Readings:
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; John 9:1-41

Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world.’ Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came back with his sight restored. Then some Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the Sabbath’… The Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his parents and asking them… His parents answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind’… The man born blind said, ‘Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind; if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ ‘Are you trying to teach us’, they replied, ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’… Jesus said, ‘It is for judgment that I have come into this world, so that those without sight might see and those with sight turn blind.’ Hearing this some Pharisees who were present said to him, We are not blind, surely?’ Jesus replied: ‘Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since you say, “We see”, your guilt remains.‘
John 9:5-7, 16, 18-20, 32-34, 39-41

John makes it very clear that Jesus’ miracles are not simply extraordinary physical happenings, but that they are signs which point beyond the physical cure to a truth which affects all people of all time. He gives light to a blind man, a sign that he is the light of the world.

The Pharisees are also a sign pointing beyond their own group, their own religion, their own time, for the blindness which afflicts them can manifest itself in people of any religion or none.

The Pharisees refuse to accept that Jesus can have performed this miracle through the power of God, because the miracle has been performed on the Sabbath. It is a sobering thought that attachment to a religious belief, a religious observance, good in itself, can not only blind its devotees to the presence of God, but lead them to try to get rid of that presence. We need to reflect on this phenomenon in our own lives, how our inherited belief system, whether religious or secular, can blind us to the truth of things and lead us to act destructively, while we are convinced that we are acting correctly, or even religiously. The less the belief system is examined, the more rigid it is likely to be, and the more ruthlessly it will be applied. Such crude belief systems always over-simplify, which is part of their attraction.

If we really do believe in Christ, light of the world, then we need to examine our own beliefs and attitudes, our racism, sexism, militarism, our feelings and attitudes towards people of other Christian denominations, of other religions, or of no religion, towards people of different cultures or backgrounds from our own. Failure to examine ourselves in this way can lead us into the most inhuman behaviour. The deliberate bombing of innocent civilians in the Second World War, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are still defended by some today, while the majority of Christians and Christian leaders in our country still endorse the rightness of defending ourselves against potential enemies with nuclear weapons, threatening the annihilation of millions and endangering all life on earth. The blindness of the Pharisees still afflicts us.

The healing power of Jesus is still with us, if we look to him. Looking at him, we begin to see more clearly that Jesus is living, not in the minds of pious believers, but in the reality of every human life. Looking to him, we shall begin to see more clearly that which is of God in everyone we meet, and realize that when we condemn or exclude any individual or group, any category or class of people, then we condemn and exclude ourselves.

Prayer
Jesus, light of the world, be the light and the joy of my life. Dispel the darkness of my fears and break down the barriers of my prejudice, so that I may recognize that which is of you in everyone I meet and live grateful for your presence within us and amongst us.
Amen.