“I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25 NLT

Devotion:

Read John 9:1-41

Everyone was incredulous. This “man born blind” who now had sight simply did not fit their understanding of the way the world works. 

His neighbors and the people who had seen him begging debated in wonderment, “Is this the guy?” 

“No, it can’t be the guy; that guy was blind.” 

“Yeah, but it really, really looks like the guy!”

The guy responds, “It’s me! I’m the guy!”

Still in doubt, another asks, “No, really, how is this possible?”

The guy explains, “Jesus put mud on my eyes, told me to wash it off in the pool and then, I could see. I don’t know how.”

It still didn’t make sense, so they took him to the experts, the Pharisees. 

The Pharisees quickly decided it was impossible. Jesus was a sinner, and a sinner cannot perform these signs. So, how did they know Jeus was a sinner? It was obvious, right? He had performed this miracle on the Sabbath! Case closed.

Or not. They summoned his parents to find out if he had really been born blind and asked them, “How is this possible?” 

Afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue if they said something good about Jesus, Mom and Dad mustered up all the courage they had, and said, “Ummm, yeah, our son was born blind. As for the rest, ask him.” 

The Pharisees summoned the guy one more time and cautioned him to give glory to God [instead of Jesus] “because we know Jesus is a sinner.” Clearly, they were still hung up on that Sabbath thing. 

The guy replies, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner. I only know one thing: I was blind; now I see.”

Being blind in that culture wasn’t much different from being dead. Not only could he not see, but he was not seen. Being born blind presumptively added the stigma of sin on him as well as his parents. He was the lowest of the low and, “justifiably” ignored by those around him—except for those few who took pity on him and responded to his begging. He might as well have been dead. 

Here again, is the Paschal mystery, our Lenten focus. Out of death, through Christ, comes resurrection. Jesus had passed by. Jesus had seen him. Jesus had dismissed the question of who sinned, and as a reminder of the original creation story, making mud with dirt and his own spit, Jesus re-created “the guy” out of the dust from which he came—don’t miss the link to Adam whose name means “the ground.” He might as well have said, “Let there be light!”

What happened next may have been as much of a miracle as receiving sight in the first place. Emboldened by his “enlightenment,” this formerly blind child of God, who—like us— had not yet seen Jesus face-to-face and who formerly could only beg for sustenance, began to preach to the Pharisees. “You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (John 9:30b-34).

Naturally, they kicked him out. When Jesus heard, he found the guy. They saw each other face-to-face.

PRAYER

Father, we pray along with our brothers and sisters throughout history, “Christ has died; Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Dying you destroyed our death; rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.” May we, in the fullness of time, rise from our Lenten reflections with the same emboldened spirit as the man born blind. Amen.

Skip McKinstry
Crossings Spiritual Formation Team

Skip McKinstry is an artist, graphic designer, long-time CareSeries facilitator, and part of Crossings' nascent spiritual formation team. 

Artwork: “Whispers” by Skip McKinstry, the artist who created the collection of art featured in our 2023 Lent devotions.

Spiritual Exercise for the Lenten Season:

This week, set aside some time to ask the Lord to open your eyes to areas where you may be blind. Where have you become so self-righteous and self-assured in your presumed knowledge of God that you have become, like the Pharisees, more disturbed than delighted when God challenges and surprises you?

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