March 2, 2008

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church

Pr. Per Inge Vik          

Joh 9,1-41  

God at work

John is the only gospel writer to tell us this story. The other evangelists tell about other blind persons that Jesus heals. We even know the name of one of them, Bartimeus in Jericho. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, it is written in Psalm 146:8

But in a mysterious way it is the eyes of Jesus that come into my focus in the long story we just heard. Even in the start of the story we heard this, As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. We do not hear that anyone else sees the blind man. At least the disciples do not see him.

So what do they see? Only a theological problem! Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? This was a quite common thought in Judaism at that time. Rabbi Ammi had said: “No suffering without transgression”. This was one of the “solutions” in Judaism for the Problem of  Evil. A question that humans have struggled with for all time.

They looked upon illness as a punishment from God. Imagine what a strain it was at that time to be ill! In addition to the very suffering, the sick had to carry another burden: The judgement. Either he himself or his parents must have done something seriously wrong as this man was born blind.

Jesus rejects the question about who the sinner was. Jesus sees something else. He sees the humans and the possibilities. He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. There was a goal. If we feel that Jesus’ answer creates a new problem, namely whether God let this man be born blind just to demonstrate his power, then I say “no”.

In the previous Norwegian Bible translation it was rendered like in the English that we use, so that. In the newest translation we read But now God’s work can be revealed. There is quite a big difference between a willing intention or a possible consequence.  

The man was not ill as a punishment for anything. But his blindness now gets the consequence that God’s deeds can be revealed. So the question is not “Why” but for what?

Whether the blindness originated from a genetic defect or that the mother had syphilis, that we do not know. Jesus says: It is a derailment to be concerned about this! What Jesus is doing, is to use the handicap of the man born blind to reveal who he himself is: God’s mighty Son. Jesus’ eyes can see. He sees human’s suffering, and he intervenes.

If we take a little time to study the cast of charaacters in this story, we will discover several blind people. I have already mentioned the disciples. They only see a problem. Then we have the Pharisees. This is something strange: Jesus healed this man on a Sabbath. Blind Pharisees then object: Jesus must be a big sinner. For no pious Jew does any work on a Sabbath. To this Jesus answers: My Father is still working, and I also am working (John 5:17) .

Dear listener, has it ever occurred to you that very many of the miracles Jesus performed, took place on a Sabbath? If you look in the gospels, you will find that especially many miracles occurred on that day. In particular, healings. That is not accidental. Jesus did not do this to provoke. But as I just said, to show who he is. God’s Son, and that God works on the day of Rest. This is important for us to notice.

Because this is valid as much in our time as earlier:

God’s works are especially connected to our day of rest. On Sunday God wants to take care of us. The 3rd commandment, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy has a goal. God’s healing and renewing power is in a special way at work on the day we rest. In the middle of a hectic time, we must remind ourselves and each other about this, so we do not miss the blessings of the Day of rest. 

From the resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning, the Sabbath by Christians is traded with the Day of the Lord. On that day we put aside our own work, so that the deeds of the Lord can come about. Only as we put aside our business, relax and come to rest, God can come through with his work.   

I have mentioned it before, you Americans are diligent people. You work a lot, the activity and productivity is high. Many working people have a tight schedule. In the middle of this, which is very positive, it still is important to consider that activity needs to be balanced towards rest and renewal.  

I think we need a new focus on a Theology of the Day of Rest, not least for the churches here in the US. To let God into our lives, can best happen when we rest from our work. A Celtic hymn we used on Ash Wednesday says: ”Gud er din hvile, Kristus din styrke, Ånden er nær som en trofast venn. Herren har hørt deg, nådig berørt deg, Herren vil reise deg opp igjen.”

What will God do for us? Just what this song is all about: He wants to touch us. Raise us up. Heal wounds, ease distress, forgive sins, give us his rich fellowship. In all: He gives us the gifts and the joys of heaven.

Faith experiences an acting God. A God who intervenes and makes this man able to see. Later he gets to see more. As there is not only one miracle in this Bible story, but two. The first miracle is dramatic and visible. That a man who has never seen the rainbow or the starry sky or happy children, gets his eyes opened, that is a great miracle.

But not the biggest one. The second miracle occurs as the man kneels before Jesus, declaring Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him (v.38). Salvation is greater than health. To have a healthy body is one thing. But to see Jesus and discover that he is my salvation from eternal death, that he is my Savior, that is the greatest miracle.

Concerning the Problem of Suffering, many things could be said. Some of us have to live our lives under great stress But in a mysterious way there is incorporated in human life that growth happen during hardship. The up hills bring us upwards.

Once there had happened a tragedy at a school, and the principal was interviewed on TV. He then quoted Søren Kierkegaard’s wise words: “It is our challenge to live our life forwards, but to understand it backwards.” Afterwards things become clearer than they were at the moment.

Jesus came to this world because of the Problem of  Evil. He is the solution that God has given us. In other words, he is the actual “Siloah”, which means sent . He is the one that God has sent us. In John 17:3 we read, And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

To have eyes to see who Jesus is, the one God sent us, our Well Doer and Savior, that is a miracle bigger than any other. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit who was, is and shall always be one true God from eternity to eternity. (The congregation answers:) Amen!

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716