Joh. 9.
the night, since no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had said these things, he spat on the ground, and made a dung of the spittle, and put the dung upon the eyes of the blind man, and said unto him, Go unto the pool of Siloam, and wash. So he went and washed, and came to see. The neighbors, and those who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said: It is he. But some said, He is like him. But he himself said: It is I. Then said they unto him, How are thine eyes open? And he answered and said, The man whose name is Jesus made a dung, and put it upon mine eyes, and said, Go unto the pool of Siloam, and wash. And I went, and washed, and received my sight. Then they said unto him, Where is he? He said: I know not. Then they brought him to the Pharisees, who was blind. (Now it was the Sabbath, when Jesus made the dung, and opened his eyes.) And they asked him again, and the Pharisees also, how he had received his sight? And he said to them: He put dung on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see. Then said some of the Pharisees, Man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath. But the others said: How can a sinful man do such signs? And there was dissension among them. They said again to the blind man: What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? And he said, He is a prophet. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the one who had received sight and asked them, saying: Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? how then is he now seeing? His parents answered them and said: We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we know not; neither do we know who opened his eyes. He is old enough, ask him, let him speak for himself. This is what his parents said, because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already united, if anyone confessed him to be a Christian, that he would be put under ban. Therefore his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him. Then they called again to the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said: Is he a sinner, I know not; one thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see. They said to him again, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them: I have told you now; have ye not heard? what will ye hear again? will ye also become his disciples? Then they cursed him and said: You are his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: but this we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said to them: This is a strange thing, that ye know not whence he is; and he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man fear God, and do his will, he heareth him. From the beginning of the world it has not been heard that anyone has opened the eyes of a born blind man. If he were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered and said to him, "You were born completely in sin, and you teach us? And they cast him out. And it came to pass before JEsum that they had cast him out. And when he found him, he said unto him, Believest thou on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Lord, which is he, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast seen him, and he that speaketh with thee is he. And he said, Lord, I believe; and worshipped him. And Jesus said: I am come to judgment into this world, that they which see not might see, and they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said to them: If ye were blind, ye had no sin: but now ye say, we have sight, let your sin remain.
You know well, dear friends of Christ, that I cannot preach much, and therefore I will preach a foolish sermon; for I am a fool: that I thank God. Therefore I must also have foolish disciples. And whoever does not want to be a fool may plug his ears. This gospel compels me to do so. For you hear that Christ does not act differently in this gospel than with the blind; Christ also decides that all who see are blind and all wise men are blind.
and wise are fools. These are Christ's words. If I said this, I would be called a new prophet, but Christ will not lie.
2 Now hear what St. Augustine says in his interpretation of this gospel, saying, "All that Christ has done are works and words: Works in that they are done and spent by Christ; words because they indicate and indicate something. Now this is a story that-
because the blind man has received his sight. They are also words; for they signify every man born of Adam. For we are all blind, and our light and enlightenment is from one Christ alone, our faithful God.
3 To divide this work and word belongs to an enlightened reason. For how many have seen this work, but not known its meaning? They have seen it as a work, but the word, the meaning, has been hidden from them. But if they had known it, they would undoubtedly have said: O I am much more blind than he is. And this is the right mind.
(4) And so it is to this day, that there are many who appear before the world in great power, art, wisdom, godliness, holiness, chastity, purity, and the like. But this is certain, that this is always decreed, that with the mighty there is a reprobate, with the wise a fool, with the pious an unpious, with the holy an unholy, with the healthy a sick, with the beautiful an abominable, etc. So now look at all the human race, and you will find rich and poor, beautiful and horrible, merry and unmerry, joy and sorrow, art and folly, wisdom and foolishness, piety and wickedness, and whatever they may be called, crooked and bad, high and low etc. And this is not without cause, that God will thus, by his ineffable wisdom, cast down the rule of the worthy and prudent.
(5) Therefore, let each one who is gifted with these gifts, whether much or little, be careful not to look at himself, but at his neighbor who does not have the gift; then he will say: Oh dear God, I am learned or pious etc., but before God I am unlearned and full of sin, as this is my brother. And then man will find himself right, as he is right in himself. For there is a certain rule exposed by God: Everything that is high and exalted among men, that is heedless and an abomination with God. Isaiah Cap. 11, 3. 4. writes: God says He does not judge by the face of the eyes or
according to the hearing of the ears, but a righteous judgment will he pronounce. Whether he should say, A man, after he is a man, judgeth not further than he seeth and heareth. So, if he sees a rich, powerful, beautiful, pious etc., he calls him as he sees him. If he hears something funny, or sweet, lovely, he calls it so. But God reverses all this: Everything that we call beautiful, funny, rich etc., he calls poor, sick, weak, incapable.
(6) Let every man therefore, if he hath grace or gift from God, learn that he may not look at himself, but see what his neighbor is like, and be reflected in him. So he must certainly say: "Oh, God has hung a mirror before my eyes, and a book from which I shall learn to recognize myself! Oh God, I see well now, what my brother is by heart, I am within. So learn to recognize yourself and not to exalt yourself. So it is decided, no one can pass by. For in all the words and works of Christ we see nothing but pure humility.
7 So it also happened in this gospel. The blind man was a sign of the blindness that was hidden in their heart. From this it follows that the words of Augustine are true, that the works of Christ are words, and again the words are works etc. Therefore the Lord concludes in the end of this Gospel, when they said, the separated and spiritual Jews, "Ei, are we also blind?" Those who are blind see and are without sin. "But because ye say that ye see, ye are blind, and sin abideth in you." Behold, what a perverse judgment is this of Christ.
(8) This is how it should be understood with all the gifts a person may have. Those who seem to be learned are unlearned before God; and whoever does not know this will stand very badly in the judgment of God. Thus says St. Paul to the Philippians Cap. 2, 6, 7, 8: "Dear brothers, you should find yourselves, just as Christ was found, who did not exalt himself in the form of God, so that he might be like the Father. But he has exinanied himself, reduced himself entirely, assumed the form and likeness of a servant, and is
was found in all measure and manner a man, and like unto a man, even so that he died in obedience to his Father. Take note, dear friends of Christ, what a perfectly profound word this is. We are all to be equal. For he does not say, a bad man, but one in whom is the form of God, as there is power, honor, justice, wisdom, piety, chastity, who has never done evil, who is full of all virtue, even after humanity, who wanted to be like us, not like God; not like Lucifer, who wanted to take hold of God's image; not even like the hopeful, who look down on their neighbor, so that they can hardly recognize him, as the locusts. So Christ did not do, he took off the form of God, and was found in the form of man, in the flesh of sins, although he never sinned, nor could he sin. Therefore he became a fool, a mockery, a scorn, a scorn of all people, bore all our misfortunes, and in him were found all the titles of our poverty. And this he did, that we might freely follow him.
(9) If then the opinion is: Whoever finds in himself the form of God, that is, the title of the gifts, as said above, does not rise, but throws himself down, and completely believes that he is the least in all the world. And this must be done, if he is to go to heaven in any other way, whether by will or against his will. So his works are words. Therefore he says rightly: Qui non videt mysteria Dei, coecus est. Igitur hic coecus non vere, sed figura coeci, qui intus est in anima; that is, He who does not see and know God's hidden holiness is blind; and therefore this one in this gospel is only a figure of the other blindness that happens in the soul.
Now why all this is said and from where it comes, says Augustine, is from the transgression of Ade, to whom the devil said Gen. 3, 5: "Your eyes will be opened, recognize evil and good as like God. O wicked, mischievous and treacherous one! Behold, he wants to lead them into the form of God, therefore he says: "Your eyes will open", that is, they will become blind.
Earlier their eyes were closed, but after the fall they are opened.
(11) From this it follows, as the wise, sharp schoolmaster Origen teaches, that there are two kinds of eyes of man, his own eyes and God's eyes. Now both our eyes, inward and outward, are God's eyes; indeed, all our members, and all that is in us, are instruments and tools of God, and are not ours if they are governed by God; but then they are ours if we are abandoned by God. This is the eye that scandalizes and angers us; we are to dig it out, as Christ says, and cast it from us. This is why we prefer to see what is beautiful, clean, shapely, rather than gold or silver; rather a young Gretha or a young Hansen than an old woman or an old Hansen. And this is the mousetrap that deceives our senses, as it is written in the Genesis of Adam. So our eyes are opened, that is, we have become completely blind, so that we regard appearances, as now said, as good, and consider poverty, deformity etc. as evil. This the devil has taught us, whose eyes are also.
012 But Christ came to teach these eyes to do, and to take away blindness; that we should make no difference between young and old, fair and foul; etc. but that it should be alike, wise man and fool, wise man and fool, male and female; and that it should be enough that he should be one of our blood and flesh, one common body among all. And to this belongs a beautiful, keen, and well-practiced reason. Christ does not consider this, because he gives children and honor to an old uncreated woman, as is clearly shown in Rachel and Leah, rather than to a beautiful woman. It is equal to him, in which he lets his work shine. So God says Isa. 29, 14: "I will drive out the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject." Isaiah says, "I will choose for Myself that which they mock, despising." St. Paul 1 Cor. 1, 27. also says: "So is the call of God, to receive the sick, and the foolish, that he may confound and shame the prudent."
13. because Christ does this, and
He takes away everything that we desire and gives everything that annoys us. This is what Christ practiced and proved. God became man, as said above; in his last days we find that we esteem the worst evil, dying an ignominious death; if we look at his whole life, we find nothing that he would have accepted anything that would be good in the sight of the world. He once rode into Jerusalem with great honor, and bittered his joy with pain. Now this is the noblest thing that God has, death and dying; this He accepts with love and hearty cheerful will, out of obedience to the Father. This we flee, and esteem life more noble than death. He embraces sweetness, gives his life for death; and just as he is now to enter the throne of glory and reign with the Father forever, he must, and willingly does, die on the cross, forsaking life and embracing death.
14 Now Christ has done this. Defy him, and every one that would enter into heaven, lest he should follow him. And this is the true sanctuary, of which the prophet says, In reliquiis tuis praeparabis vultum eorum: "In thy sanctuary," or in thy testament, which is in the cross, "thou preparest their faces." And this is so holy and so high that it cannot be placed in any monstrance, in any silver or gold. It is not wood, stone, none, which he has touched, but the cross, which he sends to his pious children. To this sanctuary, all goldsmiths cannot make a vessel in which they would like to seal it. It wants to have a reasonable, living, eternal monstrance. For the sanctuary is alive, as the soul of man. Therefore, it is the inward sanctity that we should seek, and not that which is by heart. Although the legs of the saints should be set in silver. It is also good and well done. For the sake of the infants, one may allow many things, such as images and the like, which one must forbid to another.
(15) Therefore let them that are of high degree esteem this thing small, and lift up their eyes higher. For Christ will
bring them a better thing at the door, which they may find in all the world. For he will send them adversity, affliction, anguish, sorrow, distress, poverty, displeasure, etc., he will send you sickness; and the devil at the end of your life, at the last hardships, he will challenge you without ceasing, and frighten you so severely that you must exactly despair. Yes, he will bring it so close to you that he will smite you and say mockingly: "Yes, dear fellow, you do what you want, then you are mine; and he will have to hear with Christ the mockery of Matth. 27, 40: "Yes, if he is now the Son of God, then he will now come down from the cross. So he will read the text and do all this with defiance. For let every man take heed what is pleasing to God, so that he may cheerfully say, "Oh, my dear God, I believe it completely, you are sending this to me. Welcome me, dear sanctuary; I thank you, my pious God, that you consider me worthy of that which has been most precious to you in your life. Oh my dear faithful Christ, help me, I will accept it boldly and follow you freely behind with surrender of my will. And soon all the power of the devil lies down.
This is the noblest sanctuary, quod obviis ulnis et osculis debemus accipere, which we are to receive sweetly with thanksgiving. For the sanctuary God Himself has sanctified and blessed with His noblest will and His Father's good pleasure. But now we see how our bishops and heads, God be praised, flee this sanctuary. If one takes something from them, or speaks too close to them, they throw everything down before they would let up. So far has childish devotion and holiness broken down that such a game is played with the banishing, and the little letters fly like bats for the sake of a small thing, and have the excuse: It is fair that we protect and contain Christ's and St. Peter's patrimony and inheritance; we do it for the sake of justice. O poor Christ! O wretched St. Peter! If you have no other inheritance than wood, stone, silver and gold, you are the most destitute.
17 Oh, the pious God wants this; as Isaiah says at the last chapter v. 1. and
also at the first v. 11. ff. It is all the work of his hands that he has made; therefore he has no need of our goods, says David and Job. Now if God sends this to us, we run back and flee from it: he would gladly give it to us, but we do not want it. Nor are we all worthy. It is a peculiar sign of God's pious children. He often gives it; so we do not know where to leave it. For it comes to this, that we think we see well, and are quite blind, that we call evil that which Christ calls good. Thus God the Father adorned His Son, when the bride says in Canticis (Hohel. 3, 11.): "Come out, daughters of Sion, and see your King," Christ, "in the crown and adornment, so that His mother adorned and crowned Him, on the day of His wedding and marriage, and in the day of the joy of His heart." This is when Christ should now receive the kingdom and power of the regiment, to be a king of kings, when he has the greatest honor, glory and joy in his heart, dying on the cross. We do not see this; therefore we have been called blind and senseless by Christ.
But we remain in our evil face and do not smell any difference. Augustine says: O! Christ says of the blind and of birth, thereby publicly indicating that we are of Adam's birth and that blindness is inherent in us by nature; and this blindness cannot be taken away by anyone except Christ. Here all who have something to do must lie down and be overcome.
from himself. For the blind man thought not how he should be made whole, when the text saith, It was never heard that a blind man should see. There must be despair in all that is ours. But those who say, Ei, I have done as much as I can, I have done enough, I hope God will give me grace; they put an iron wall between themselves and the grace of God. But if you feel in yourself: Ei, you want to call on God, ask, knock etc., then the grace is there before. Call to it then, and give thanks to God. For he who thus despairs in himself, grace cannot leave him. For He says in many places: "He gives grace to the humble, but denies it to the hopeful", Luc. 1, 51., 1 Petr. 5, 5. Now no one can have more than to give himself freely to God, to do as he pleases, and to despair of himself. And these turn it around, who say, "Well, I will wait until grace comes. Ah, you fool! If you feel that which is wrought in you, grace is already there; follow it, and you will run back. No longer stand and walk before you, God cannot suffer us to see, we. must be blind. For God is perfect in all creatures, in all angles, He is before you and behind you. Do you think that he sleeps on a box in heaven? He watches and has your guard and care. But as soon as Christ put the saliva on the blind man's eye, his will ran with it, desiring that which he had never thought of before, as the evangelist indicates. As for the saliva and the washing of the pool of Siloam, let us save it until another time etc.