Explore the illuminating power of Jesus in our lives, guiding us out of darkness and revealing the path to true enlightenment and understanding. 

Transcript

Have you ever been so sure of something that it directs your entire way of life—and then a light bulb comes on and sheds light—and in an instant you realize just how wrong you had been before?

That happened to me almost a year ago at the Soul Care Conference that we hosted here at RiverLife.

• On the last day of the conference, trusted friends gathered around and prayed for me. I don’t remember what they prayed, but I remember the words that God spoke to me during the prayer.

• God said to me, “You have been blind all your marriage.”

• In an instant my 29 years of marriage flashed before my eyes.

  • My feelings of not being understood or appreciated

  • My dissatisfaction and discontentment with Greg and our marriage

  • The many years of lingering sadness and stretches of loneliness

  • The belief that while we had a good marriage, we would never have a “great” one

• In a moment of clarity, I realized that my constant dissatisfaction with my marriage stemmed from seeing only my husband’s physical being and always judging him to be falling short of my expectations. My heart was convicted as my eyes began to see the reality of how I had lived a life of blaming, disappointment, and defeat.

Up until that moment, I did not know I was blind! When close friends would hint that my marriage was dissatisfying to me because I was misjudging the situation, I would become defensive and think they didn’t know the reality. I couldn’t even admit that I was blind, let alone believe it.

Too often in life, We walk in darkness without realizing we’re in the dark.

What can we do about it?

Today’s sermon is on the second I AM of Jesus: “I am the light of the world.”

Light is a prevalent theme in the Apostle John’s book on the life of Jesus. In fact, John starts with light. John 1: 4-5

John 1:4-5

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In John 3, Jesus explains to Nicodemus:

19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Later in John 8:12 we read:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 12:35-36; 46

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”

46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

What does it look like to have the light of life? And what does it look like to walk in darkness?

• We will see these two paths in John 9.

• It’s a long story with 47 verses. I have chosen not to have the verses up on the screen.

• Instead, I invite you to close your eyes and picture the scene as it unfolds for us.

(John 9:1-47)

As he 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.

8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

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.

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.

[You may open your eyes now.]

What does it mean that Jesus is the light of the world?

• Light pierces the darkness and allows us to see things that were previously unseen.

• Darkness does not try to hide things from our vision, as though if we looked carefully we might see that something is hiding out of sight. No, darkness itself means not being able to see a thing even when it is right in front of us.

Jesus brings light into a dark world, the true light of God that exposes the hearts of human beings by revealing what is already there. As he said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Who is walking in the dark and who is walking by the light? As John 9 indicates, we may also ask:

Who is blind and who can see?

Let’s contrast two responses to the Light:

1. The man born blind from birth. He was verifiably blind before the miraculous healing, but from his conversation with the Pharisees it is apparent that he was not spiritually blind.

• He knew he needed physical healing and was willing to receive the mud on his eyelids and to obey Jesus by making his way to the pool of Siloam and washing there.

• He reasoned that Jesus must be a prophet or a godly man, because only a man from God would have the ability to give sight to the blind—on Sabbath or any day of the week!

• And when Jesus revealed to the man that he was the Messiah, the man believed in Jesus and worshipped him.

2. The Pharisees. In their own words they sarcastically but accurately named their problem: “Are we blind, too?”

• They saw themselves as having perfect vision and not needing any more light beyond their interpretation of the Mosaic law.

• They clung tightly to the law that forbade working on the Sabbath—and to make clay constituted work, as did healing someone.

• They refused to accept the evidence of Jesus’ authority and power because Jesus did not sound like them, act like them, or believe in God the same way that they did.

• And when Jesus proclaimed himself to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah, they could not believe him. He did not fit the image of the Messiah they had created in their theology, and they could not admit that their theology might be wrong.

I can relate to the Pharisees. We walk in darkness without realizing we’re in the dark.

• For a very long time I thought that to be a good follower of Jesus meant I had to get my theology (understanding of God) right. Correct theology means there is no room for error and no need for correction.

• How foolish to think that my human brain and limited life experience could arrive at a full and perfect understanding of God and the Bible.

• To think such a thought is to believe that I can see clearly—that I am not blind.

• When the light of Jesus shines on me and exposes my proud and self-confident heart, will I come into the light and admit that I am blind, or will I reject the light because I don’t like or maybe don’t even agree with what Jesus is telling me?

A pastor friend whom I highly respect says that he does not hold tightly onto theology, because as he grows in his faith, God continues to teach him new things that often challenge his previous beliefs.

• That is not to say that he doesn’t stand up for the truths of the Bible, but it does mean that he’s willing to admit he might be wrong in his current interpretation and understanding of certain topics and issues.

• His hope is that his theology will grow and change as his walk with God grows and changes.

To walk in the light is to let Jesus expose the darkness in our hearts and minds and to accept his help and his instruction so that we can see clearly how to follow Jesus.

When God told me that I had been blind all my marriage, I was immediately convicted of my sins and the blindness to them. “Yes, Lord, I have been blind all my marriage.” And then God said to me, “I am giving you my eyes so that you can see Greg clearly. And I will give you a new marriage.”

It’s barely been a year since I discovered my blindness, but when Greg and I celebrated our 30th anniversary two weeks ago, I can honestly say that it was the happiest anniversary so far. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!

Reflection:

1. Who do you relate to in John 9?

2. How willing are you to admit that you are blind?

3. What will you do today to let the light shine into your heart and mind?