Passage Introduction
This passage is one of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus. Jesus heals a man who had been born blind, something the Jews did not believe could happen until the Messiah comes, but he does it on the Sabbath day, something the Pharisees could not reconcile with what they thought they knew of God. Jesus then leaves the man whose sight had now been restored, and as he argues with the Pharisees, he talks himself into believing in Jesus and wanting to follow him. As this is happening, we see the response of the crowd, the Pharisees, and even the man's own parents. As you read through this passage, notice the journey towards faith in Jesus that the blind man takes. Also notice the way others react. See if you can find yourself in the story. Who do you identify with? Where do you see yourself in the story? What is your next step in drawing closer to Jesus?
David Dalton
This passage is one of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus. Jesus heals a man who had been born blind, something the Jews did not believe could happen until the Messiah comes, but he does it on the Sabbath day, something the Pharisees could not reconcile with what they thought they knew of God. Jesus then leaves the man whose sight had now been restored, and as he argues with the Pharisees, he talks himself into believing in Jesus and wanting to follow him. As this is happening, we see the response of the crowd, the Pharisees, and even the man's own parents. As you read through this passage, notice the journey towards faith in Jesus that the blind man takes. Also notice the way others react. See if you can find yourself in the story. Who do you identify with? Where do you see yourself in the story? What is your next step in drawing closer to Jesus?
David Dalton
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Lord, that I might see!
Lord, that I might see!, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54181 [retrieved March 17, 2023]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenr/2296612588/.
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We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as something forgotten-a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that ‘w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.
I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange new sight that had come to me. . . . I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them-words that were to make the world blossom for me, ‘like Aaron’s rod, with flowers.” It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.
Helen Keller
I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange new sight that had come to me. . . . I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them-words that were to make the world blossom for me, ‘like Aaron’s rod, with flowers.” It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.
Helen Keller
Imaging the Word An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 2