But Now I See

For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, one day, he could see. A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow," he exclaimed. "I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can't believe red. I can see the shape of the moon--and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky. You could never know how wonderful everything is."

That's just what I would expect to hear from someone who has been given the gift of sight. When I look through the gospels and look at all the people Jesus healed, my expectation is the same. People who were blind can see; people who couldn't walk are running and dancing; people with no hope are now filled with hope and faith and love. Their lives are changed for the better, and they all get a happy ending.

But not so fast. Maybe my expectations are off. Like in today's gospel, for example. Here we have a man who has been blind since birth. Jesus comes into this man's life and gives him the gift of sight! Now he can be amazed by yellow and see the shape of the moon and the stars in the sky! His life has been changed for the better, but wait a minute. The religious leaders, the pillars of the community, the Pharisees, are intensely interested in his story. He's more than willing to tell them what happened. But for some reason, his story upsets them. It agitates them. They send him away. They get his parents involved. They send for him again. There's more questions, almost all of them about the man who opened his eyes. The tension grows. Finally, the man says, honestly, "I know only one thing—I used to be blind, and now I can see. If this Jesus were not from God, He couldn't do anything." Well, that was evidently not what the Pharisees wanted to hear, because they proceeded to kick him out of the synagogue. Because a person he barely knew had put mud on his eyes and caused him to see, he was now excommunicated from his congregation. That's not quite the happy ending we expect.

And it's not the end. For when Jesus hears what happened to the man he healed, he goes looking for him, and when he finds him, he gives him sight a second time. This time, it is spiritual vision. Jesus asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he, sir?" he asked. "I want to believe in Him." "You've seen him," Jesus told him. "It is He who is now talking to you." "I do believe, Lord," he said and bowed down to worship him. The man has what he needs now—spiritual sight to complement his eyesight. Faith "sees" Jesus as the Son of Man—the god-man of the prophet Daniel's vision. Here's where the phrase "Son of Man" comes from: Daniel 7: 13: "I saw One coming with the clouds of the heavens like a son of man, and he came to the Old Being and was presented before him. And he was given glory, power to rule, and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and those of every language should serve him. His authority is everlasting and will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed." The man born blind now believes that Jesus is this Son of Man. He has true spiritual sight. He still has a bunch of problems in his life and some new ones to boot. But he has everything. He has Jesus. The Son of Man is his Lord and King and Healer.

The story of the man born blind holds a message for us that is just real. The fact that it is realistic means we can trust it. The Bible's not teaching us fairy-tale solutions to life's problems. The message is that Jesus gave that blind man physical and spiritual sight. That made his life better, infinitely better, but it did not make his life easier. That's a tension that this newly sighted Christian would learn to deal with.

And it's the tension that all Christians must learn to live with. Jesus has given us spiritual sight. The Holy Spirit has given birth to faith in our hearts. We "see" Jesus as our Rescuer, who saved us from eternal punishment in hell. We "see" Jesus as our Lord who rules our lives with compassion. We "see" Jesus right here in His Church as he delivers forgiveness to us. He makes our lives infinitely better—both for now and for eternity. But that does not mean that life right now is any easier. In fact, just like the man born blind, we may suffer because we bear the name "Christian." You may have to suffer the eye-rolling of a friend who just doesn't "get" your dedication to Jesus. You may have to suffer the pressure of family members who want you to think and act like they do, and who cares what the Bible says. You may have to suffer the pain of being singled out as one of "those Christians" by someone who just doesn't understand. And that may tempt you to tone it down; to keep your faith something private and unspoken.

I love the way that formerly blind man in today's gospel handles the pressure. He knows what the Pharisees want to hear. They want to hear him renounce Jesus. They want him to suggest that Jesus' power to heal is some kind of voodoo witchcraft, or that this whole thing is just a public relations stunt. But this man will not sell Jesus out. He simply reports the facts: "I know only one thing," he says. "I used to be blind, and now I see. If this Jesus were not from God, He couldn't do anything." He simply says: "Here's what Jesus did for me-- you can't take it away from me." Oh, the Pharisees try to take what they can. They erase his name from the synagogue directory. They used him as a public example, I'm sure. But they couldn't make him blind again. They couldn't stop him from seeing. They couldn't put blinders on his newfound faith. Nothing and no one can.

Nothing and no one can take away from you what Jesus has done by living for you; suffering for you; dying for you and rising for you. Nothing and no one can make you blind again. By faith, you see Jesus, the shape and the color of love that lasts forever. Amen.