The Light in the Darkness
For Meditation
This Sunday, we will read about Jesus's dramatic encounter with and healing of a man who was born blind. Jesus’s healing of this man was a clear signal that the light had dawned, that the Messiah had come and the Kingdom was breaking in.
But if you look at John chapter 9 carefully you will notice that the blind man's physical healing isn’t the only notable thing that happens–and perhaps not even the most notable thing. As incredible as the healing of his sight was, it was only the beginning of the gradual but inevitable illumination from his spiritual blindness.
There's an invitation for all of us in this story to "come and see" Jesus–those of us who know we're in the darkness, desperate for help, as well as those of us who, like the Pharisees and Disciples, think darkness is something other people experience, but not us. As you prepare for worship this week, read all of John chapter 9, and spend time asking God to show you the areas of darkness in your life to which he wants to bring light.
John 9:1–7; 13–17; 35–41
1 As [Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
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.”
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.