Spiritual Blindness

        They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’
       The religious leaders did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the religious leaders; for the religious leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
      So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.
       Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshiped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.  John 9:13-41

spiritual blindness
these are the words to describe how Jesus explains what's going on
spiritual blindness
the idea that they see all Jesus has done
yet, they want the status quo
they want Jesus gone
spiritual blindness
they don't see that God in moving through the events
spiritual blindness
John the author, is full of blindness
he doesn't see his own weakness
he blames "the Jews"
he makes them responsible for the plot to kill Jesus, to discredit Jesus
he doesn't understand that being Jewish does not make you the killer of Jesus
being Jewish is a state that applies to Jesus, John the Baptist, the disciples, the crowds
John is blind to his action
his words lead to violence against Jewish people by Christians
Holy Week a dangerous time to be Jewish
yet who we are as Christians is not possible without Judaism
Jesus learns what it means to speak of love from the Jewish scriptures
Jesus is who he is because of the people who raised him in Judaism
spiritual blindness
we all have these spots
these areas where we get caught, get stuck
those areas where we can't grow, we can't change
because we are unable to see beyond our own beliefs into the mystery of God
spiritual blindness
God help to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds
open the places where we cannot see
show us your movement, your presence
open us to see beyond
where we are blind, let us see