For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself." 

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

- John 9:18-41

It is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus has just passed out of the temple as the leaders took up stones in order to stone Him for blasphemy (see Wednesday's reading).  As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the 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 these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went back and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."    In John's Gospel, the term the Jews refers to the leadership in the temple; they have been interrogating this man who was blind from birth but has received his sight from Christ.  We note the hint of fear of the leaders in the response of the parents; they will not answer for their son, but demand that the leaders ask him.  This also hints at the adoption by Jesus of this man.

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  My study bible points out here that with Jesus not present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier when He asked them face-to-face,  "Which of you convicts Me of sin"? (8:46), they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! was an oath formula that was used before giving testimony.  This healed man will indeed give God glory in his confession of faith in Christ (v. 38).  We see how faith works; the more he is pressed, the more fervent his faith becomes -- while the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness.

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  My study bible calls this formerly blind man a model of Christian witness.  It says that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions which they can't answer.  But this man's answer to those who are much more educated than he is provides the solution:  he admits what he does not know, yet follows up with what he does know.  There is a formula which is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others:  "That I don't know, but what I do know is this."

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  The Pharisees grow increasingly exasperated, as they cannot force out of this man what they wish him to say.  Instead, he stays with the truth he knows, and this drives them to desperation.  That they cast him out again gives us a sense about adoption by Christ; he is in some sense abandoned by both his parents and his community, in effect because of his healing by Christ.  It is a kind of illustration of Psalm 27:10, and will be an important theme of Christian monasticism.  My study bible says that the unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one who was born blind is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  This was one of the signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and a prerogative belonging solely to God (Psalm 145:8).

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  My study bible says that having opened the blind man's eyes, the Lord also opens his heart and illumines his spirit.  This man moves from knowing almost nothing about Christ (v. 25), through the conclusion that Jesus could not possibly be a sinner (v. 31), through confessing that Jesus must be from God (v. 33), and finally seeing Him as the divine Son of God.  

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  Christ's coming into this world brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (12:47-48), but rather because of humanity's accountability to Him, my study bible says.  Those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness.

Today's reading brings up themes of abandonment by "the world" and adoption by Christ, all familiar concepts particularly to the first centuries of the Church, but which remain with us alive and well today.  Because this man is healed by Christ, because He has been changed by encounter, his old relationships no longer create support for him.  His parents are not willing to stand up for him to the authorities; they confess they know nothing about what has happened to him.  We don't see much rejoicing here over this astonishing miracle -- there is too much fear because of the interest of the religious leaders and their suspicion and animosity toward Jesus.   As for the religious leadership, their interrogation of this formerly blind man simply results in increasing harassment and anger.  Finally, they simply cast the man out.  We must remember that they are the regulators of all community.  But it is Christ who takes him up.  It is Christ who has healed him and, in parallel with having received his physical sight, Christ also reveals Himself to this man, both ways of "illumination."  While the healed man has been discarded from his community, He finds a true object of worship, Christ the Son of God.  It is, in effect, new leadership and new community he steps into.  As noted above, this whole idea of community or communion of believers would be highly significant in the Church, and particularly in the establishment of monasticism.  Monasticism -- those earliest monks of the desert and the communities which would eventually build up around them -- will be a way of detachment from the world in order to more fully depend upon and love God, to be in depth of communion with God.  Moreover, the earliest martyr figures will be those who are cast out of community due to their faith commitment to Christ.  This is particularly and strikingly true for women martyrs, who so often are young women who prefer a marriage to Christ over marriage and status in community.  It helps us to understand the value placed on virginity both among these martyrs and monastics:  marriage is to the Church, to Christ.  That is, a full consecration of life and devotion to Christ is seen in the understanding of virginity, the fullness of communion being the heart given over to love of God with no worldly attachment to compete.  In our modern world, this may be very hard to understand.  But detachment from distractions, a focus on what is indeed true for us (which my study bible repeatedly notes is exemplary in the healed man in today's reading), and setting out our priorities in life remains a great goal in the midst of our social world today.  The importance of finding that which truly matters does not cease to be relevant when we are constantly given input from all kinds of media, entertainment, and a busy world around us.  Perhaps in such circumstances and with so many pulls, ties, and "shoulds" all around us, finding the one thing necessary perhaps matters all the more.  Certainly the difficulty of detaching from all the "musts" and "shoulds" the world will offer us by way of technology, money, and a full array of worldly goods to be had remains, and is perhaps stronger for all the innovations of the past century and more.  We are called to something higher, better, and deeper midst all of it.  Let us look to this healed man to think about what is truly needful for ourselves, where our true support and confidence can be found, even in a world that seems to offer so much.  When we look around ourselves, security and "home" often seem to be, paradoxically with all our progress, in short supply.  Jesus says, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  How are we illumined or enlightened?  What keeps us blind?  What is the way to true sight, beyond all the obstacles and temptations that get in the way?