John 9,1-7. 8. Trinity

John 9,1-7                    4520

8. Trinitatis 053

Stephan, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 257

2. August 2020

1. O God, our Loving Father; let Your goodness continue to be over us, so that we daily live in the comfort of Your mercy and grace.  Amen. (Starck 147 ¶ 2) 

2. »As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him: „Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, so that he was born blind?“ Jesus answered: „It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is approaching, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.“ Having said these things, He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then He anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him: „Go, wash in the pool of Siloam“ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.« 

3. Last week we heard how Jesus exemplified righteousness by miraculously feeding 4000 Gentiles. Today we hear Jesus proclaim those who do the will of his father will enter the reign of heaven. 

4. John 9 Jesus declares: »It is necessary that we work the works of the one having sent me while it is day; light is approaching when no one can work.« Here Jesus has met at the temple a Jewish man blind from birth. The conventional pious wisdom of Jesus’ day held that this man is blind as God’s punishment on sin: either one of his parents had committed a heinous sin, or the man himself had done so while a baby in his mother’s womb. The blind man is subjected to begging from the charity of others at the temple just to survive. 

5. Jesus does the will of His Father. He does not toss a few coins to the man so he can buy bread and eat that day, but rather Jesus removes the man’s blindness. Jesus heals the man, restores his dignity and shows him through these actions that God the Father loves him. Jesus has been merciful and extends mercy to the blind man.  

6. But Jesus has done even more for him. At the end of Jesus’ dialogue with the formerly blind man, Jesus tells him that he is the Son of Man; the man then believes in Him and worships Jesus. The Jews must now decide if Jesus is a true prophet of God or a false prophet. Jesus says you recognize a prophet by his fruit: good prophets bear good fruit and false prophets bear bad fruit (Matthew 7,15). The man in John 9 has seen, yes experienced, the good fruit of Jesus who had healed his blindness. One of Jesus’ early sermons was at His synagogue in Nazareth; He preached from the Prophet Isaiah: »The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s grace. And He began to say to them: „Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.“« (Luke 4,18-19.21). Isaiah later proclaims: »Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: „Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your salvation arrives; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.“« (Isaiah 62,11). This salvation culminates with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and is for both Jews and all the nations. Jesus entered this world so that those who do not see may see (John 9,39). Here He is speaking about spiritual blindness; Jesus has arrived to create faith in Him as the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1,29).  

7. Jesus tells us that the will of His Father is that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life (John 6,40). To enter the reign of heaven one needs to believe in Jesus. The goal of the Father’s will is to raise us up on the last day and create a new heaven and earth. The will of the Father is to remove sin and the curse of sin which He has done in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus is the first fruits of this and He will bring it to completion, and a full harvest, when He returns. This is the will of His Father. Next week we will hear Jesus tell us He cancels our debt or to our Heavenly Father.  Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord, whose Name is glorious; pour out upon us Your loving kindness and faithfulness, so that we rest assured in Your Son Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of Your will.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.