Headed for their homeport, a costal patrol boat from some South American country had experienced a failure of its communications equipment. After twenty hours they came back on line only to hear that two jets were bearing down on them. The pilot of the lead jet informed the captain that there has been an attempted overthrow of the government, a coup. The pilot then demanded, “Which side are you on. Your answer will determine if we open fire.” …”Captain, you have sixty seconds, whose side are you on?”

Some of the people brought the man who had formerly been blind before the Pharisees. And the Pharisees were divided as to whom this Jesus was. Some said, “He was not from God for He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” The Jews had developed this elaborate code of rules regarding just how much work could or couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. Even the making of mud, only enough mud to put on the man’s eyes was not to be done, and as to healing a man on the Sabbath, that could wait a day.

Jesus had repeatedly run up against these Pharisees. Some denied His healings, some questioned the source of His power, and others didn’t know what to think. Others asked, How can a sinner do such miraculous signs? They were divided and the stakes were high.

John records for us, the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. To be put out was to lose all standing in the community, be cut off from the blessings of being a descendent of Abraham, and be treated as a Gentile, worse yet to be known as one who has denied the faith- an apostate. The best way we can understand this is to look at how Muslims in some countries often treat even family members who convert to Christianity today: they are shunned, intimidated, and beaten. They are cut off from families, lose their homes and jobs, and in some cases they are even killed.

Much hangs in the balance for this man who was until recently, blind since birth. The stakes are so high that the man’s parents even deny answering how and by whom this healing occurred. “Whose side are you on?’ Give us an answer?

Several years ago a painful incident occurred at Columbine High School - nearly six years ago. Many of us will remember the story of a young girl, Cassie, who found herself looking down the barrel of a gun and was asked, “Do you believe in God?”

Cassie, whose side are you on? Captain, whose side are you on? Blind man’s parents, Blind Man, whose side are you on?

We’d all like to think when the chips were down, if it were us staring death and the devil in the eye, we’d confess our faith; we’d stand our ground. Yet, apart from the working of the Holy Spirit none of us would be in faith, none of us could stand our ground when it comes to the things of God.

Even with the Holy Spirit we can find ourselves to be like Simon Peter. “Even if everyone else denies you; even if everyone runs away, Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death. (Luke 22.33) And we know that even Peter denied the Lord three times the very night of his promise to stay by His side.

But most of us will not be looking down the barrel of a gun, being asked, “Whose side are you on?” or “Do you believe in Jesus?” But many of us stare down the barrel of peer or family pressure, and our witness is often faltering. Even though our eyes have been opened by the Gospel, we often seem to stumble around with our eyes mere slits to the Words and Promises of God. Our witness reveals our willingness to compromise with a sinful world; other times it reveals our weak-kneed trust in the promises of God to be with us each day.

The formerly blind man was asked, “How is it that you see? If you tell us it is because of this Jesus then you will be ostracized. If you tell us He is a prophet, a holy man, the Christ, it will be worse for you. Imagine the pressure. All eyes are on him. He can’t even get help from his parents for they are so afraid. Whose side are you on? You have seconds before we open fire.

Jesus had done much for the man born blind. He’d given him the precious gift of sight. What would you give for such a gift? What if you were deaf and given the gift of hearing, paralyzed and given the gift of running and jumping? What if God gave you back a child or spouse who was once an addict? What if Jesus gave you back someone you love from the depths of willful and stubborn pride? Would you be more able to stand up for your Jesus then? Would you tell the world what He has done? Would people know which side you are on? …..

We’d like to think that we’d be on Jesus’ side but that is not true. Apart from the working of the Holy Spirit despite all Jesus has done for us we wouldn’t nor couldn’t be on His side. St Paul writes in letters to the Romans: The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8.7-8) In sin did my mother conceive me and truly I’ve been sinful from birth. (Psalm 51.5) Apart from the grace of God we’d still be on the wrong side.

But do not despair, for just as God did not abandon the blind man, so too, He has not abandoned us. If we look back to the beginning of chapter nine in John’s Gospel we hear the disciples asking Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned - this man or his parents that he was born blind?” And Jesus replies, Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed. The work of God was to come to this man and by that coming create in him real faith- giving spiritual sight such that he could and would witness his faith. Jesus restored his physical sight and created in him a heart that offered to God his worship and praise for all that God had done by opening his eyes to the love of God.

But, the greatest thing Jesus did for the blind man was not restoring his sight; the greatest thing he did for him and for you and me was to die for our sins. Apart from that the formerly blind man would have still perished eternally. He would still be forever separated from God in eternal torment, and so would we.

Jesus died for all our compromises and denials of Him, but Jesus did not abandon us nor deny us. Jesus died that the greatest works of God might be displayed: the justice of God – He does not compromise with sin- sin carries a heavy price. He died that we might see the depth of God’s love in that He willingly died to pay the price sin demands from each of us. …I wonder what this formerly blind man thought when he saw that his Savior had been crucified. He arose from the dead that we might receive the blessings of the grace of God - forgiveness, eternal life and salvation.

These blessings come to us when we hear, study, and ponder God’s Word. These blessings are poured out upon us in the words of absolution, baptism, and communion.

We are called to live out those blessings before the world. To live in such a way that the world will know we are Christians, not by the fish on our bumpers but by our love and gratitude to God. Will we fall short? Yes, all the time? Will the world be blind to things of God and quickly step up and point out our shortcomings? Yes. But we need not despair. Our failings give us opportunity to show the world what our eyes have been opened to – a God who loves us in spite of our shortcomings; a God who forgives us; He works within us to change our hearts, minds, and actions to reflect that we have had our eyes opened. We who were once blind can see. For you were once in darkness, but now you are a light in the Lord. Live as children of the light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5.8-9) By the working of the Spirit we can look to the manger, the cross and the empty tomb and proclaim whose side we are on, and more importantly, who is at our side!

All around are people who are on the wrong side, and we would be too if not for the working of the Holy Spirit. They need to hear- by how we live, by what we say, and what we treasure whose side they need to be on before the world opens fire on them. They need to see Jesus, a Jesus they can be brought to see through us. Amen.