“Turning on the Light”
John 9:1-41
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” [John 9:5]
This again is the second of the seven “I am” declarations outlining the Gospel of John. I highlight “again,” because at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles in 8:12, was the first “I am the light of the world.” “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” And so, 9:5 is the second time Jesus declared “I am the light of the world.”
And then also, we read last Sunday at the end of Chapter 8, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” [Jn 8:58]. The “I AM” assumed the very name of God that was given to Moses at the burning bush [ref. Exod 3:14]. This, therefore, was an emphatic claim to deity, and thus the religious Jews wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy.
Jesus then “hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” [Jn 8:59] The glory [once again] passed from the Temple [ref. 1 Sam 4:21].
Notice, however, the next verse [Jn 9:1], “Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was born blind.” Jesus supernaturally “passed by” from the temple and to a man born blind. Light left the Temple and came into the blind [ref. Jn 9:3].
Jesus is the light of the world. His light dwells in living stones, built one upon another, all resting upon the Chief Cornerstone for a spiritual house [ref. 1 Pet 2:4-6]. The blind man’s healing foretold of this soon to be reality.
The first “I am the light of the world” in 8:12 was at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. It commemorated God’s faithfulness to be Israel’s light in the wilderness. How fitting it was at the end of the Feast for Jesus to proclaim, “I am the light of the world.”
John 9 would now ratify that claim with the record of healing a blind man. Taking this man from physical darkness into the light pointed to Jesus’ authority to bring spiritual light to this dark world. The sign ratified the claim.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [Jn 3:3] This word, “see,” in the Greek, is eido, it means to see in the perceptive sense. It is when the light bulb goes on and you finally understand [you perceive]. It happens when you are born again of the Spirit.
When you confess and repent of your sins and call upon Jesus to forgive your sins and be your personal Lord, you become born again. It is then [and only then] that you begin to perceive the things of God. And that is when the Light goes on.
Try it, commit your life to Jesus, and you will see.
