The Blind Man of John 9

A Paradigm of the Disciple in An Environment of Conflict Towards the End of 1st Century

Muderhwa Barhatulirwa Vincent

• Editorial: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing
• Año: 2012
• ISBN:
  9783659270444
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Theology & Religion
• Categoría: Religion

The story of John 9, chosen firstly on account of the narrator's literary construct, set between the beginning and the end of the Book of Signs, strives to take up the controversy that takes place between Jesus' movement and the Jewish leaders. In order to ensure the survival of Judaism, the "Jews", concerned with their self-definition, in their struggles to contain the growth of Christianity, rejected the Christian confession and regarded it as a violation of monotheism. The Pharisees, as powerful authorities, agreed to expel Christians from the synagogue. From the conflict conceived as a 'a conflict between darkness and light', the healed man emerges as a hero of the community. Although portrayed as a socially marginalised man in the Jewish religious context, he becomes a paradigmatic figure of the disciple. Therefore, discipleship is not just enthusiasm and zeal but rather a firm commitment, strong and courageous determination to bear witness. Every disciple has a duty to plead in the sphere of darkness the cause of Light and to maintain his readiness for struggles, even death, for the sake of the faith even in the current world dominated by many kinds of ideologies.