Looking for someone to blame?
The miracle story in today’s Gospel reading is perfect for today’s confused and confusing situation.
Let’s look at some of the confusion in this Gospel reading. Because really, besides the miracle story and the various angles from which it can be viewed – and we have viewed over the years – the more relevant message of this Gospel reading for today is a message about superstition and false religious teachings. Throughout his ministry in Judea, Jesus constantly had to confront superstition and false religious teachings and traditions.
“Who sinned…that this man was born blind?” How often do you hear such questions today. And to ask such a question is usually to accuse. Why is that boy such a troublemaker? It must be the parents fault, they didn’t bring him up right. Why is that couple divorcing? Ah, it must be because he….. Why is that man homeless? Ah, it must be because he is lazy and doesn’t want to work. Or, he must be an addict. Jesus might answer, No, it’s not because he is lazy or because he’s a drug addict. Maybe he is homeless just to show how we are not a compassionate society.
Why is there a coronavirus pandemic? Who sinned? Who can we blame? Jesus doesn’t look for blame. Jesus would say, Don’t look for someone or something to blame; but rather, this virus is in the world to manifest the works of God. Note the language: ἵνα φανερωθῇ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. The works of God take many forms – sometimes direct, sometimes indirect. God IS working through this virus, make no mistake about it – but not to provide easy fixes. Rather, God is looking to see whether this virus awakens new compassion in us, new awareness of how we are to live with ourselves, with each other, with the animals, with the planet. This was the answer Jesus provided to the disciples, whose minds were clouded by superstitions and false teachings. False teachings look for blame or excuses when sickness or something terrible happens – instead of looking for the deep healing that Jesus is guiding us to embrace. The work of God in that healing wasn’t only to heal the man’s blindness, but also to show the inhumanity of those around the man. And also to bring to the surface false teachings and traditions.
But the disciples were not the only ones hostage to false teachings. Do we need to talk about the Pharisees and their obsession with the Sabbath? That is such a recurring message in so many Gospel readings throughout the year, you’ve heard it all, so to speak. And yet, the Sabbath is holy, it is precious to Jews, even non-observing Jews to this very day. Jesus never attacked the Sabbath, never told his fellow Jews not to observe the Sabbath. What Jesus showed is that the Sabbath observance should never take priority over human needs. We see the same problem today when many Orthodox see the communion spoon as more important than the health and wellbeing of people who receive communion. They have turned the communion spoon into the proof that a person’s faith is weak or strong. And that is a sinful thing to do. Because, like Jesus said, You shall not test the Lord your God. Neither should we test the faith of our neighbour..
Finally, the man himself, the man born blind, is also captive to false teachings. Listen to how he responds to the Pharisees and the self-styled super-religious:
"Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.
Do you see his own captivity to false teachings? God does not listen to sinners? Wow. If God does not listen to sinners, who does God listen to? Aren’t we all sinners? Do you see how much harm the very concept of sin does to human consciousness and thinking? And what happens? The Pharisees throw him out with the condemnation that religion is so good at making: “You were born in utter sin, and you would teach us?” You, a sinner from birth – there’s that blame for his blindness again – are going to teach us, who observe the laws of God? Yes, they observe the laws of God, but completely lose the spirit of what God has ordained. And they elevate human traditions to the level of God’s laws.
False teachings everywhere, dear friends, and usually coupled with very poor theology. We value typos instead of ousia, is how one priest in Crete put it. And this poor priest has been viciously attacked by the super-Orthodox in Greece. We adhere to typos instead of ousia. Appearances instead of essential truth. This was the captivity of the disciples, the Pharisees, the parents of the man born blind and the man himself. Never a shortage of false teachings.
And Jesus said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων (Mark 7:6-8)
Peter, one of the disciples asking the question about sin, later wrote a letter that is included in the NT. He used the word πατροπαράδοτος and called it ‘futile’, ματαία: a good description of superstitions and traditions when they hold people’s minds and hearts captive. Don’t hang on to superstitions or futile traditions that don’t feed the soul and don’t lead to a liberated life animated by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s life in us, and the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with false human teachings. Cling to life and not to the judgments of human beings.