The video used at the midpoint of the sermon can be found here.
Encounters With Jesus
A Blind Man on the Road
John 9:1-16,(17-41)
Bearing the Shame
> Have we ever been as...
Nicodemus, trying to avoid shame & guilt?
The Woman at the Well, shamed and burdened by guilt?
The Blind Man on the Road, shamed yet innocent?
• HARD to bear (at least when you know you're guilty,
you perceive the shame as "penance")
> Who sinned?
Even the disciples asked what did he (or his parents) do to deserve this?
Had NONE of these people read the book of Job?
• Understandable, as we really want to believe bad things
happen to everyone but us.
• And if we link bad things happening to moral failings, then
we have the power to prevent bad things in our lives (or so we think).
• Unfortunate side effect: we condemn, even vilify, those
who have the bad things happen to them.
The theory at the time was either his parents had sinned,
or he had sinned in the womb
• really??
> But since Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath, the Pharisees
brought the hammer down...
...resulting in his "excommunication"
John 9:17-24
A Note on Blindness...
> Born Blind vs. Willfully Blind
> Stuck in darkness vs. choosing darkness
A Note on Public Opinion
> Why do we give people such power over us, by worrying so much about what they think of us? Wouldn't we rather have our Heavenly Father's approval?
Nicodemus wandering in the dark, later paid for the
spices for Jesus' burial
The Woman at the Well hiding from the townsfolk, then
running into town to tell them about Jesus.
The Man Born Blind condemned by the respectable Pharisees,
then confronting them in the temple.
Physical and Spiritual Blindness
> The Man Born Blind was healed of both
John 9:35-41
Brought from physical blindness to both physical and spiritual sight.
"Lord, I believe!" "Sent" (siloam) to speak to the spiritually blind.
> The Pharisees remained in the dark. Why?
Honest conviction? No, then Jesus would not have condemned them.
Feeling threatened? Probably
• Jesus was a threat to their spiritual authority (and
thereby their worldly power).
They chose to remain blind... This leads us to our
"Lenten Question" of the week...
> "Have we chosen (are we even now choosing) easy blindness over a difficult sight?"
Truths about ourselves, others, our situation...
sometimes it is "easier" to not admit things to ourselves
> But Jesus calls us to live in the light!
I want to be like the man Jesus healed, confronting the
source of his shame, even in having the worst happen
not letting his newfound freedom falter!
