The minister was passing around the communion when he came to a member of his congregation he knew to have many problems in their life and who didn't fit the minister's idea of what an overcoming Christian should look like. Holding back the elements he threw out the challenge to no one in particular, but all the time standing before and eyeing this person, "Are you sure now that you are worthy to take these elements?" Hanging his head in shame the person turned away, refusing the communion, and the minister walked on looking satisfied.

Like this minister the Pharisees stood in judgement over people, holding to the simplistic formula that God rewards those who do right while punishing those who do wrong. The events recorded in this chapter of John's gospel threw their whole worldview into crisis as Jesus brought blessing to a sinner. Holding to the popular pharisaic view the disciples asked Jesus of a man born blind whether he or his parents had sinned that he should be so punished. Rabbis of the day had developed the idea that "There is no death without sin, and there is no suffering without iniquity" and even believed that a child could sin in the womb. Jesus' reply was a shock:

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life"

Not only was the man healed but his life served the purposes of God. This was an amazing thing given what was popularly believed and his neighbours brought the man to the Pharisees to see how they should interpret these remarkable events. But the Pharisees could only hold Jesus up to the template of their religion and find him wanting.

They called Jesus a sinner because he healed on the Sabbath. When people judge by written codes they totally miss the big picture. It was the healing that was important and not the day and if they had been listening to God they would have seen a sign of his being among them.

They cast doubt on the report and called the man's parents to swear he had been blind to begin with, which they did. When people insist that the world must always dance to their tune they will miss the music of the gospel. Their denial of the miraculous and wonderful does not mean the miraculous doesn't happen; only that it doesn't happen "in their world."

They questioned Jesus' authority declaring they didn't know where he came from. Often people don't see what is right in front of them because they need a greater vision to see it and are stubbornly looking through a microscope instead of a telescope. Their world is confined to what they think they know and who is 'in' and who is 'out'.

When the man defended Jesus they threw him out and called him a sinner too. 'Sin' by association is often the lot of those who follow Jesus who was himself often condemned for associating with sinners and tax collectors. The self-righteous are never satisfied unless you go where they tell you to go, associate with people of their choosing and doing what they say.

The man's reasoning however was sound as he declared, "I was blind but now I see!" but the Pharisees were confident that they could see although they were blind. He reasoned with them that God had done this thing since Jesus' by their own criteria, must be from God because "God doesn't listen to sinners. He listens only to the godly man who does his will". But they were having none of it.

Today the greatest obstacle to the gospel is people's incredulity at the idea that God listens to sinners and that sinners are saved by grace, through faith in Christ. When we come to him we come because we need saving not because we have a nice sorted out life to present to him; when he uses us it because he is able not because we are able. When we come to communion it is because we continue to need his forgiveness as long as we live and, like the Israelite going to the temple in the Old Testament, we come with the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit; not because we are worthy but because he is.

People will continue to deny these things as they try and sneak in some effort of their own to win points with God, contribute to their own salvation and build their own reputation but we must continue to tell this one story, that "Christ died for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God" (1 Pe.3:18) The greatest blindness is spiritual blindness and the only light that can break through is this.

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