The Light of the World
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. John 9:5-7
Read John 9:1-7
The light of the world is the sun, is it not? No, not according to our text! The Lord Jesus is the Light of the world. All other lights can only give their light because He is the true Light. Did He not say that in the beginning? Let there be light: and there was light (Gen. 1:3). We need to meditate on this! The sun also was created by Him (Gen. 1:16-18).
Here in John 9, Christ’s declaration must be understood keeping in mind the great miracle which He was going to perform. The Lord Jesus was about to bring light into the eyes of a blind man. He did not do this by speaking a command, as He had at other times, but through the way of obedience. The Lord even used what can be conceived as a contrary procedure; He smeared clay on the blind man’s eyes. Then He commanded the man to go wash in a pool of water.
Just think of Naaman, who found it so difficult to follow the directives of Elisha in order that he might be healed of his leprosy in 2 Kings 5:10, 11. However, he could only be healed of his disease in the way of obedience to God’s command (2 Kings 5:14). But, the blind man of our text immediately obeyed the Lord Jesus’ command. As a result he instantly saw. This fact is meaningful for us. To truly hear the Word of the Lord means that we also obey it and do not put off responding to it. If the blind man had gone his own way instead of following the command given by the Lord, he would not have regained his sight. I hope you understand that this applies to you and me today as well.
Thought: To really listen to something is to act upon it.
Psalter 325: 1,2 (based on Psalm 119) Teach me O Lord, Thy way of truth, And from it I will not depart; That I may steadfastly obey, Give me an understanding heart. In Thy commandments make me walk, For in Thy law my joy shall be; Give me a heart that loves Thy will, From discontent and envy free.