Day 26: Jesus Cared More About Dignity Than Rules

    

March 15

by Michael Lovett

Readings:

1 Sam 16:1-13

John 9:1-41

Reflection:

Read today's scriptures, then listen to this reflection HERE.

In 1 Samuel today, the experiment with having a King has gone awry.  Saul, the first king of Israel, turned out to be a terrible, selfish, insecure king. Samuel, who anointed Saul king in the first place, is a priest who is stuck when God snaps him out of it.  God speaks to him, commands him to stop grieving; Saul is not dead, he's just been revealed to be unhealthy and unfit to lead the nation.

Samuel obeys and goes on a bit of an adventure to find a replacement.  David is the youngest of a parade of older brothers.  He was busy shepherding and seemed almost to be an afterthought.  Jesse, David's father, didn't see him as "king material," so he didn't even ask him to meet Samuel when Samuel came to town to meet the other brothers.  Jesse was not seeing the situation as God did.  

I see a connection running across generations and centuries here:

David was underestimated, Israel was a small nation, and Jesus was a small-town rabbi.  And all of them had deep impact on a group much larger than expected, for CENTURIES.

See the pattern? Here's one more pattern I see in stories of David, Israel, and Jesus:

Great things come from the most unexpected places.

We are very similar to David's father, Jesse. I suppose very few of us see things consistently from God's perspective. Lent is, among other metaphors, a request and a recalibration to see things not from our ego, but from God's perspective.

In John, Jesus facilitates an unexpected miracle. And the religious leaders, like Jesse, refuse to see it from God's perspective.

A man born blind from birth is made to see!  Wow.  Jesus is Lord.  Well, the religious elites are blown away and rocked by this.  An interrogation into the man's character begins. His parents are hauled in.  Something like court proceedings ensues, and ultimately, the "beautiful outlaw" side of Jesus becomes apparent. 

Jesus is upending and standing against the folly of associating blindness, disease, and disability with sin and shame.  Nowadays, we call this "changing the narrative." The religious leaders do not even allow the possibility that the kingdom of heaven is breaking through in this moment. Jesus is honoring the healed man's dignity: 

The man is enough. 

He is loved, 

and he was blind. 

Then he is cured because of Jesus' will and power.  The blind man received a simple, powerful gift from a loving God who showed compassion and had a purpose in this healing.  Jesus intentionally did this healing to expose the ridiculousness of the Pharisees' filter (sin causes disease and disability). 

Jesus recasts the situation to something more nuanced instead: God allows some disability to exist for reasons we don't totally understand. God did this miracle in this instance "...so that the work of God might be displayed in him." The religious leaders' blindness was in full bloom.  The stark contrast between the heart of God and the leaders' hypocrisy was crystal clear: God celebrates and loves to restore.  The leaders idolized "the way things should be" in their minds.

Note: this all began when the disciples noticed the blind man; they asked Jesus about the sin that must have caused the blindness.  Jesus took the disciples' question and decided to teach a master class on the "works of God" and misconceptions about disease and disability.  The healing was the illustration within the larger lesson! The healing wasn't the lesson or the main point: Exposure and teaching were. God doesn't give us disabilities because of sin.  And God can heal anyone for any reason. The blind man was just sitting there; he didn't ask to be healed.  The disciples initiated this, Jesus saw the opportunity, and the blind man won the healing lottery!  

In today's reading, Jesus demonstrated his awesome power boldly and unapologetically.  

Jesus' actions said:

I am the Lord of heaven AND earth; I answer to no one but my father

I have the power to heal ANY condition I choose to. Restoration is my specialty.

I have the power to forgive

People who put rules or meanness before love and kindness will get no mercy, but rather will be exposed. 

My disciples ask a question, and I gladly answer with an unforgettable lesson.

Prayer:

Today, let's ask God to surprise us with a healing or a new understanding.

Song:

Be Still, My Soul – Emu Music

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