John 9:1-7 “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. 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.’ Having said these things, He spat 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.”
We’re going back to the healing of the blind beggar and unearth two very important verses consisting mainly of Jesus’ teaching concerning Himself, His mission and His essential nature. It’s really quite profound, and we don’t won’t to let any revelation escape us, so, buckle in and enjoy the ride.
I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but there is, on occasion, bright, piercing lights that project to where I live from a hillside approximately five miles away. I mill around in the evening and when it gets pitch dark, I see it from time to time. Two parallel lights. A vehicle, I’m sure. Its got to be more than a car, because it pierces the landscape beneath. The power of those lights divide the night straight to my driveway and beyond. It’s set up high, on a mountain and is prominently visible to all.
There is no greater, purer moral light than Jesus. The effulgence of Jesus Christ is so eminent that it can blind a natural man by its radiance. His moral stature is so intense that men have found themselves face down on the ground, bewildered as to how they got there. That is what happens in the presence of Jesus if His vale is only partially uncovered. Ask Moses, Job, the guards at the tomb, Saul of Tarsus, the inner circle at the Mt. Transfiguration, John on Patmos at the Revelation of God’s only Son! The moral light of Jesus Christ is also so bothersome to the conscience that sinful man will innately attempt to extinguish it (John 1:1-10).
When Peter began to recognize the Son of God he said. . .
“Lord, depart from me, I am a wicked man!”
When Isaiah (6:5) saw Him in His glory, Isaiah said this:
“Woe is me for I am undone.”
When Job (42:6) finally got his audience with God, he said,
“I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
When John, the writer of our Gospel, the beloved disciple saw his Lord on Patmos, he said nothing. The text (Rev 1:17) only says this:
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
Beloved, our world has hell to pay for doing their best to douse the glories of Jesus. He has no rival and the purest and best of humanity is as diseased rags next to His original righteousness. And the only reason I dare speak His name is that I am dressed in His righteousness today! A righteousness declared. A purity not my own. Praise the Lord!
Now, our context from John 9 is a healing context, but the lesson of healing is all about the glories of Jesus Christ. Our next point, carried over from last week’s message, is this:
THE REVELATION OF HEAVEN’S LIGHT (v. 5)
It wasn’t about the blind beggar’s sin at all. That’s not the reason the man’s in such a pitiful condition. He was born blind to the end that the Light of Heaven might penetrate his life—-inside/out.
Yes, Jesus healed the man physically, but the greater miracle was just how deep the healing Light went. The Holy Spirit, through Jesus, penetrated the man’s soul. We know this from the man’s later confession (vv. 35-41)
Folks, the nature of Heavenly Light in this world is salvific to man’s moral depravity. Our Lord’s miracles served in analogy to the complete and redemptive Light of God. Let’s borrow from theologian, John MacArthur, as we view these analogies.
MIRACLE ANALOGY LESSON OF LIGHT
BLINDNESS Sin renders one spiritually blind. Salvation restores one’s spiritual light.
LEPROSY Sin is spiritually incurable. Salvation provides a spiritual cure to an otherwise incurable condition.
PARALYSIS Sin renders one spiritually in- Salvation restores the use of one’s
capable. spiritual abilities.
DEMON Sin renders one unholy. Salvation declares one holy in God’s
POSSESSION sight.
DEATH Sin renders one dead in Salvation provides eternal life in
trespasses and sins. Christ.
The Light of the world is not about physical healing in and of itself. It is about God’s salvation in the souls of men and Holy Spirit’s light that penetrates human depravity! The nature of the light is healing, but righteousness is the issue! Even as the prophecy proclaims of the Messiah:
“The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing
in His wings.” -Malachi 4:2
. . . and this Light of Grace, this Day Star from above, this Light of the world had His way prepared by a lesser light whose mission was to underscore a message of healing, a message of repentance from sin (Luke 1:76-79). Again, the nature of the Light is the Jesus of Titus 2:11-15!
And there’s more to say, only not today. Let us conclude by underscoring this:
The nature of God’s light is penetrating to the very core of human darkness! Above all else, it is intended in this world for the salvation of souls through the Person of Jesus Christ. Apart from Him, there is no hope, no help, no light to reach man’s hell bound depravity. This is why we must bear His torch to our world! This is why we teach the Gospel.
So many people, so many churches, get caught up in the healing, the helping, the analogy, if you will. They miss the real import of it all, the real message of hope: To restore spiritual sight to blind sinners through the healing message of the cross. Without that emphasis, all help is a temporal band-aid and we simply never get to THE message.
