约翰福音9:1-41

愿恩惠、怜悯和平安从父神和救主耶稣基督归于你们一心信靠祂的人。阿们。

今天的福音经文比较长，但说的是一件事，围绕耶稣让这位生来瞎眼的人能看见，并且因着信靠耶稣是神的儿子得救来说的。其中也特别涉及到人的不信和因着不信而带来的错误认识。我们可能认为这个故事里面犯错误的只有法利赛人，因为他们无视耶稣施行神迹让瞎眼的看见这个事实，不归荣耀给神，却只专注在安息日的律法规条上面，实在是不知道主设立安息日是为了人得福这个真理。但其实，门徒们也一样犯糊涂，或者门徒们的糊涂也是所有人的共识。这个世人都共有的错误是什么呢？就是人受苦受难一定是那人有罪、得罪了神或者他的父母、祖上造了什么孽。这是人天然的宗教观念。不仅是门徒，就连瞎子以及瞎子的父母也这样认为，当然法利赛人更是这样认为的。

主耶稣看见一个生来瞎眼的人，心生怜悯，要上前去施恩与他。随行的门徒们也看见了，却立刻发出疑问——其实这疑问也是所有人会问的问题：“拉比，这人生来是瞎眼的，是谁犯了罪？是这人呢？是他父母呢？”（约9:1-2）弟兄姐妹们，这里涉及到的不是人人都生在罪中——人的罪性这个问题：世人的确都犯了罪，罪从一人入了世界，就是从人类的始祖亚当遗传来的，因此疾病死亡都临到世人（创3；罗5）。门徒们所问的，也是我们会问的问题：为啥只有他是生来瞎眼的呢？肯定是他有什么罪，或者祖上造了什么孽。事实上，第一个可能应该很容易排除，因为这个人生来就是瞎眼的，还没出生能犯什么具体的罪吗？很显然，他们觉得应该是他的父母有什么罪，才生出了这样瞎眼的孩子吧。

这位瞎子的父母也跟所有人一样，有这样的心理负担；很有可能周边的人都以这样异样的眼光看待他们。人不都是这样吗？上周我们讲撒玛利亚妇人的故事，也有类似的状况（约4）。我们从今天的经文中也可以同样看出，这个瞎子之所以在路边常常乞讨度日，而不是被父母供养以及给予有尊严的照顾，就是因为父母也出于羞愧想要跟自己的孩子撇开关系（约9:8-9；9:20-23）。简单地说，就是把瞎眼的孩子扔到门外自力更生去吧，自己需要过一个正常人的生活，况且可能还有其他比较健康一点儿的孩子需要照顾。或许，父母早已经厌倦了村子里街坊邻居异样的眼光，干脆让他在街上流浪，眼不见心不烦。甚至后面法利赛人盘问他们的时候，他们不也只是承认这位瞎子是自己的孩子，而且生来就是瞎眼的。仅此而已，他们作为父母因为惧怕犹太人把自己赶出会堂，进而失去社区当中合法的身份而变得支支吾吾，并没有为自己的儿子辩护，也没有为着自己儿子瞎眼得看见兴奋不已，更没有因此去找耶稣、认识耶稣这位行了这样大恩惠的人，没有归荣耀给神。生来就眼瞎的这个人的遭遇是凄惨的，他的父母更是活得可怜、悲惨。

我们的生活当中不都是这样吗？华人朋友遇到大的磨难，心里面一定想，“我上辈子造了什么孽啊！”估计大家是受佛教——人的宗教思维的影响。配偶或者儿女比自己提前离世，我们心里就会想，肯定是我有什么罪或者造了什么孽，老天爷才这样惩罚我。哪怕是基督徒了，有时候我们不也会想：“神把这样的灾难降到我头上，应该是我犯了什么大罪了吧。”

那么，这里我们首先说下，罪的确会带来惩罚和后果，甚至会让下一代的人遭殃。上帝在颁布十诫的时候说：“我耶和华—你的神是忌邪的神。恨我的，我必追讨他的罪，自父及子，直到三四代。”（出20）亚当夏娃犯罪之后，惩罚就临到他们，死亡、疾病和死亡，劳作没有果实等等都是真实发生的，是神降在世上的（创3）。整本圣经到处都有神惩罚人的罪的见证，无论是旧约还是新约。你看以色列人在旷野四十年，因为不信、抱怨、纷争等等受了多少惩罚，牙缝里的肉还在就被击杀，地裂开让可拉一党的人陷入深渊（民数记16），毒蛇在营地咬死多少人（民21），若不是神吩咐摩西竖起铜蛇，估计都死光了。大卫犯了奸淫和谋杀的罪，与别示巴所生的第一个孩子很快就死了（撒下12）。乌西雅王手拿香炉干犯祭司制度，立刻得了大麻风，直到去世（代下26）。到了新约也是一样，新约教会中，因为混乱主圣餐，患病的不少，哥林多教会有好些“软弱的与患病的，死的也不少”（林前11）。卖了田产说是全部奉献却偷偷留下一些，因此欺哄圣灵的一对教会夫妇立刻倒地毙命（徒5）。扫罗逼迫基督徒，在大马士革路上直接被主拉下马并且眼睛瞎了（徒9）。圣经中有太多这样的例子，让我们心存敬畏，不要轻慢审判人的主。

所有这些上帝发出的审判和惩罚，都有神的话语佐证，清晰地指明，之所以这样……，是因为那样……。也就是说，我们必须藉着神的话语认识神的审判，以及怜悯。我们需要常常省察自己的罪，包括隐而未现的罪，都拿到主面前承认，靠着主的恩典怜悯活着。

但是，但是，这都不意味着，我们可以随随便便将自己或他人所遭遇的事解读为神对我们的罪的惩罚——除非我们有明显的大罪，让我们不得不去这样省察。圣经中最典型的错误案例就是约伯的朋友们。约伯失去了一切，满身生疮躺在地上，披麻蒙灰。朋友们本来是安慰他的，但不知道说什么好，其实有时候什么不说、陪伴就是一种对朋友的安慰。然而，当朋友们听到约伯说自己是公义的，他们就开始指责约伯自义。但事实上，约伯确实是义人，并没有什么明显的大罪可以让人指责。朋友们群起攻之，说他一定是犯了什么罪，才遭受这样的患难。“神是公义的，你怎么可以这样说自己是公义的，还要找神理论呢？”（伯35）这个时候犯罪的是约伯的朋友们，以律法的思维，以世人共有的宗教情操去论断约伯。我们要小心谨慎，不要好心帮倒忙，不仅把对神错误的认识指教人，而且也是往伤口上撒盐。

回到今天的福音经文中，主耶稣怎么回答门徒愚昧无知的问题呢？“也不是这人犯了罪，也不是他父母犯了罪，是要在他身上显出神的作为来。”（约9:3）注意，主耶稣这里用的词， “犯了罪(sinned)”，这人有没有犯罪，与他是不是生来就有罪，是两码事。这里是说，这个人或者他父母有没有具体犯了实际上的罪而导致这个结果。主耶稣说，都没有。事实上，主耶稣不希望我们去这样联想，无论是对自己的处境和遭遇，还是针对身边的人也好。主耶稣要我们转移焦点，从人的问题或者人的分析上面转移，聚焦在上帝的作为上面，就是耶稣祂自己的奇妙拯救作为上面。“要在他身上显出神的作为来。”换句话说，主耶稣是在呼召我们所有世人去看上帝自己的作为，祂的怜悯和慈爱，祂如何来寻找我们失丧的人，如何来供养我们，医治我们，赐给我们赦罪恩典和永恒生命。人都是这样的，自从犯罪之后，人所有的目光，天然地就是聚集在自己或者他人身上，就像亚当和夏娃犯罪之后，立刻意识到自己是赤身露体的，是羞耻的，而不是去听上帝的声音、领受上帝的慈爱和赦免，领受天父的找寻和救赎。

主耶稣接下来医治了这位生来就瞎眼的。用的方法也很奇特：“耶稣说了这话，就吐唾沫在地上，用唾沫和泥在瞎子的眼睛上。”（约9:6）主耶稣总是用非常奇特、出乎意料的方式施行怜悯和拯救。前段时间我们提到，主耶稣用手指头蘸着唾沫，去摸哑巴之人的舌头，让他可以开口说话。这次不仅是唾沫，还要和泥，抹瞎子的眼睛。这都是为了说明，主耶稣就是那位从起初做工，直到如今的上帝，祂是与父上帝一同做工的，并且祂所做的就是父上帝所做的。“我们必须做那差我来者的工。”主耶稣所说的我们，就是圣父、圣子、圣灵三位一体上帝，就像起初神说，“让我们按照我们的形象造人。”起初上帝造人的时候，就是用尘土、泥巴造人。今日，主耶稣重复这个动作，是为了表明自己就是创造世人的主，要藉着人被造时所用的材料修复我们的缺陷和疾病。这唾沫表明的是起初吹气到亚当鼻孔里赐生命给人的主，今日同样用口中所出的物来施行医治。瞎子信了主耶稣的话语，让耶稣随便抹泥在眼睛上，然后凭着信心去西罗亚的水池里洗净，就眼睛明亮了。后来，主耶稣又去找他，在法利赛人控告他，把他赶出会堂，甚至他的父母仍然不接纳和支持他之后，主耶稣给他安慰，让他在真理中站立得稳。他不仅眼睛看见了，而且心眼也明亮了，见到世人的救主，更是自己的救主耶稣基督并且紧紧跟随。

弟兄姐妹们，我们虽然没有眼睛瞎，但按照属灵的意思，我们生来就是瞎眼的，抵挡神，不认识神，不归荣耀给神，只归荣耀给自己、给一切受造的物，人手所造的偶像。但是，主耶稣藉着祂的话语，教会的见证来不断地寻找世人，寻找我们，开了我们的心眼，让我们领受了赦罪恩典和新生命。管他人说什么呢？扔掉那错误的良心所说乖谬的话吧。我们因着耶稣基督和祂的十字架——这实在是不同寻常的拯救方法，如今是活在恩典当中，不是活在律法和咒诅、或者神的愤怒之下。我们若因着基督受苦，那是荣耀无比的；我们若有疾病却没有得医治，我们仍然有安慰和盼望，因为在基督里，复活的生命已经应许给我们了。没有任何事情可以让我们与神的爱隔绝，除非我们不信了。

罗马书8:38-39“因为我深信无论是死，是生，是天使，是掌权的，是有能的，是现在的事，是将来的事，是高处的，是低处的，是别的受造之物，都不能叫我们与神的爱隔绝；这爱是在我们的主基督耶稣里的。”如果我们有主，我们就有一切。我们还惧怕什么呢？

也因此可以带着这份爱去安慰忧伤的人，患病的人，被罪和羞耻压伤的人，被有愧的良心压得喘不过气的人，流浪孤独的、没人可怜爱惜的人，因为基督已经这样爱了我们。我们可以自由地去爱和践行我们生活中各样的呼召和责任，不再像门徒们那样发出愚昧的问题，像瞎子自己那样无助地活着，像瞎子的父母那样自私自利、逃避责任。奉主耶稣基督的名。阿们。

Sermon on John 9:1-41

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, to all who trust in Him with one heart. Amen.

Today’s Gospel passage is quite long, but it speaks of one central theme: Jesus giving sight to a man born blind, and that man being saved through faith in Jesus as the Son of God. It also specifically addresses human unbelief and the erroneous understandings that stem from such unbelief. We might think the only ones at fault in this story are the Pharisees, who ignored the reality of the miracle, refused to give glory to God, and focused solely on Sabbath regulations—failing to realize the truth that the Lord instituted the Sabbath for man’s benefit. However, the disciples were equally confused. Their confusion represents a common consensus among all people. What is this universal error? It is the natural religious notion that if a person suffers, it must be because they sinned, offended God, or because their parents and ancestors committed some evil. This is the natural religion of man. Not only the disciples, but the blind man, his parents, and certainly the Pharisees all held this view.

When the Lord Jesus saw the man blind from birth, His heart was moved with compassion to show him grace. The disciples also saw him, but they immediately raised a question—the same question everyone asks: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). Brothers and sisters, the issue here is not the general reality that all are born in sin. It is true that all have sinned; sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and thus disease and death have come upon all (Genesis 3; Romans 5). But the disciples were asking what we often ask: "Why is this specific man born blind?" They assumed there must be a specific sin or ancestral curse. Logically, the first possibility—the man's own sin—is easily dismissed; how could he commit a specific sin before he was even born? Clearly, they felt his parents must have sinned to produce such a child.

The parents of this blind man carried this same burden. It is likely that everyone around them looked at them with judgment. Isn't this how people are? Last week we talked about the Woman at the Well (John 4) and saw a similar situation. We see in today’s text that the reason this man spent his days begging by the roadside, rather than being supported with dignity by his parents, was likely because his parents wanted to distance themselves from him out of shame (John 9:8-9, 20-23). Simply put, they cast their blind child out to fend for himself so they could lead a "normal" life and perhaps care for other, healthier children. Perhaps they were weary of the neighbors' stares and preferred him to be a wandering beggar—out of sight, out of mind. Even later, when the Pharisees questioned them, they only admitted he was their son and was born blind. Beyond that, they grew hesitant because they feared being put out of the synagogue and losing their legal status in the community. They did not defend their son, they showed no excitement over his healing, and they did not seek out Jesus to give glory to God. The plight of the man born blind was tragic, but his parents lived lives that were perhaps even more pitiful.

Is it not the same in our lives? When we Chinese encounter great hardship, we often think, "What evil did I do in my previous life?" This is the influence of Buddhist-style religious thinking. When a spouse died early or child passes away prematurely, we think, "I must have committed some sort of sin, and God is punishing me." Even as Christians, we sometimes think, "God brought this disaster upon me because of some great sin I committed."

Now, let us be clear: sin does bring punishment and consequences, sometimes affecting the next generation. When God gave the Ten Commandments, He said: “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5). After Adam and Eve sinned, punishment fell upon them—death, disease, and toil (Genesis 3). The entire Bible testifies to God punishing sin. Consider the Israelites in the wilderness; they were punished for unbelief and grumbling. Korah’s rebellion led to the earth swallowing them (Numbers 16), and many died from venomous snakes (Numbers 21). David’s sin with Bathsheba resulted in the death of their first child (2 Samuel 12). King Uzziah was struck with leprosy for usurping the priestly office (2 Chronicles 26). In the New Testament, some in the Corinthian church became weak, ill, or died because they profaned the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11). Ananias and Sapphira died for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5). Saul was struck blind on the road to Damascus for persecuting Christians (Acts 9). These examples teach us to fear and not despise the Lord who judges.

However, all these instances of divine judgment were accompanied by God’s Word, clearly explaining why it was happening. We must understand God’s judgment and mercy through His Word. We should constantly examine our sins—including hidden sins—confess them, and live by His grace, through the lens of Scriptures.

But—and this is a crucial "but"—this does not mean we can haphazardly interpret every trial or hardship we or others face as a specific punishment for a specific sin. The classic counter-example is Job’s friends. Job lost everything and sat in ashes, covered in boils. His friends initially came to comfort him, but when Job maintained his righteousness, they began to accuse him. In reality, Job was a righteous man with no blatant sin to justify such suffering. His friends judged him with a legalistic, worldly religious mindset: "God is just, so you must have sinned" (Job 35). In that moment, it was the friends who were sinning. We must be careful not to "help" others by rubbing salt in their wounds with a false understanding of God.

Back to the Gospel: how did Jesus answer the disciples? “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). Note that Jesus uses the word "sinned" (past tense action). Whether he has sinned is different from whether he is a sinner by nature. Jesus is saying this condition was not caused by a specific act of sin. He wants us to shift our focus away from human analysis and toward the works of God—specifically, His miraculous saving work. Jesus is calling us to see His mercy, how He seeks the lost, provides for us, heals us, and gives us forgiveness and eternal life. Ever since the Fall, human eyes naturally focus on ourselves or others in shame, just as Adam and Eve focused on their nakedness. Jesus calls us instead to hear His voice and receive the Father’s redemption.

Jesus then healed the man in a peculiar way: “he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud” (John 9:6). Jesus often uses unexpected means to show mercy. He once touched a mute man’s tongue with saliva. Here, He uses mud. This shows that Jesus is the same God who worked from the beginning. Just as God formed man from the dust of the ground in Genesis, Jesus uses the same material to "repair" His creation. The saliva represents the breath of life He once breathed into Adam’s nostrils. The blind man trusted Jesus' word, allowed the mud to be applied, and in faith washed in the Pool of Siloam. His eyes were opened. Later, Jesus sought him out again after the Pharisees had cast him out and his parents had failed him. Jesus comforted him, and the man not only received physical sight but spiritual sight, recognizing and following Jesus as his Savior.

Brothers and sisters, though we may not be physically blind, we were born spiritually blind—resisting God, not knowing Him, and giving glory to ourselves or idols rather than Him. But through His Word and the witness of the Church, Jesus has sought us out and opened the eyes of our hearts. Let the world say what it will; discard the crooked words of a false conscience. Because of Jesus Christ and His strange way of saving us, that is the Cross, we live under grace, not under the Law, the curse, or God's wrath. If we suffer for Christ, it is a glory. If we have illnesses that are not healed, we still have comfort and hope, for the resurrection life is promised to us in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

As Romans 8:38-39 says: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we have the Lord, we have everything. What then shall we fear?

Therefore, let us take this love to comfort the grieving, the sick, and those crushed by sin and shame. We can comfort the lonely and the unloved because Christ has first loved us. We are now free to love and fulfill our vocations without asking foolish questions like the disciples, without living in helplessness like the blind man, and without the selfishness and avoidance of the parents. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.