“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” That question’s thought process isn’t as silly or uncommon as you may think. It’s actually pretty normal. We sinners tend to think that those who are healthy, wealthy, and smart have been blessed by God. We sinners tend to think that those who are sick, poor, and not smart have been cursed by God. They are the unlucky ones whom the rest of society is more likely to avoid.

There are parts of the world where a person who is disabled in some manner isn’t treated like everyone else. They are treated as less than. They are treated like a curse. And yes, it even happens here in our land, among people who have similar value systems to our own. Concepts like what people call “karma” and “what goes around, comes around” play into this mindset. “You reap what you sow,” where the results a person experiences are directly related to the work they put in, is a totally different idea than “what goes around, comes around,” where the sin and the curse may be unrelated.

When the disciples see the man born blind, they aren’t thinking “you reap what you sow,” because the man couldn’t have done anything in the womb to cause that condition. They were thinking “what goes around, comes around” or “karma.” They were thinking somebody did some action that angered God, which then led Him to curse the man with blindness. In their minds, there were two possibilities (probably even only one, realistically), that his parents must have made God really mad, and God cursed him with blindness as an unborn baby.

Jesus shuts down any notion of this thought process. The Lord says, “Look guys, this didn’t happen because he sinned. This didn’t happen because his parents sinned. This happened because the work of God is about to be done in him.” God allows bad things to happen to us for a few reasons. One—He’s executing judgment, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Two—He knows that the bad thing is something we actually need. I knew a woman who called a stroke one of the best things to ever happen to her, because it was a spiritual wakeup call. Three—He’s going to use the bad thing to do something awesome, like giving sight to a man born blind.

Jesus heals in various ways—all at His discretion. He makes mud with saliva and dirt, puts it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. For his part, the man could’ve scoffed at Jesus. He could’ve said, “Ew! Gross! What’s in my eyes?” and tried to wipe away the mud. He could’ve done any number of things to reject Jesus. He doesn’t do that. He hears, receives, and believes the word of Jesus. When he washed his eyes, he sees God’s creation for the very first time.

Giving sight to a man born blind is no small matter! It’s a big deal! It’s going to get noticed! His neighbors and other people who knew of his occupation as a blind beggar begin to ask questions, gossip, and speculate about the man. Some say that he’s the same man. Others say that he’s a different man, but looks like the blind beggar. He repeatedly insists that he is the man who was blind. They question him on how it happened. They question about the healer. All he knows is that a man named “Jesus” told him what to do and he did it.

As the curiosity around the marvelous healing grows, they bring him to the Pharisees. As the respected religious leaders, perhaps they can sort out the supposed miraculous healing. And what do you know, Pharisees start arguing with each other about Jesus. The miraculous healing reveals the activity of God. But according to their too rigid interpretation of the Law, the way Jesus performed the miracle (making mud with saliva on the Sabbath Day) is to be considered work, which makes His action sinful in their eyes. Some Pharisees say it’s not an act of God because He broke the Sabbath. Others said, “How can a sinner do these signs?” Controversy.

They ask the once-blind-but-now-seeing man’s opinion… likely to shift the debate from among themselves back to him. I mean, they really don’t care what he thinks. Later they criticize him for his beliefs. Nonetheless, the man who now sees declares Jesus to be a Prophet. He may even consider Jesus to be “the Prophet like Moses” foretold in Scripture (who turns out to be Jesus). Thus, the man who before only knew Jesus by name confesses Him to be a prophet.

Most of the people simply refuse to believe the healing ever happened. They figure the whole thing is fraudulent: “Dude, you were never blind. You never had to ‘receive your sight.’ This is all staged.” So, they summon his parents for questioning. While the man’s parents confirm his condition as blindness from birth, they also throw him under the bus, refusing to say anything more because they fear Jesus’ opposition. They fear being shunned.

Summoning the once-blind-but-now-seeing man again, the religious authorities basically want him to denounce what Jesus did. They want him to say that Jesus shouldn’t have healed him because it was (in their eyes) a breaking of the Sabbath Laws. They want him to call Jesus a sinner. He replies, “I don’t know if He’s a sinner. I haven’t seen Him commit a sin, and I can’t see into His heart. Here’s what I know. I once was blind but now I see, and Jesus is the reason.”

The man must be getting pretty sick and tired of everyone asking over and over, “What did Jesus do? How did Jesus do it?” He responds with a nice touch of sarcasm. “I keep telling you and you keep not listening. Wait a minute… do you want to be a disciple too?” I envision a big grin forming on his face and maybe some raised eyebrows as he asks the last question.

Okay. So, let me point out two things. First, notice that the once-blind-but-now-seeing man confesses that he is a disciple of Jesus. Before, the man called him a prophet, and now he says, “I’m following this prophet.”

The second thing I’ll point out. The religious leaders show their hand throughout this interaction. They reject Jesus. They revile anyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus. They despise anyone who wants to interact with Jesus in good faith (I think that’s why Nicodemus came to Jesus during the night). Moses is their guy. They claim to be disciples of Moses. For them it’s Moses, Moses, Moses all the way. Don’t get me wrong. Moses was a great prophet of God. The religious leaders got Moses wrong. To shorten a longer story Moses was a believer in Jesus and even saw Jesus. Moses prophesied of Jesus’ coming. Even though the religious leaders claim to be followers of Moses, they don’t really listen to Moses. We know that because they reject Jesus.

The religious leaders claim not to know where Jesus comes from. However, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that a Servant of the Lord would come bringing Good News, releasing people from various oppressions (like blindness and the darkness of unbelief). The Servant of the Lord would suffer for the people and usher in a great and wonderful salvation. When you examine what Jesus preaches and does among the people, He perfectly fits the prophecies of both Moses and Isaiah. Jesus even says to compare what Isaiah prophesied to what He does. He’s the One sent by God the Father.

At this point in today’s Gospel Reading, we learn what’s really happening. The once-blind-but-now-seeing man says, “This is an amazing thing! You don’t know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes.” The man, who said Jesus was a prophet and then called himself a disciple of Jesus, now says that Jesus comes from God (He was sent from the Father).

When Jesus said that the man was born blind so that “the works of God might be displayed in Him,” the Lord wasn’t just talking about healing his physical sight. Physical sight is a picture of a much greater reality—spiritual sight. Would you rather have perfect physical vision and go to hell or perfect spiritual vision (by which I mean faith in Christ Jesus) and go to heaven? The obvious answer should be perfect spiritual vision.

Jesus does what He does to preach and heal because He has compassion and cares about people. He cares not just about the body; He cares about the body and soul in eternity. In Jesus’ eyes what good does it do to care for a person physically without caring for him spiritually? Therefore, Jesus gives the man physical sight, so that He may give him spiritual sight. By the end of the super, true story, the once-blind-but-now-seeing man sees both physically and spiritually. He confesses Jesus to be the Messiah and he worships Jesus.

Sin causes spiritual blindness. Jesus died on the cross to free you from sin so that you may see. Through faith in Jesus and His blood-bought redemption, you were blind and have received spiritual sight. You have no guilt, because you have been forgiven in Jesus’ blood. Those who reject Jesus and His blood-bought redemption are truly blind spiritually and remain in guilt. They can’t see Jesus for who He really is—the Savior of the world sent by God to free captives from oppression.

This Gospel warns those who reject Jesus. They think they spiritually see, even though they are blind. This Gospel comforts those who believe Jesus is their Savior. They know they were spiritually blind, and in Jesus they receive spiritual sight. You were born blind; now you see. By faith you fix your eyes on Jesus Your Savior. Amen.