March 18, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ –John 9:1-12

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus healed a man who was blind on the Sabbath, by the Pharisees’ interpretation, Jesus had broken the Jewish law about not working on the Sabbath, and they were outraged. Everyone involved, it seemed, got in a dither, and a review of the whole event followed to determine where sin had been committed. No one seemed to pay much attention to the rather miraculous healing of a blind man. I fear we, too, get so caught up in the right behavior of others that we lose our purpose to fulfill Jesus’ call to actualize the Kingdom of God on Earth. I wonder how much energy those Pharisees burned in trying to correct Jesus for healing the blind man on the Sabbath compared to how much energy they had ever invested in helping him themselves.

Prayer: Forgive us, Lord, when we get too wrapped up in self-righteousness rather than caring for our neighbors.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.