Abiding In The Light

ABIDING IN THE LIGHT

Text: John 9:26-41

“Several years ago, a Greensboro, North Carolina, newspaper carried a story about a tractor-trailer rolling along on a side street in a southern city. The driver came to a low bridge and misjudged the height of his rig. When the truck came to a stop, it was wedged tightly between the bridge and the street. Wreckers were called to remove the truck, but with all of their skills and equipment they could not budge it. Among the bystanders was a young student. The lad walked over to the men and suggested that the tires on the truck be deflated. As the air screamed from the tires, the great truck began to settle slowly away from the bridge. A wrecker was chained to the truck, and it was gently pulled backward. When the truck was free of the bridge, the tires were reinflated and the trucker was again on his way”. (Enest A. Fitzgerald. Keeping Pace: Inspirations In The Air. Greensboro: Pace Communications, Inc., 1988, p. 57) Until this young student came along, everyone was blind as to what the solution was. Until people have the light of Christ in their lives, they, too, are blind to the fact that Jesus Christ is the answer to the problems of life. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness!

There is an old proverb that says, “There are none so blind as those who will not see”. One of the major reasons that people cannot see as they should is because of the blinders that they wear.. Sometimes people will put blinders on horses that will keep horses from being able to see to the sides. These blinders are little pieces of leather that are attached to the bridle that goes on the horse’s head. Sometimes people put blinders on themselves so that they will not see the things that they are trying to avoid. The point that I am getting at is that there is more than one kind of blindness. There is physical blindness as well spiritual blindness.

The ninth chapter of John tells us about a man who was born blind. It also tells us about how Jesus brought about healing. This man was born with eyes that could not see. When Jesus healed him, not only could he see, he also experienced salvation.

THE REVOLUTION

Jesus brought about a revolution in the life of this man who was born blind. One kind of revolution that Jesus brought about in the life of this man who was born blind was change. All of his natural life this man had lived in physical darkness. When he became an adult, he had to take to the streets as a beggar (John 9:8) and rely on the genuine goodwill and passersby in order to be able to live. How tough it must have been for him to wonder from day to day if he was going to go hungry. Then the day came when Jesus brought about change in the life of this blind beggar as He healed him of his blindness.

A second kind of revolution that Jesus brought about for this blind man was overthrowing the darkness. Sometimes we hear the word “revolution” and we think about the definition of a revolution that relates to a war. For instance, we think about historical battles such as the American Revolutionary War (1775), the French Revolution (1789), the Chinese Revolution (1911), or the Russian Revolution (1917). We tend to think about the changes in government that resulted from wars that were revolutionary. In a revolutionary war, there are usually two opposing sides from the same country that go to war to gain control of the government. One side wants to overthrow the other. For this man who was born blind, Jesus brought about a revolution where the darkness was overthrown by His light. Not only did Jesus heal the man of his physical blindness, but He also healed him of his spiritual blindness.

“Jack Eckerd, founder of the Eckerd drugstore chain, became a Christian in 1983. Soon afterward, walking through one of his stores, though he had looked at the magazine racks a thousand times before, this time he saw with new eyes the pornographic magazines for sale there. He called his company president and ordered him to remove Playboy and Penthouse. The president was stunned because those magazines brought in several million dollars of profit annually. Eckerd insisted. Those magazines were cleared form the shelves of 1,700 Eckerd drugstores. He was simply yielding to the Lordship of Christ. “Why else would I throw a few million dollars out the window?” He would not let money blind him.” (Leslie B. Flynn. The Miracles Of Jesus. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1990, p. 134). What Mr. Eckerd did was revolutionary because he saw with the eyes of a Christian. Eckerd also brought about a revolution in that he opened his store to the light of Jesus Christ and overthrew the darkness of the influence that those pornographic magazines would have.