Cultural conflicts
Jane Denniston
March 19, 2026
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John 9: 13-34 (NIV-UK)
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’
16 Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’
But others asked, ‘How can a sinner perform such signs?’ So they were divided.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’
The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’
20 ‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.’ 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth,’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.’
25 He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’
26 Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’
27 He answered, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.’
30 The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’
34 To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.
Here is a man on the fringes of society, marginalised, overlooked, and ignored. Yet Jesus saw him and healed him giving rise to controversy. In our society today who are the marginalised? Is it the immigrant? Or those who think that our immigration policies are too lenient. Is it those on benefits? Or those who think too much is spent on welfare? These are controversial subjects in today's society. Where do we stand on these matters, and where do we think Jesus would stand?
The world has changed and is changing. With every passing year we have to learn new ways to navigate life. There are new issues to have opinions on, to deal with, to come to terms with. Opinions are ever more polarised, judging by social media.
Jesus welcomed this man and challenged his critics. Whom should we welcome and whom should we challenge? Are we open to the point of view of those with whom we disagree? Are we prepared to learn about a different way of looking at things? How do we deal with controversy?
Prayer:
Dear Lord, forgive us when we assume that we are right and others are wrong.
Give us the humility to believe that you have the words that lead to life
and that we must learn from you
and never stop learning.
Give us grace to deal with those who are different
and show them your love in our dealings with them.
Give us open hearts and minds
to see the new thing that you are doing
and rejoice in it
even when it makes us uncomfortable, Amen
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