John Chapter Nine Jesus: the Light of the World

Adam Kirby - Lay Minister: Beachlands Maraetai Mission Venture

John chapter nine is a fascinating story. It is probably the most detailed story about a miracle and its aftermath in the whole of the Gospels. There is so much depth to it, so much that we can learn about the way Jesus behaved and even about his appearance. There is also so much we can understand through this story about the Jewish society in which Jesus and his disciples lived. We see from the beginning of the story that these disciples are ordinary people, with attitudes similar to those around them.

            Now in the narrative as John tells it to us, Jesus has just come from a life-threatening situation. Chapter 8 says that people had picked up stones to kill him, but that he slipped away. In chapter nine, he courts trouble again. There is something about Jesus’ sense of calling that made him challenge authority. He could not rest with the world as it was. Chapter nine also brings us another opportunity to see Jesus’ loving humanity and his sense of purpose in the world.

            At the beginning of the chapter a man blind from birth is found by Jesus and this encounter becomes an opportunity to explain more about why Jesus is in the world: that he has come to be the light of the world. The man’s profound darkness is an opportunity for Jesus show the light of God’s transforming power in the world and to show that that loving power will not be limited by the rules and regulations of human authority.

            In the story, Jesus spat on the ground, made some clay and smeared it on the man’s eyes. This may seem revolting to us, but in Jesus’ day saliva, especially that of a first-born son, was considered to have healing properties. As instructed, the man went off to wash in the Pool of Siloam, and to the amazement of everyone, came back healed. He perceived physical light for the first time in his life.

            People were so amazed that some of them could not believe it and said he was not really the man born blind, but an imposter. To deal with this issue and to try and verify the truth of the man’s claims, he was taken to the Pharisees: they had authority, and would know the truth.

            Now the pharisees believed that there was a problem with this miracle: it was done on the sabbath, when not only was no work allowed but this particular form of healing activity with saliva was prohibited, so this meant that Jesus was a sinner, not a true prophet and should be punished. One way around this was to say that the man who claimed to have been healed was lying: he had not really received his sight. So they sent for his parents to prove if this man really had been born blind. The parents of course said that he was, but refused to be drawn on exactly how he came to see. They were not there, anyway, and did not want to be drawn into a confrontation with the pharisees. In any case, as they explained, their son was old enough to speak for himself. So, the pharisees called the son back and he responded very bluntly to the religious leaders and ended up being thrown out of the synagogue.

            Now although this is a story all about Jesus’ role in the life of this man and in the world, he had vanished from the scene. However, he was obviously not too far from the action as he heard what had happened and sought out the man. Again, we see the loving care of Jesus. He hasn’t finished with the man. He fixed his sight problem, but this is only a job half done. Now the man met Jesus properly for the first time and was confronted with who Jesus really was – The Son of Man. By using this Messianic title, Jesus challenges the man to accept him as the Messiah and become a disciple. His response is to worship Jesus.

            Jesus then wraps up the whole series of events by explaining how his light works in the world. For some people, like the man born blind, God’s light enables them to see properly and to accept who Jesus really is. They become enlightened. Others, such as the pharisees, who think they have the light already are shown to be living in darkness.

            So, Jesus is the light of the upside down and back to front Kingdom of God: darkness is transformed into light and seeming light is shown to be darkness.

            Yet, this whole story begs a question. What does it mean to walk in the light and not in the darkness?

            Well, I think the first answer to this question is to say that we must become followers of Jesus. The story is all about Jesus presenting himself as a miracle working prophet and giving people a choice whether to follow him or not. Here Jesus makes the blind see, which the coming Messiah is expected to do. The challenge is to follow Jesus as Messiah or reject the miracle as fraudulent evidence because it doesn’t fit the rules, and so reject Jesus.

Now if we have chosen to be followers of Jesus, what do these events tell us about what following the Light of the World means?

The first thing is to note that Jesus calls on his disciples to join him in doing the work of his father who sent him. He doesn’t say I must do my father’s work, while you disciples just watch. Disciples of Jesus are to be involved with the work of Jesus. We are active participants in being light to the world.

Secondly, following Jesus’ example, we are called to seek out those who need light. For Jesus, this is synonymous with saying they need love. Jesus took the opportunity of his encounter with the blind man to heal him and then later on he sought out the outcast in order to offer him a new home.

Thirdly, offering the light of love can be costly to those who offer it. Doing so can go against cultural norms. Family members may not be able to understand why we care for others in the way that Jesus calls us to do. We are called to go beyond our comfort zones to share the Light of the World, with the world. Love can be costly.

So, as we face the greatest corporate and communal crisis that the world has faced for at least the last 75 years, what does it mean to be followers of the Light of the World? What does it mean to be those who are called to do the works of the Father of light; the source of love?

To me, it must mean that we adopt a heart attitude of love for those around us and actively reach out creatively to them. Our role cannot be that we passively wait for people to come to us in need, but that we actively make sure that we are aware of possible needs around us and are making ourselves available to help where we can. Jesus actively sought out people with whom to share his transforming, loving, light. In our social seclusion, we may feel there is little we can do, but let us pray for those around us and beyond, keep in touch with our networks of friends and family, and be ready to help when we can.

May we be constantly aware of the loving presence of God and be that light and love in the world, where and when we are able.

Love and Peace to you all.

Adam