Growing up, I was blessed with some great friends. This was particularly true of the friends I made while working in Summer camping ministries. One of those friends, a guy I developed a great appreciation for, had a unique life story that I've thought about often. His name was Steve, and he had a glass eye.
Steve and I first met when we were campers, but we became great friends when we were both hired to work on the camp maintenance crew. We roomed together, and as you can imagine, that involved many late nights talks where we shared just about every detail of our lives.
When Steve was about eight-years-old, he took a BB-gun into the woods and began shooting at random things. Eventually, he came across something metal that I think was being used as a boundary marker. When he shot at it, one of the BBs ricocheted in his direction and hit him directly in the eye. Bloody and scared, he ran home and his parents rushed him to the hospital. They weren't able to save the eye. Steve told me that was the only time in his life when he saw his father cry. Thankfully, nothing hit his other eye, and he was able to retain his sight.
Sight is a blessing. It's a blessing both naturally and supernaturally. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." Part of what He was telling us in that assertion is that He has the power to grant sight to those who were unable to see the deeper things that have eternal consequences. What else was Jesus showing us when He referred to Himself as the light?
I. Jesus liberates us from walking in darkness
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
We're in the process of making a few minor updates in our family room. We're replacing the couches, painting the trim on the fireplace, installing new shades, and fixing a ripple in the carpet. When all of that is said and done, we'll be buying some new lamps. I've always felt like the way a lamp disperses light through a room helps set the tone and the feel of the entire space. Practically speaking, a nice lamp also helps us not to stumble in darkness.
Spiritually speaking, we've all experienced what it means to walk in darkness. At the time, however, we probably didn't realize we were walking in it. Darkness was what we were accustomed to. Darkness was what we knew best. And since most of the people in our lives were also walking in darkness, it really didn't seem out of place to us.
But God did not design us to walk in darkness. It isn't His desire that we do so. As Jesus was revealing His divine nature to groups of Jewish religious leaders, He explained that He is the light of the world. Those who follow Him will not walk in darkness any longer, but will experience the light of true spiritual life.
At the time Jesus was making these statements, He was in Jerusalem, and the Jewish people were celebrating the Feast of Booths. Large lamps, giving off great light, would have been lit in the temple during that time to symbolize the pillar of fire that led the children of Israel through the wilderness at night during the days of Moses. Scripture reveals to us that the presence of the Lord was within that pillar of fire.
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”
When Jesus was referring to Himself as the light of the world, He was doing so to a group of people who were familiar with Israel's history and could have perceived the connection He was making between Himself and the pillar of fire referenced in Exodus 13. The presence of Christ was within that pillar, leading the people of Israel to the promised land.
Christ has called us out of darkness and into His light. Is there any aspect of your life that you would be uncomfortable with being exposed to the light of Christ? Is there any aspect of darkness that you're still cherishing, hiding, and holding close? The darkness wants to kill and destroy you, but Christ is offering you the light of life through knowing Him. Cherish Christ. Don't cherish the dark allure of the wickedness that wants nothing more than to ruin you.
II. Jesus has compassion for those who cannot see
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” ”
What is easier to do; to interact with those who have a need or to avoid them? The obvious answer is that it's easier to avoid them, but that's not what Jesus did. During His earthly ministry, He showed compassion toward those who had needs and He interacted with those that others avoided.
A friend told me a story recently of what it was like for her when she was growing up. She said she couldn't figure out why, but she found it very difficult to make friends, particularly in middle school. She felt ignored by her peers. The pain of being avoided by them is still something that stings when it comes back to her memory as an adult.
During the time in which the events of this Scripture took place, it was common to see those with various disabilities begging on the streets of Jerusalem. They were often forced to rely on the kindness of people they didn't even know to help meet their daily needs. This was apparently the case for the blind man Jesus was about to approach.
It was also assumed that if you had some kind of disability that it was likely the result of God judging you because of your sin or the sin of your parents. This may have been their belief because of how they interpreted verses like Exodus 34:7 which states that God is, "keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
Jesus explained to His disciples that this man's blindness wasn't because of judgment. His blindness was a strategic part of God's sovereign plan to display His glory and prompt unbelieving hearts to experience redemptive faith.
Do you ever question God's compassion when you're going through difficult seasons? Do you think the day will come when you'll learn to trust Him enough to believe that He has greater purposes for every painful experience He's allowed you to have?
III. Jesus reminds us not to waste the time we've been given
“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
I'm now at the season of life where time feels like it's passing by quicker and quicker. A year used to sound like a long time to me, now it doesn't. There are people in my life that I only see once a year, and when I see them, it doesn't feel like much time has passed since we last visited.
I'm also becoming increasingly more mindful of the fact that the Lord doesn't want me to waste the time He's given me, because that time will be over before I know it. Jesus was expressing a similar thought in these verses.
Christ knew what He came to this earth to do. He came to offer Himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sin. He came to offer new, resurrected life to those who would come to Him by faith. He came to fulfill the prophetic words spoken about Him in the Old Testament Scriptures, and He knew that the window of time He had to accomplish these things was short. Every moment of time brought Him closer and closer to His execution on the cross.
There's a good lesson for us to observe in Christ's words. Life is too short to waste it. Life is too short to spend it without a sense of our divinely ordained mission. Life is too short to let it be primarily consumed with the vanities of moving from one form of entertainment to the next. Jesus reminds us not to waste the time we've been given. He certainly didn't waste His time.
IV. Jesus completely changes the way we see
“Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”
When I read a historical account like this, I try to put myself in the shoes of the man who was born blind. For decades, he was unable to see. For many years, he was forced to rely on the compassion of strangers. People routinely made incorrect assumptions about his spiritual life and the spiritual maturity of his parents. But now, Christ enabled him to see, and many things were about to change for this man.
Scripture tells us that Jesus combined His spit with dirt to make mud. Then He took that mud and anointed the man's eyes with it. At that point, Jesus asked the blind man to respond with faith to what He had done to Him. The test of that response was whether he stayed right where he was, or if he took the initiative to listen to Christ's instructions to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Keep in mind, it wouldn't necessarily be an effortless task for this blind man to go and do this, but the man responded with faith. He did what Jesus said, and he came back seeing.
When Christ redeems us, He grants us a brand new way of seeing. When we come to the point where we truly believe He is the light of the world, we begin seeing all things with the illumination He amply supplies. We see ourselves differently. We see other people differently. We see sin, trials, ambition, opportunity, goals, and eternity from a drastically different perspective compared to when we walked in darkness.
Christ is the light of the world, but He also desires to be the source of light in your life. He will liberate you from walking in darkness. He will inspire you to have compassion for those who cannot see, just as He had compassion for you. He will remind you not to waste the time He's blessed you with, and He will grant you a powerfully new perspective that allows you to begin seeing all things with the very eyes, mind, and heart of God.
© John Stange, 2019
