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

Pantocrator, 14th century.  National History Museum, Sophia, Bulgaria.  Gospel Book is open to John 8:12, Christ's first declaration that He is 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

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, and eight-day festival commemorating the time when Israel lived in tents, or tabernacles, as they followed Moses searching for the promised land.  (John 7:1-10:21 covers the period of events which take place while Jesus is at this Festival in Jerusalem.)  At this point, it is the eighth and final day of the Festival, and Jesus has been disputing with the leadership.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.   John chapter 9 concerns the story of the healing of this man who was blind from birth.  It gives us the sixth of seven signs in the Gospel.  Why is this of significance?  My study bible tells us that of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth.  The blind man, it says, is symbolic of all humanity.  All need illumination by Christ, who is the Light of the world.  It adds that this sign is an illustration of baptism, which is also called "holy illumination."

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."  My study bible comments here that Jesus rejects the assumption (which was common in the ancient world) that all troubles and even illness are the result of personal sin or possibly the sins of one's parents (see Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21).  Although suffering can directly occur as the result of personal sin, it is clearly not always the case.  Here, the man's blindness is not only denied by Christ to be related to his (or his parents') personal sins.   Jesus takes it a glorious step further; this is an occasion 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 tells us that the work that people do consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40).  The night that comes is a reference to both the time after a person's death and to the age to come, in which there no longer remains an opportunity to express faith.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says 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."   The healing of the man born blind, unprecedented in Scripture, is seen to confirm Jesus' claim that He is 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.  My study bible comments that St. Irenaeus sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7).  It notes that Jesus reveals His divinity by restoring part of creation using the same material with which He created humanity 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.  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."   My study bible says that the pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and quite a distance from the temple.  Water was taken from this pool for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles (which Jesus is attending in Jerusalem).  Siloam, translated, Sent, is symbolic of Christ, the One sent by the Father (6:36; 20:21), and who has taught that "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (7:38).  My study bible says that just as the healing of the blind man is a confirmation of Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), so also Christ using this pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and of those who worship in it.  

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."  My study bible comments that, just as the Pharisees ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath (in chapter 5:10-16), so here many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices.

Looked at from a particular viewpoint, this healing of the man born blind is a type of prefiguration of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection.  In the Crucifixion, the action of Christ takes a supremely evil thing and turns it to the good.  There is nothing "good" that we can say about crucifixion:  it was designed to give a slow and agonizing death.  But through the action of Christ, what was an unjust sentence of horrific punishment was transformed to a key to salvation for the whole of creation.  It is the power of God not only to renew, but to transform, even to produce good out of the effects of evil.  In today's reading, Jesus takes a man blind from birth, and in His viewpoint and perspective, something obviously hurting to human beings is transformed.  In the ancient viewpoint, as my study bible pointed out, and as the question of the disciples suggests to us, such an affliction was seen a the result of sin -- either of that person's sin or even of his or her parents.  But Christ completely transforms everything about this affliction.  Not only does He declare it has nothing to do with personal sin as a cause, but it is in fact an occasion for the glorification of God.   Regardless of the great achievements of people who have been afflicted with blindness in modern times, their tremendous capacities for fullness of life in all ways, we would not really presume that loss of sight was purely -- in and of itself alone -- a good thing for human beings.  But Jesus pronounces this an opportunity, an occasion for something tremendous to take place.  In that sense, the healing of this man and the restoration of his sight is not just an illumination for him, for one individual, but it is an illumination for all of us about the power of God, the character of God, and the renewing power that accompanies God's work in us.  We may not each experience the kind of miraculous healing that is on display in today's reading, the sixth of the seven signs given of Christ's divinity in the Gospel of John.  But nevertheless, the power of God rests within each of our own afflictions as possibilities for renewal and transcendence, even transformation of our lives and the conditions of our lives.  Jesus at once pronounces this man and his family innocent, freeing them of blame and condemnation of the popular understanding of the time -- and instead pronounces the blindness to be an occasion for the works of God to be manifest in the world.  What would our lives be like if every setback, every affliction, every problem became in our own sight an occasion for the glory of God as possibility to manifest?  What if every negative, hurtful, harmful diminution of capacity in our lives became for us an unprecedented opportunity to pray for renewal, and to find it in one way and another?  While we may not have our prayers answered in such a direct way as does the man in today's reading, we might find that hidden in every affliction, no matter what its nature, is some secret potential which can be tapped into through our faith.   A lost job becomes a possible opportunity to re-gear and reflect, offering more time for prayer and a greater development of spiritual resilience.    A friend's wrist injury rendered him unable to pursue his building project, but opened up an opportunity to write the story which had been persistently nagging at him to write down.  A setback in a vocal career became an opportunity to walk a deeper walk with God, an occasion for discovery of deeper waters and truer reality and acceptance of the self.  In so many ways, our walk with God gives us opportunities for the work of God through our own lives, our setbacks, and our struggles.  It is, in my opinion, not a mistake to cultivate such an attitude to anything that seems as if it limits us.  Jesus not only reveals the blamelessness of this man and his parents, but in so doing also conveys the very freedom of the truth of God which awaits our faith, where everything is an opportunity, even what looks like something hard, unjust, unwanted.  Let us consider the power of God who works in and through us.  That is what Christ came into the world to reveal, the light He gives to us so that we may truly see.