December 9 - Light of the World

December 9 - Light of the World (John 9:1-12)

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)

Jesus says these words and then proceeds to spit in the dirt, make some mud, place it on a blind man’s eyes and send him off to wash.  When the man did, he could see. 

That’s the entirety of this message.  Jesus says to us, “I am the light of the world.”  Then He covers our sin, asks us to wash it off and we are healed.  We are healed before we wash it off … but sometimes we just can’t understand the truth of that.  We walk around with the mud in our eyes and don’t realize that underneath that mud, the healing has already taken place. 

If this man had never obeyed Jesus, he would have lived as a beggar for the rest of his life, never knowing that all he had to do was take a simple bath and his life could be changed.  But, he obeyed the One who had done such a strange thing. 

After he had washed out his eyes and discovered the healing, he encountered people who had known him before.  They were curious.  “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”

People denied that the change could have happened, “No, he only looks like that man.” 

But the poor man insisted, “I am the man!”

These are the same attitudes that surround us when we are so completely healed by Jesus that our lives look different than they did before we encountered Him.  “Aren’t you the same person that we knew before?”   “No … it only looks like that person.”

And we want to shout, “I am that person … but I am changed.”

From blindness to sight.  Jesus offered this man the opportunity to see light once more.

John’s gospel is heavy on metaphorical / spiritual insight by using common ideas and examples.  “I am the light of the world.”  From blindness to sight … from darkness to light.  Jesus is the one who brings light to our lives.