Loving God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of each heart be acceptable to you, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

            Cognitive dissonance occurs when people discover that their deeply held beliefs do not match reality.  This sometimes happens when new information is received.  In order to relieve their discomfort, people will either search for ways to justify their behaviour or will seek to discredit or ignore any new information.  You may have observed this happening in a number of different settings lately, including in today’s gospel.

         Did you notice that, as soon as the man in today’s gospel is healed, his neighbours don’t recognize him any more?  They don’t believe that he could possibly be the man they know who has been blind his whole life and had to beg in order to survive.  They can’t believe it, because people who have always been blind don’t just suddenly start to see.  It is unheard of.  And so, unable to make sense of what they are seeing, they take the man to the Pharisees.  Surely the religious leaders will be able to sort this out!

         The Pharisees, however, have just as much trouble believing what has happened.  They ask the man how he was healed.  They ask his parents if he really was born blind.  They ask the man again how he was healed.  They proclaim that Jesus is a sinner and could not possibly have done something like this.  They try to get the man to agree with them, but the man insists on sticking to the facts.  Finally, in exasperation, they drive him out of the synagogue.  It is a classic demonstration of the saying, “I’ve made up my mind.  Don’t confuse me with the facts!”

         Keep in mind that, prior to today’s gospel, the Pharisees have already had numerous disputes with Jesus – over healing on the Sabbath; over claims he was making about being the bread of life; over supposedly leading people astray.  By the time the blind man is healed, they have already decided that Jesus can’t possibly be the Messiah, doesn’t keep the law of Moses, and is dangerous enough to be arrested.  Thus, when they receive this new information that Jesus has somehow healed a man who had been blind since birth, they focus on discrediting this new information.

         All through the gospel of John there are themes of light and darkness, seeing and not seeing.  It is just as the prophet Isaiah said,

‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed (Is. 6:9-10).

In part, this explains how people all saw and heard the same Jesus – and some believed in him, and some did not.  Some, even though they could see, were blind, and some, though blind, were able to see.

         While there are many things going on in today’s gospel, sometimes a verse or an idea stands out in a new way.  One such verse is the one where Jesus says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn. 9:5).  One could be forgiven, these days, for seeing little evidence of how God is at work in our world.  Dangerous, and perhaps even deluded, people end up as world leaders.  Little or no provocation is needed for war or violence. Protests seem to be happening everywhere, and people seem to have little regard for the well-being or safety of others.  Yet, in the midst of all this, we hear Jesus: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

         This is not a statement that only applies to those years when Jesus physically walked this earth.  In fact, ever since the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Jesus has been present in this world in his followers and in his body, the Church.  Today, regardless of what we see in the behavior of others, God calls us to be the presence of Christ and the light of Christ in our world.

         While there continue to be many things in this world that are out of our control, we all have some sphere of influence.  For some, that sphere of influence is pretty small – especially for those who are sick or shut-in.  However, for others there is interaction with larger numbers of people.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if these people could look at us and see Christ?  Wouldn’t it be amazing if people could see, through us, that Jesus is present in our world and is the light of the world?

         Perhaps the truly amazing thing is that this, and so much more, is, indeed, possible because of the Holy Spirit at work in us.  And, just in case you are worried, we are not called to be perfect – just forgiven – through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord (NL 4)               John 9:1-41

February 27, 2022

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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