Jesus
heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
[Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus said,] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:35-41)
This morning, we should begin with a technical note. The portion of the text in brackets is not included in early manuscripts. It makes perfect sense in light of the rest of the text, but it wouldn’t be entirely honest to make it the focus of comments this morning.
Instead, we’ll take a look at some history. At the end of the Middle Ages, European society rediscovered Greco-Roman literature and moved into a time of technical and scientific advancement. I am truly grateful for the discoveries and inventions of that era, and many (most) of them were made by people who professed belief in Jesus Christ. Even Galileo, who was put on trial by the Catholic Church remained a member of that church, and frequently visited his daughter, who was a nun. The so-called war between the Church and Science had not yet begun. Those considering the previous several hundred years in comparison to the apparent leaps in understanding taking place dubbed the former times, “The Dark Ages” and their own age, “The Enlightenment.”
In 1967, a song with marvelous harmonies came out, pronouncing that this was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. When exactly that dawn was supposed to take place is still unknown, but supposedly somewhere around 2000. We were all supposed to become somehow superior to the miserable, hateful creatures we were during the Age of Pisces.
Around the same time that the age of Aquarius was supposed to begin, the New Atheists started making noise. They were more aggressive in their hatred of Christianity (and to a lesser extent other religions) than previous Atheists were and they dubbed themselves “The Brights.” Later, one of the more well-known of them admitted that this might not have been the best PR move they could have made.
Even more recently, those leading the Millennial Progressive Movement started using terms like “Awakened” and “Awoke” and “Woke.”
In today’s text, the Pharisees proclaim themselves to be just like these other groups. They were offended that Jesus would suggest they were blind. They were the ones who could see. Those who believed what Jesus said and did were the blind ones. Quite often today, people who are religious are called Pharisees because we are said to claim to see while being blind. What those making that claim don’t notice is that Jesus’ biggest issue with the Pharisees was with their rejection of Him. Yes, they sought to impose their understanding of what is right and wrong on others, and they didn’t apply it equally to themselves. Yes, that same tendency can be found within every group that holds to some standard.
What those who are quick to denounce religious folks as Pharisees fail to see is that in doing so, they are being Pharisees themselves. I hear protests that labels are wrong, and that it’s wrong to shame someone, but the same people who say those things claim that they are right to do so. It’s just those blind, hateful, phobic, unwoke, crae-crae folk who have the audacity to think they’re right who are wrong to label or shame others.
We are all blind when we have no light. C. S. Lewis said that he believes in God as he believed in the sun, not because he saw it, but because by it, he saw all else. Christians should see by the Light of the World, who is the Word of God. Whenever we try to mix that light with any other, that light is dimmed. It becomes harder and harder to see, but usually, we tell everyone that we actually see better – because like the Pharisees, we don’t want to admit we can’t see. What we need to do is seek the Light even more.
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
[Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus said,] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:35-41)
This morning, we should begin with a technical note. The portion of the text in brackets is not included in early manuscripts. It makes perfect sense in light of the rest of the text, but it wouldn’t be entirely honest to make it the focus of comments this morning.
Instead, we’ll take a look at some history. At the end of the Middle Ages, European society rediscovered Greco-Roman literature and moved into a time of technical and scientific advancement. I am truly grateful for the discoveries and inventions of that era, and many (most) of them were made by people who professed belief in Jesus Christ. Even Galileo, who was put on trial by the Catholic Church remained a member of that church, and frequently visited his daughter, who was a nun. The so-called war between the Church and Science had not yet begun. Those considering the previous several hundred years in comparison to the apparent leaps in understanding taking place dubbed the former times, “The Dark Ages” and their own age, “The Enlightenment.”
In 1967, a song with marvelous harmonies came out, pronouncing that this was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. When exactly that dawn was supposed to take place is still unknown, but supposedly somewhere around 2000. We were all supposed to become somehow superior to the miserable, hateful creatures we were during the Age of Pisces.
Around the same time that the age of Aquarius was supposed to begin, the New Atheists started making noise. They were more aggressive in their hatred of Christianity (and to a lesser extent other religions) than previous Atheists were and they dubbed themselves “The Brights.” Later, one of the more well-known of them admitted that this might not have been the best PR move they could have made.
Even more recently, those leading the Millennial Progressive Movement started using terms like “Awakened” and “Awoke” and “Woke.”
In today’s text, the Pharisees proclaim themselves to be just like these other groups. They were offended that Jesus would suggest they were blind. They were the ones who could see. Those who believed what Jesus said and did were the blind ones. Quite often today, people who are religious are called Pharisees because we are said to claim to see while being blind. What those making that claim don’t notice is that Jesus’ biggest issue with the Pharisees was with their rejection of Him. Yes, they sought to impose their understanding of what is right and wrong on others, and they didn’t apply it equally to themselves. Yes, that same tendency can be found within every group that holds to some standard.
What those who are quick to denounce religious folks as Pharisees fail to see is that in doing so, they are being Pharisees themselves. I hear protests that labels are wrong, and that it’s wrong to shame someone, but the same people who say those things claim that they are right to do so. It’s just those blind, hateful, phobic, unwoke, crae-crae folk who have the audacity to think they’re right who are wrong to label or shame others.
We are all blind when we have no light. C. S. Lewis said that he believes in God as he believed in the sun, not because he saw it, but because by it, he saw all else. Christians should see by the Light of the World, who is the Word of God. Whenever we try to mix that light with any other, that light is dimmed. It becomes harder and harder to see, but usually, we tell everyone that we actually see better – because like the Pharisees, we don’t want to admit we can’t see. What we need to do is seek the Light even more.
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