Divine Light Series

Divine Light

I. Introduction

A. with our sign this evening being the healing of the man born blind I thought about turning out all the lights in the building so that we can experience the darkness of being blind. But no I thought why repeat old tricks.

B. Instead tonight I’d rather focus on the opposite of the darkness of blindness. The brightness of sight.

C. Jesus in our gospel today healed a man who had been born blind. Now Jesus gave sight to many people in his earthly ministry, but this one is different.

D. This time we hear the debate of the disciples, concerning the reason for his blindness.

E. and they asked a question many people have asked when facing hardship, “what or who’s sin is responsible.” To which Jesus responds, this is not the result of blindness, but so that the glory of God may be revealed.

F. With this answer Jesus opens up a whole new dimension to this healing.

G. Because as John writes earlier in the Gospel the Son of God is the light piercing into the darkness and here we now see Jesus as the light piercing the darkness of man struck blind.

Transition – All the while, we too were blind but have had our eyes opened by the same divine light.

II. Opens our eyes

A. Just as Jesus healed the Blind Man, he heals our own blindness.

1. Oh, if you use glasses to see like my wife, you are still gong to need them because this is not the kind of healing I am talking about.

2. Jesus heals our eyes so that we can see God.

3. Before Jesus heals us we are as blind as can be stumbling in the dark.

4. But Jesus the divine light opens our eyes.

a) we aren’t alone in needing our eyes opened the disciples needed a little eye opening themselves.

1) Luke 24:44-48 Then Jesus said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

2) Jesus opened their eyes and he opens our eyes so that we may witness God’s Love because in Sin we are blind to God’s love

B. Blinded by sin we have no hope of seeing God and His Love

1. One of my favorite shows as a kid was Scooby Doo

2. One of the characters on the show was Velma and well Velma was absolutely blind without her glasses. Inevitably, she would lose her glasses and of course, that would be when the bad guy would show up. Many times, she would mistake the bad guy for a good guy and think he was a friend when in reality he wanted to hurt her. This is how it is for us when we are blinded by sin; we mistake the bad guy for the good guy. And we end up following the bad guy rather than following the good guy who created us.

C. But we are not left in our blindness Jesus the divine light opens our eyes to the truth and though we as Paul says we see but dimly now we will see him fully on the day of the Lord.

Transition – For, the divine light will guide us and give us hope.

III. Light that guides us

A. Like a lighthouse guiding the ships to safety the divine light guides us safely through life to our heavenly home.

B. Christ knew that our life is not easy and it would in some ways become even worse because of him setting you free.

1) In the gospels he warns us through his disciples that things will happen to us because of Christ and that in the last days life in general will be hard.

2) Unlike others, we do not have to face the harshness of life with brittle stoicism or despair, but with hope. Because we have the divine light.

3) In light there is hope, in darkness only fear.

a) a quick glance at the principles of interior design can show us this principle. They have noticed that bright and open rooms generally make us feel more cheerful than a dark and closed room.

b) Christ the divine light gives us that bright and open feeling by giving us hope in the promise he sealed in his own blood.