The Gospel of John was significantly influenced by the destruction of the
Jerusalem Temple, in the year 70, severing the ties between Jews and Jewish-Christians
who had always celebrated the high holydays together. As the local synagogues
became the main focus for Jewish piety and worship at the same time that the fledging
Christian community grew stronger, increasing tension caused Jewish Christians
to resign or be expelled from their local synagogue. John was also acutely aware,
not only in his own church, but in many others in different locations, of the
increasing interest of gentile people with no Jewish background, in the Gospel.
Lastly, there seemed to be an indication that John's particular community included
Jewish-Christians who had a long history of enmity towards the Jewish hierarchy
that had been in charge of the Temple.
All
these factors came into play as John composed the Gospel that bears his name.
The story of the man born blind and last week's Gospel of the story of the woman
at the well are the two longest dialogues Jesus had with particular individuals
in the entire Gospels.
You will recall that
the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well begins as Jesus stopped
during his journey at the village well and initiated a conversation with a native
woman who had come to draw water. Gradually the woman opened up to Jesus and accepted
the good news that Jesus had been sent by God, not to condemn the world, but to
reveal the divine love for all humanity. The woman then ran to her neighbors and
brought them to meet Jesus. In effect John used this story to validate the claim
that Jesus is the light and savior of the world and that Jerusalem is no longer
the exclusive center of revelation of God's grace.
It is interesting to contrast the lesson of the woman of Samaria with the man
of Judea who was born blind. This woman and the Samaritan community she was a
part of, were shunned by the larger Jewish population surrounding them and viewed
as a people who had abandoned Judaism. Yet she was willing to look beyond the
appearance of Jesus as an unapproachable Jewish rabbi and accepted the good news
that Jesus had offered her. She shared it with others. The Gospel implies that
her past was questionable. She had had five husbands; perhaps she was forced to
marry one, perhaps another beat and abused her, or another left her for a younger
woman, and so on. I suspect the main point of mentioning her past was to emphasize
that she had very little security and stability in her life. Nonetheless, she
trusted Jesus. Note that her neighbors were not judgmental about her testimony.
They didn’t rebuke her. Instead, they honored what she had shared with them
and were willing to go to the well, welcome Jesus and accept the good news first
hand.
The man who had been born blind, on the
other hand, was a part of mainstream Judaism. We are told of his parents and his
neighbors. He along with them, were members of the local synagogue. Like the woman,
he testified to the goods news that Jesus brought, but was rejected. His family
was afraid of the dramatic change in him, even though it was plainly for the good,
and so instead of supporting him, they refused to be committed and put the whole
burden of his healing on him. The healed man was pressured by the religious elders
“to give glory to God” which was probably a colloquialism for “for
heavens’ sake tell the truth”, but the man bravely stuck to his story
(and the truth), and as a consequence, was expelled from his community.
So we have the example of one who was unorthodox; outside the regular community
of faith, who had a very fragile safety net protecting her, but courageously accepted
the Gospel with joy,
We have the example of
another, who was just as brave in proclaiming the truth, but who suffered the
loss of his security because his changed life was interpreted as a threat. The
man born blind served as a model as one who was willing to jeopardize all his
past relationships in order to be faithful to the Gospel. Those of us, who are
not accustomed to being discriminated against or have suffered because of Christ’s
call to discipleship, need to be reminded that it sometimes happens, even among
close families and neighbors. New life can be upsetting and scary. At the same
time, God may work through the process of rejection and bridge the gap between
fear of rejection and the new life of grace.
When Peter was given his final exam as an apostle, the risen Christ asked him
three questions. First question: Peter, do you love me? Second question: Peter,
do you love me? Third question: Peter, do you love me? Note Jesus didn’t
ask Peter to preach three sermons on the significance of the resurrection, or
explain the incarnation. Rather, He asked, “Do you love with your heart the
good news of Jesus Christ? Peter, do you love me? Then feed my sheep.”
The story of the woman opening herself to Jesus
and bringing others in her village to him happened near the beginning of Jesus’
ministry. The story of the ostracizing of one who tried to proclaim faith among
people, who were in a favored position to respond, occurred in the middle. Jesus’
final words of commissioning to the apostle Peter occurred at the very end of
the Gospel. I wonder if John the evangelist is not telling us that the roadblocks
to sharing the Gospel, the barriers to deepening our faith, and the obstructions
to a deeper perception of God’s grace are not inherent in the message, not
veiled in complicated argument. The barriers are not erected by God, but always
by us, or, as Rabbi Abraham Heschel has observed, God is greater than religion,
faith is greater than dogma (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom,
p.119). That is what the woman at the well and the man who was born blind discovered
in Jesus.
