I Am the Light of the World

John 9:1-12

Key verse 5

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world”

Jesus is revealed as the light of the world through a sign-miracle. He furnishes us with an illustration of how he gives the light of his glory as Savior to spiritually-blinded eyes. He furnishes us with an example of how we should trust and obey his word in order to see.

1. Read verses 1-3.

ANSWER:

Joh 9:1-3  As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  2  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  3  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

Whom did Jesus see as he went along? (1)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:1  As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.

(See the underlined text above).

This man is representative of all humanity: Everyone is spiritually blind from birth – born in darkness (Jn 1:5; 3:3; Eph. 4:18).

It was not the blind man who came to Jesus. It was Jesus who saw him first because obviously the man couldn’t see Jesus. Likewise, we did not seek him first. Rather, he sought us first (Jn 15:16; 1Jn 4:19, 10). This is the way Jesus’ sovereign grace is given. 

How did Jesus’ disciples view the man’s blindness? (2)  

ANSWER:

Joh 9:2  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

They thought his blindness was God’s punishment. They asked, “...who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The disciples’ outlook is so dark.

What was the view of life underlying their question? (Ex 20:5-6; Psa 58:3)

ANSWER:

Exo 20:5-6  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  6  but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Psa 58:3  Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.

The disciples assumed that whenever there was suffering or whenever there was illness, someone’s sin made it happen. This was a common belief among the Jews (Luk 13:1-4). The rabbis taught all suffering was attributed to acts of sin either by the individual or by his parents.

Man’s suffering cannot be attributed to “bad luck”. Every event in every detail is attributable to the outworking of God’s will and plan (Eph 1:11; Mat 10:30; Isa 45:7; Lam 3:37-38). Nothing is outside his control. Thus, the concept of “accident” or “chance” is an unbiblical notion (Pro 16:33; 2Ch 18:33; 1Sa 6:9; Ecc 9:11).

Jesus himself implied that suffering can be the result of sin. He stated in Joh 5:14, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

All suffering is due to sin indirectly in the sense that this world was cursed through the transgression of Adam (Gen 3:17). 

Problem: If this man’s sin was what caused him to be born blind, how did he sin before he was even born? Were the disciples thinking that he had sinned while in the womb? Or did they think he had sinned in a pre-existent state before birth or in another body (reincarnation)?

The Jews believed that a baby can sin while in the womb. The Bible does not support this notion. It does, however, affirm that man’s inherited sin nature manifests itself powerfully from childhood (Gen 8:21; Isa 48:8; Psa 58:3).

The Jews in Jesus’ time did not believe in reincarnation.
Reincarnation is, of course, an unbiblical notion (Psa 49:14; Heb 9:27; Job 30:23; Ecc 3:20).

The Jewish rabbis did have speculations about the pre-existence of the soul. However, there is no evidence that they believed that a soul could sin in such a state.
Pre-existence of the soul is an unbiblical concept (Zec 12:1; 1Co 15:46; Ecc 12:7; 3:20; Psa 33:15; Num 16:22; Heb 12:9).

Problem: If his parents sinned, why did he have to pay for it? He had nothing to do with it. It seems totally unfair.

The rabbis taught that a parents’ sin can cause their children to be born with birth defects.

The idea that the parents' sins can affect their children finds support in the Old Testament (Exo 20:5). But this doesn’t mean that God punishes innocent children (Deu 24:16; Lev 26:40; Eze 18:1-4, 20). 

God punishes “the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exo 20:5). Insofar as the children of idolaters practice the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation and hate God, he would punish them for their participation in that sin. If these same children choose instead to love God and obey him, they would be shown his love: “but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exo 20:6).

God is always fair and just (Gen 18:25; Deu 32:4; Psa 11:7) and all his laws in the Bible are fair and just (Psa 19:7; 119:172). This is a basic element of our faith, an axiomatic, universal truth. We use it deductively, reasoning from this general truth to our specific circumstances, interpreting every circumstance we encounter according to this truth. That is why we give praise to God for seeming misfortune we encounter, even for those we don’t understand and cannot explain (Ro 8:28; 1Th 5:18; Ro 5:3-4).

How different was Jesus’ view from his disciples? (3)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:3  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

Jesus’ viewpoint is so bright in contrast with that of the disciples in verse 2.

According to Jesus’ view, sin was not the cause of the man’s blindness. Rather, Jesus viewed this man as a prepared vessel, a miracle waiting to happen. The whole of what happened to him was caused by divine providence—first blindness, as an act of providence, and then his healing, as an act of mercy and power. 

All that happened to this blind man was by the wise arrangement of God for the display of his glory.  It was a part of his great plan to apply his mercies to the woes of men. Thus, calamity, want, poverty, and sickness are often permitted so that God may show the provisions of his mercy, and so that he may teach us to prize his blessings.

2. Read verses 4-5.  

ANSWER:

Joh 9:4-5  As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.  5  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

What did Jesus say that we must do during the day and why? (4)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:4  As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

(See the underlined text above). 

The work that God had given him to do was the work of giving men faith, opening their sin-blinded eyes (Jn 6:29; 1:9). It was the work of giving men the light of salvation by giving them the words of life. It was the work of directing men to look up to the glory of himself on the cross as their Savior. 

The miracles in this gospel are signs which point to the spiritual reality of who Jesus is.

This work is his “food” (Jn 4:34).

Jesus used the word “we”: “we must do the work of him who sent me”. Jesus identifies himself with us in a common labor. We must do the work which God commissioned us to do, which is expressive of his goodness and power. We must join in his mission work of giving men saving faith (Mat 28:19-20).

Jesus gave the reason we “must” do this work: Night is coming. The opportunity to do his work is short. The word “must” expresses urgency (Jn 4:4; 10:16). 

Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath (14). He had endangered his life in John 5 by working a similar miracle on the Sabbath, yet he knew that he must heal the blind man while there was still time.

Here, what do ‘day’ and ‘night’ refer to?

ANSWER:

Joh 9:4  As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Ecc 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

The day is the proper time for work, but night is not. While the day lasts, it is proper to work. 

The term ‘day’ here refers to the life of Jesus and to the opportunities given to him for working. ‘Night’ here represents death. Night was coming; his life was drawing to a close. In less than six months, he was going to die on the cross. 

So the meaning is ‘While my life continues, I must spend it in doing the works God has appointed. We don’t have much time. Let’s work together while we still have the opportunity.’

What does it mean that he is the light of the world while he is in the world? (5, Jn 1:4)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:5  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Joh 1:4  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

After his departure, Jesus was not going to cease to be the light, nor would there cease to be light in this world. He established his church as his body through which he continues to shine (Jn 15:27; Mat 5:14).

Yet Jesus’ incarnation was the clearest, brightest revelation of who God is to mankind. God became flesh. By his words and actions in the tent of his body, God revealed himself (Jn 5:19-20). In this sense, Jesus was the light of the world while physically present in this world.

When the sun sinks to the west, all becomes dark. Likewise, when Jesus withdraws from the souls of men all is midnight and gloom. 

3. Read verses 6-7.  

ANSWER:

Joh 9:6-7  Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.  7  "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

What did Jesus do to heal this man? (6)  

ANSWER:

Joh 9:6  Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.

(See the underlined text above). 

Why do you think he did it this way?

ANSWER:

By using this procedure, he was breaking the Sabbath law according to Jewish tradition (14-16). Jesus came to open the eyes of everyone to the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders (39). By breaking their law in doing the miracle, their identity as blind devils/wolves would be made obvious.

Jesus was showing how we ought to work while we have the day (4). We can use whatever resources we have on hand in our given situation to do his work.

Jesus heals each person uniquely and personally.

How did this man obey Jesus’ command and what happened? (7) 

ANSWER:

Joh 9:7  "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

(See the underlined text above).

This is the sixth of seven miraculous signs in this gospel (Jn 2:11, 4:54, 5:9, 6:14, 6:19, 9:7, and 11:44).

To obey Jesus, what challenges did he have to overcome?

ANSWER:

The Pool of Siloam was in the southeast corner of the city. As a blind man, finding his way to the pool was challenging. Groping through the crowded streets with mud in his eyes was also somewhat humiliating. It is probable that Jesus directed the man to go there to test his obedience, and to see whether he was disposed to trust and obey him in a case where he could not see the reason of it. 

Jesus did not reveal himself as the Messiah to this man until later in verse 38, but nevertheless he trusted and obeyed Jesus’ word. On hearing Jesus’ word, he raised no objection, requested no sign of assurance, and asked no questions but simply accepted it and left. He obeyed Christ blindly. That was a remarkable demonstration of faith in his word. It was by trusting and obeying Jesus’ word that his physical eyes were opened and it was by holding to his words that his spiritual eyes would later be opened to Jesus’ identity (Jn 8:31-32, 12; 4:50).

We should obey the commands of God, even if they don’t seem to make sense (Jn 2:5; 4:50; 13:7; 11:40; 21:6). Then we will know the Truth and his kingdom of light will enter us (Jn 8:32). God has always a reason for all that he directs us to do, and our faith and willingness to obey him are often tried when we can see little reason for his requirements.

Siloam means “Sent”. Hezekiah had built an aqueduct, a tunnel running water from the spring up on the hill where the temple was right down into the pool. From the temple hill the water was sent and this was the sent water. The temple hill was a place where God was represented. So Siloam represented that which was sent from God; it represented his blessings. Jesus is the one true Siloam, the true Savior who was sent from God. If anyone wants to see in his soul, he must go to the true Siloam, Jesus who was sent from God. 

4. Read verses 8-12.

ANSWER:

Joh 9:8-12  His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?"  9  Some claimed that he was.  Others said, "No, he only looks like him."  But he himself insisted, "I am the man."  10  "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.  11  He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."  12  "Where is this man?" they asked him.  "I don't know," he said.

What was his neighbors’ response at seeing him? (8-9)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:8-9  His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?"  9  Some claimed that he was.  Others said, "No, he only looks like him."  But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

These neighbors probably knew him from his childhood. They are the people who saw him begging and who perhaps had given him money in the past. If anyone should be able to recognize this man, it was these people.

Yet they had great difficulty to believe this miracle. 

First, it was too incredible and simply unbelievable that a man born blind could ever see: “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind” (32).

Second, his new ability to see had a tremendous impact on his behavior, making him seem totally different. They said, “No, he only looks like him” (9). They were confused because he had the physical appearance of the blind man they once knew but behaved like a different person. The body looked the same but the man inside seemed totally different. When we receive inward illuminated from Jesus, people have difficulty recognizing us because we behave like a totally different person (1Sa 10:6, 11; 2Co 5:17).

The unsaved are always skeptical of the miracle God does in his child.

Why was this event so important to the Jews? (Isa 29:18, 35:5, 42:7)  

ANSWER:

Isa 29:18  In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

Isa 35:5  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Isa 42:7  to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Because this was prophesied as the distinctive miracle that the Messiah would perform.

What did he say about himself? (9)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:9  Some claimed that he was.  Others said, "No, he only looks like him."  But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

I am the man. 

Describe the way he testified how his eyes opened? (11-12)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:11-12  He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."  12  "Where is this man?" they asked him.  "I don't know," he said.

(See the underlined text above).

He said concisely what had happened. He remembered Jesus and his grace and testified boldly about it.

He didn’t know who Jesus was yet. To him, Jesus was just a “man”. He said, “The man they call Jesus”. But his spiritual eyes will gradually open as the narrative progresses. Finally, he will worship Jesus (38).

What did he not know? (12)

ANSWER:

Joh 9:12  "Where is this man?" they asked him.  "I don't know," he said.

He didn’t know where Jesus was. 

He didn’t know yet that he is living in a world that is unfriendly toward him and Jesus his healer (Jn 15:18-19).

 “People commonly assumed that disease and disorders on both the personal and national level were due to sin, as summarized in the rabbinic saying from around A.D. 300 that "there is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity" (b. shabbat 55a).” (InterVarsity Press, IVP New Testament Commentaries, Exposition on John 9:1-41)

 “...the rabbis debated whether fetuses could sin, some arguing they could (for example, Genesis Rabbah 63:6) and others that they could not (Genesis Rabbah 34:10).” (InterVarsity Press, IVP New Testament Commentaries, Exposition on John 9:1-41) “The idea of the possible sinfulness of the child while in the womb of its mother a theory based upon the supposed moral activity of Jacob and Esau in the womb of Rebecca ("Bemidbar Rab.," fol. 230. 2)” (Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary, Exposition on John 9:2) Lightfoot states, “It was a conceit amongst the Jews, that the infant, when formed and quickened in the womb, might behave itself irregularly, and do something that might not be altogether without fault....an infant may unreasonably and irregularly kick and punch in the womb of its mother beyond the rate of ordinary infants.  The infants in the womb of Rebecca may be for an instance;  where the Jews indeed absolve Jacob from fault, though he took Esau by the heel;  but will hardly absolve Esau for rising up against his brother Jacob. "Antoninus asked R. Judah,  'At what time evil affections began to prevail in the man?  Whether in the first forming of the foetus in the womb,  or at the time of its coming forth?'  The Rabbi saith unto him,  'From the time of its first coming.'  'Then,'  saith Antoninus,  'it will kick in the mother's womb and rush out.'  The Rabbi saith, 'This I learned of Antoninus;  and the scripture seems to back it when it saith, Sin lieth at the door.'" It appears from this dispute, whether true or feigned,  that the ancient opinion of the Jews was,  that the infant, from its first quickening,  had some stain of sin upon it....Nay, they went a little further, not only that the infant might have some stain of sin in the womb, but that it might,  in some measure, actually sin, and do that which might render it criminal.” (John Lightfoot, Commentary of the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica, on John 9:2).

 Some scholars mistakenly infer from the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus that the Jews did believe in reincarnation. But this is false. “It cannot be proved that the doctrine of metempsychosis [reincarnation] was ever held by the Jews. The language in which Josephus refers to the views of the Pharisees is ambiguous (cf. "Bell. Jud:," 2:8:14; "Ant.," 18:1. 3). The view held by them was simply that "the immortal souls of the good (only) pass into another body," are raised into a new life; "but that the souls of the sinful ... are afflicted with eternal punishment." This differs profoundly from the Oriental, or Pythagorean, or Platonic doctrine of transmigration.” (Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary, Exposition on John 9:2) N. T. Wright states, “When, however, Josephus is describing the official positions of the ‘schools’ or ‘philosophies’, he does his best to make them correspond to the three major schools of greco-roman thought, the Stoic, the Epicurean and the Pythagorean.  He aligns the Epicureans with the Sadducees, and the Pythagoreans with the Essenes, which means that he wants to be able, for his apologetic reasons, to describe the Pharisaic belief in terms similar to the Stoics. Thus he declares that the Pharisees attribute everything to Fate and to the deity, while humans have the task of co-operating with Fate. When it comes to the soul and the future life, "[the Pharisees] hold that every soul is immortal, but that only the souls of the virtuous pass on into another body, while those of the wicked are punished with an everlasting vengeance.” Meanwhile the Sadducees, he says, want nothing to do with any of these ideas.  This again could conceivably mean transmigration or reincarnation, as some indeed have suggested.  But in the context of the earlier passages we are safe in concluding that Josephus is referring to the doctrine of bodily resurrection, even though using language which by itself would be capable of connoting other views -- understandable enough when seeking to communicate with non-Jews, whose age-old disbelief in resurrection Josephus would know well enough. It was not part of his purpose, at this point at least, to make the leading Jewish sect look ridiculous to his readers. This tendency, to make the Pharisees appear like a hellenistic philosophical school, is visible again in the equivalent passage in the Antiquities…" (Nicholas Thomas Wright, The resurrection of the Son of God, Pg 177-178)” The Book of “Wisdom”, a book found in the Greek Bibles in Jesus’ day (the LXX) but not esteemed as canonical and authoritative by the Jews, contained a reference to reincarnation. Wisdom 8:19-20 reads, “For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.” Some incorrectly infer that Luk 9:19 points to a general belief in reincarnation among the Jews.

 Regarding the issues in John 9:2, Lightfoot states, “There is a solution attempted by some from the soul's preexistency;  which,  they would pretend,  the Jews had some smatch of,  from what they say about those souls which are in Goph;  or Guph... "There is a repository (saith R. Solomon),  the name of which is Goph;  and from the creation,  all the souls that ever were to be born were formed together and there placed."... Grant now that what I have quoted might be sufficient confirmation that the Jews did entertain the opinion of the soul's preexistence, yet what concern the preexistence of souls hath with this place, I confess I have not so quick an apprehension as any way to imagine.” (John Lightfoot, Commentary of the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica, on John 9:2).

 Lightfoot states, “It was a received doctrine in the Jewish schools, that children, according to some wickedness of their parents, were born lame, or crooked, or maimed and defective in some of their parts, etc.;  by which they kept parents in awe, lest they should grow remiss and negligent in the performance of some rites which had respect to their being clean, such as washings and purifyings, etc. ”

 Morris states, “There are several technical breaches of the sabbath here. The making of clay represents a breach of the prohibition of kneading (one of the thirty-nine classes of work forbidden in the Mishnah, Shab. 7:2), probably also of mixing (Shab. 24:3). The placing of it on the eyes would come under the class of prohibited anointings (Shab. 14:4), for one may anoint on the sabbath only with what one employs for this purpose on other days.... Barrett cites a specific prohibition of the application of fasting spittle to the eyes on the sabbath” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, Pg 480).