How for who?

Saturday 22^nd June

Read John 9:13-17

“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴ Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵ Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’

But others asked, ‘How can a sinner perform such signs?’ So they were divided.

¹⁷ Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’

The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’” (NIVUK)

Much like people these days look for statements from political leaders when strange events occur in the world, the people bring the man who had been born blind before the Pharisees so that a pronouncement can be made that will help them make sense of what has happened. It is then that John informs us that Jesus granted sight to the blind man on the Sabbath. It was not relevant before then…

For some Pharisees keeping the Sabbath was the key piece of paperwork required to establish that anything done was done in a godly and lawful manner. Thus the investigation hones right in on the ‘how’ – for if ‘work’ was done on the Sabbath – that ‘work’ discredits the person who did it for ungodliness. The ‘work’ was likely three-fold. First, healing was only allowed if life was endangered (clearly not in this case as the man was born blind). Second, the act of ‘kneading’ constituted work, and the making of a mud-pie could be considered ‘kneading’. Finally, anointing of the eyes was likely considered work, even if that anointing was with mud! The ‘how’ question was hence critical, and for many present, decisive. The ‘how’ allowed them to determine their position on the ‘who’.

How often do we make judgments about people that are based on our own moral assumptions about the way things should be done? In a world that casually cancels people, can and should we be that critical, when this world does not even belong to us?