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 do not know."

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

- John 9:1-17

The lectionary has been taking us through John chapter 6 over the past week (beginning with last Monday's reading).  On Saturday, we read many of his disciples, when they heard Jesus teaching regarding His Body and Blood, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

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."  In today's reading, the lectionary returns to the events of the Feast of Tabernacles.   The readings concerning the events at this Feast began with chapter 7 (starting from this reading).   At the end of chapter 8, Jesus declared Himself to be the I AM, thus provoking the religious leaders to take up stones to throw at Him for what they perceive to be clear blasphemy, but Jesus hid and passed out of the temple (see this reading).  Today's reading continues events at the Feast from that point.   What unfolds in today's reading constitutes the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel.  Nowhere else in all the miracle stories of the Bible is a healed person blind from birth.  My study bible comments that this blind man is symbolic of all of humanity.  All need illumination by Christ, who has declared Himself at this Feast to be the Light of the world.  My study bible adds that this sign is an illustration of baptism, which is also called "holy illumination."  As we head toward Easter (or Pascha), let us recall that it is the traditional day that catechumens are received into the Church, and consider the baptismal theology we encounter at this time.  Noteworthy in Jesus' response to the disciples is His rejection of the assumption common to His time that all problems and illness were the result of personal sin, or possibly even the sins of parents (see Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21).  Although suffering can be the direct result of personal sin, this is not always true.  In this case, Christ declares that, on the contrary, this man's blindness is an opportunity for the works of God to be revealed.

"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."  My study bible comments that the work that people do consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40).  It notes that the night that is coming refers both to the time after a person's death and also to the age to come -- when there is no longer the opportunity to express faith.  St. John Chrysostom comments that on that day there will not be faith, but rather all will submit, whether willingly or unwillingly.

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  My study bible notes here that the unprecedented healing of the man born blind confirms that Christ's truly is the light of the world (8:12).  We recollect that on the last day of the festival, considered to be the eighth day as it continued into evening, the huge great lamps of the temple outer courtyard were lit, illuminating the surrounding neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

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.  My study bible cites St. Irenaeus here, who sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7).  He reveals His divinity in restoring part of creation by using the same material with which humanity was created by Christ as Lord in the beginning.

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.   The pool of Siloam was a pool on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and quite a distance from the temple.  This is the pool from which water was taken for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles.  As Siloam is translated, Sent, it is symbolic of Christ Himself, who is the One sent by the Father (5:36, 20:21).  My study bible comments that just as the healing of the blind man confirms Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), so also His making use of the pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and those who worship in it.

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 do not know."  Once more, John's Gospel gives us the mixed response of the people to Christ and to the works He does.  Christ's illumination of the sight of the blind man is paralleled in the partial understanding of the people, and the gradual illumination of the healed man regarding the identity of Jesus.

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."   John's Gospel illuminates for us not only the division regarding Jesus among the people, but also among the religious leadership.  My study bible comments that Just as the Pharisees had ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath at that time (5:10-16), at the healing of this man blind from birth many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices.  The healed man reveals his as yet partial understanding of Christ by saying that He is a prophet.

What does it mean to be enlightened, or illuminated?  In the context of faith, to become enlightened or illuminated is to burn with the light of Christ.  Since His true light is so much greater and infinitely intense than what we are capable of perceiving, we must grow in that illumination.  Indeed, one might say that the true light of Christ is so much greater than our capacity to perceive at any one time that we may even see it as a kind of hiddenness or in the traditional language of mystic theology a certain type of darkness -- another term for mystery that is beyond our grasp, something we cannot quite see.  In that sense, even the most illumined among us may be like this blind man, coming to grasp the truths of Christ within the journey of faith, in which all things culminate and are reconciled in Him.  If we ponder, as my study bible notes, that baptism is traditionally called "illumination," we come closer to the workings of spiritual enlightenment.  We need a light to see by, we need to be healed like the blind man, we need to be brought along this road of cleansing and healing and purification of spiritual sight through our own faith, our response to Christ, and the journey of faith in which we seek to follow His commands.  The blind man must make his way to the pool of Siloam (or Sent), which we may take as metaphor for our own journey in the healing light of Christ.  In a particular way, we can conceive of the healing of this man through the application of clay, made from the ground and the spittle of Christ, as a sacrament:  the world is returned to Christ, even to that which comes from His mouth, and in so doing is healed -- and we who might otherwise be "dust to dust" are restored as His creation.  Washing in the pool called Sent is a kind of baptism, in which we must be baptized with the Spirit, as made possible through Christ, so that we may receive illumination -- and like the formerly blind man, this is just the beginning of illumination, and marks the start of a spiritual road.  We are like the blind man in the sense that we are all in need of healing, and also in the sense that we must walk this road.  We are not simply given a pass, or automatic enlightenment and the fullness of spiritual understanding.  He wants us to walk this road with Him, and come to the fulfillment of our own possibilities as His children.  We, in our true healing and restoration, are meant for something we can't grasp, and as creations of the Lord have potentials we will only discover through walking this road He puts us on.  Lent is precisely the time to consider the road we're on, translated in the Gospels as Christ's "way" (14:6).  This "way" asks of us patience, work, faith, and a constant process of repentance (or "change of mind" as the Greek term literally means).  Lent is a traditional time of fasting and prayer, and we make our way to the fullness of sight we can't yet understand, but guided with so much help to our own fulfillment in our capacity to take in His light.  Let us follow Him.