Appreciate The Sovereign Light

“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" (John 9:1-7, ESV).

Light is so important in life. “Plants need light to produce organic molecules…”

“Ensuring a good incidence of light in our environments can even have a positive effect on our mood, can influence the critical chemical reactions of our body, can reduce emotional problems (such as depression, for example), can improve the quality of our sleep, can make us healthier and immune to pain and even improve our productivity and job satisfaction.

“The lack of light in our lives and in our environments, can cause disturbances in the production of melatonin, deregulate the release of growth hormone, cause a lack of vitamins (without sunlight our body does not synthesize vitamin D), it can impact the regulation of our metabolism, and it can also cause obesity, irritability, tiredness, etc…”

Really the value of light is significant. In the Bible, after it was stated that God created the heavens and the earth, the next thing He created was light. “And God saw that the light was good…” (Gen. 1:4A.)

And even the artificial light we truly appreciate. We do not want to have brownouts.

If physical lights have an appeal to us, how about the “Light of the world” referring to Jesus? Do we really appreciate Him?

So, this time, as we consider the Biblical Jesus, let’s proceed to discuss our topic… APPRECIATE THE SOVEREIGN LIGHT…, as we focus on our text (John 9:1-7).

As we gaze upon the Sovereign Light in the Person of Jesus, we could be enlightened how the Sovereign God behaved when He was clothed with human flesh. What are some of the Goodness of Jesus, especially, as the Divine Light that we could appreciate, and even emulate?

In the last part of chapter 8 in the book of John, written by the Apostle, who addressed himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, we learned at least three things that Jesus expected from the true believers.

They need to honor Him, to keep His Word and to rejoice in Him. Why so? He was not just an ordinary human being. He was even more than a special person. He claimed that He was not just before Abraham, but He was the Self-Existent One -- the “I AM” of the Old Testament, God Himself.

For the ordinary Jews, that was blasphemy and He deserved to die. “So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59, ESV).

And now in the next 7 verses, we could have a glimpse of Jesus’ behavior. In one of the verses, He claimed He was “the Light of the world.” So, let’s find out at least some ways how He radiated His Light. And as His followers, we could also reflect them in our life. Just what Jesus did, as the Light?

I – ELEVATING THE PURPOSE OF TRAGEDY (vv. 1-3).

We read verses 1-3, “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.’”

As Jesus avoided the Jews who tried to throw stones at Him, He saw a man. At this point, the light of Jesus was beginning to shine. Instead of thinking the harm that could come to Him, if the Jews with evil intent would find Him, Jesus directed His attention on someone who suffered greatly -- “a man blind from birth.”

While His disciples were just concerned about the cause of the tragic situation of the man, Jesus, as the Light, had important thing in His mind. Because of what happened to the man, his disciples just wanted to know if it was the cause of man’s sin or his parents. However, Jesus pointed out the purpose for the tragedy. He said, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but the works of God might be displayed in him.”

For Jesus, what is more important is the purpose for the suffering. If He intended to emphasize the cause of it, He could have lecture on Hamartiology (doctrine of sin and the seriousness of its effect). Instead, He pointed out the purpose: in order that the works of God might be displayed. God allowed the blindness since birth to happen for the man, because God had a purpose. He wanted His work of healing of sight to be displayed.