Lection: John 9

“God Chooses Who?”

John 9:1-41

What happens in this morning’s Gospel story is not unusual. Or, at least, it’s not unusual for the Gospels in which Jesus heals people who are blind, allowing them to see, at least five times. This is the kind of thing that we are used to hearing about Jesus – he healed people from diseases, from illnesses, from demon-possession, from deafness, and from blindness.

The healing stories demonstrate Jesus’ compassion and care for the people he encountered. And they also show that he has power from God, drawing crowds of people towards him where they will hear his preaching and teaching.

In John’s Gospel, there aren’t quite as many healing stories – only three, actually – because the 4^th Evangelist just selects a few examples of the things Jesus did, in order to make his theological points and convince his readers to believe.

In the Gospel of John, the three healing stories combined with four other miracles, make up the seven signs that point to Jesus’ identity as God’s Son. At the end of the book, the author writes, “Jesus did many other things that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe … Read more »

John 9:1-41

“What I Missed Seeing”

Back when I was in seminary twenty years ago, the students in my class had the opportunity to do the Myers Briggs Personality Inventory. Some of you may have done it yourself at some point, or you may know that it’s one of those psychological tests that identifies some of your personality traits and tendencies, helping you to understand yourself a little better.

I remember that we learned that almost everyone in my class of ministers-to-be was an introvert, and we marvelled that all of us introverts would soon be preaching publicly every Sunday and interacting with all kinds of people every day!

Another thing I learned about myself is that I don’t pay much attention to my physical surroundings. At one point, the workshop leader asked us all to close our eyes, and then she asked us questions about the room where we were gathered. What colour were the chairs? Were there curtains or blinds on the windows? Describe the plant on the table in the corner.

And I couldn’t answer any of the questions! It was the same classroom I’d been sitting in three times a week all year, but I had no idea what colour the … Read more »

Introduction to the reading from John:

Just before we hear the Gospel reading, I want to say a few things. During the season of Lent in year A, we get a series of long stories from John’s Gospel, and today’s Gospel story about the healing of a blind man from John 9 is no exception.

All of the Gospels have stories about Jesus healing people who are blind. But if we were reading a healing story from Mark’s Gospel it would be much shorter! The Gospel writer would tell us that someone was blind. Jesus would do something simple to help. The person would be healed. And everyone would rejoice and praise God. There might be a few Pharisees around who would grumble about it a little bit, especially if it happened to be the Sabbath day. But that would be the story.

John’s Gospel is different though. When the author of John’s Gospel tells a story about healing a blind man, it’s about much more than just healing a blind man. It’s almost like John’s stories are parables. They’re not parables really, because parables are made up stories that are told to make a specific point. On the surface a … Read more »