As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "this is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." Then they said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know."

John 9:1-12

Today's reading reading describes the sixth miracle (or "sign") in the gospel of John. (There will be seven altogether.) It is highly significant, according to my study bible, that the man described here was blind from birth. This is the only miracle story in all of the Bible in which the person was blind from birth. A note in my study bible reads: "This man is symbolic of all humanity: all need illumination by Christ, the Light of the world. This passage is also a picture of baptism, which is also called 'holy illumination.' ... In the ancient Church this passage, along with chs. 3 and 5, was read on the Saturday night of Easter, when Christian catechumens were baptized. It reiterates the paschal themes of washing, illumination, healing, faith, conversion and salvation."

Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." My study bible notes that Jesus "rejects the assumption (common in the ancient world) that trouble and malady are necessarily a consequence of personal sin... Rather, this man's blindness provides the occasion for God's mighty works to be revealed." Jesus speaks here about the urgency of his work in the light - before his time in the world is over. He repeats again the important statement he has already made (I am the light of the world), but in a new context. He has work that must be done.

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. St. Irenaeus, my study bible notes, sees in this mixture of dust and spittle a "type" of the creation of humanity from the earth (Gen. 2:7). Jesus reveals his deity by restoring part of creation in the same way humanity was created in the beginning. The pool of Siloam (Greek for Shiloah) was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a distance from the temple. So this man had to make his way across the city to the pool in expectation of healing! This is the same pool from which water was taken as noted in commentary in Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, to which Jesus referred in his speech at the Feast of Tabernacles. Siloam means "Sent" - as Christ is "sent" (and still in the world for a time, as he notes) by the Father. His divinity is the note we see in the repetition of "type" - he who was with the Father and is "sent" to us, to give us the "rivers of living water."

Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "this is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." Then they said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know." My study bible once again provides a helpful note here: "That the Lord opened the eyes of the blind man recalls Isaiah 35:5, with its messianic significance. As the story progresses, the once-blind man gradually comes to an awareness of who Jesus is, while the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness." We will see how this unfolds in tomorrow's reading, as the story and its aftermath continues.

So, we embark on themes of baptism, creation, illumination, awareness and judgment. The powerful metaphors and the reality contained in each leads us into depth, like the pool itself. The blind man goes through a baptism, as we all are to go through a baptism of a type, one way or another. His eyes are opened through a "type" of creation (see commentary on The loaves and the fishes for another example of "type"), symbolically revealing Jesus' divinity and oneness with the Father, as well as his presence at Creation. The blind are made to see through his re-Creation; illumination is the purpose of Jesus' creative activity and his works that are of the Father while he is in the world and still "the light of the world." This new act of a type of creation is also symbolically embroidering on Jesus' statement from Saturday's reading, "Before Abraham was, I am." His divinity means he was with the Father then, he is with us now; ever-present, the bounds of time and even space do not apply to the divine. So, what does that mean about the nature of the light in the world now? Jesus indicates in this passage that his incarnate presence in the world is for a time, to do the works that are given to him. So the dimensions of Jesus' reality call to us, and overlap. He is in the world but from the Father. But "in his light, we see light." In the themes of water and light, we recall Psalm 36:9 - "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." In the baptismal water, we have illumination even as we are in the world. But the illumination brings with it responsibility, and judgment: how do we respond? Do we choose the darkness or the light? Do we go forward in the light, and leave the darkness behind in the symbolic waters?

Today Lent begins for the Eastern churches, on Wednesday it will begin for the Western churches. Let us walk in the light, thoughtfully, reflectively, and see where it leads us.