and gives him a task to do, namely go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The blind man who had nothing to lose, did so and his sight was given to him (not restored, for how can something that was never there be restored?). I was to observe that the begging man was not recorded as asking for his sight to be given to him. The next point of observation is that Jesus always gives a task to the recipient of miracles to do. Why? To assist the development of faith in the benefactor. Remember that Jesus did not do miracles for the faithless; it appeared for his miracles to work, faith was required by both parties. Did that mean that Jesus was powerless to act without the faith of the recipient? I don’t know, I really don’t. The only thing I can think of is that consent of the recipient is vital because of agency. In the eyes of God, and Jesus, the agency of man is inviolate; God will not interfere with our choices or limit the capacity of our choices, as choice is the means by which personal growth can occur.
Back to the narrative.
The formerly blind man is walking along and his neighbours see him obviously seeing now. The neighbours are perplexed because it looks like the blind man but is it him? The formerly blind man ends their speculation by saying that he is/was the blind man. Upon being asked what happened, the man says that Jesus made clay, put it on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He did as he was instructed and now he can see. The neighbours are shocked as it is the Sabbath and an act contravening the Sabbath Day had just occurred. So they took the man to the Pharisees.
He had to repeat the whole story to the local church leaders, the Pharisees. These eminent men began to argue amongst themselves; on the one hand Jesus had “worked” on the Sabbath and was thus a sinner, but on the other hand, to perform such a miracle, giving sight to a man born blind was unparalleled in their history; this act implied that this Jesus was a man of God. In the midst of their argument, they deign to speak to the man, “what do you say about this man Jesus?”
Now this man had been watching and hearing, he had also been pondering about what had happened to him. He gave a logical answer, “He is a prophet”. Things he had been taught must have been going through his mind, a dawning realisation of the stature of the “miracle-giver”.
What the Pharisees had been teaching their community was presenting a contradiction, a man performing mighty miracles, evidence of divine power, but yet flouting their laws of the Sabbath. It is not possible, surely this man had been pretending to be blind? It was a trick! Get the parents of the man, we will prove that trickery is involved here! The formerly blind man is seeing ugly things about the religious leaders of his community. Disgust and sadness for their refusal to be honest with clear evidence before them is growing within him.
The formerly blind man’s parents arrive to be confronted by the sight of their son, now seeing, before the feared local Pharisees. Same questions asked to the parents, but the parents, afraid to be ostracised from their community, merely confirm that their son was born blind but any further questions must be directed to their son, as he was an adult and could answer for himself.
So to the formerly blind man, the Pharisees give him an instruction to confirm that the man Jesus was a sinner but the glory must be to God. You can almost sense the irritation in the formerly blind man’s response when he says, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (verse 25).
Still not satisfied with what is before their eyes, again he is asked the same questions about how he received his sight. Now the formerly blind man’s answer is becoming more annoyed than irritated, “I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?” (verse 27). It was obvious to the formerly blind man that these men were enemies of the man called Jesus. The Pharisees find the effrontery of this “low life creature” galling and they reply with venom that they are the disciples of Moses; they don’t know who this Jesus is or where he comes from.
By now the formerly blind man has had enough with the deliberate “blindness” of the Pharisees and his retort is filled with disdainful sarcasm, “Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. (verses 30-33)
The Pharisees, filled with poisonous anger, knew that they had no further argument against the logic of the formerly blind man. All they could do was insult him with the baseless accusation that he was born in sin due to his blindness and who did he think he was to argue with them, the learned and “righteous” Pharisees? He was then excommunicated from their community.
What was a joyous and miraculous occasion for this man was now a time of sorrow, the cowardice of his parents, the blind hatred of the Pharisees and his ostracisation from his community.
So while he is sitting in this tumult of feelings and emotions, a man approaches him. It is Jesus. The question is asked; does he believe on the Son of God? The man humbly responds, “who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” (verse 36). When Jesus reveals his identity, the man worships him.
To the attendant Pharisees, the Lord is displeased and says, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” (verse 39). The Pharisees are not stupid, they know the implications of what Jesus is saying, how dare he? They are learned men, daily study of the Torah and other works, they know the words of the prophets verbatim. How can they be blind? Ultimately Jesus agrees with them, they are not blind and therefore their sins remain, a stain against their darkened souls.
So a man born blind is blind no more, he can see both physically and more importantly, spiritually. He believes in the Master. Unwittingly, the Pharisees, blinded with hatred for Jesus, helped a man to see spiritually as well. The woke a sleeping tiger.
I wonder if he walked with the Saviour in the last days of the Saviour’s mortal ministry?