In my Good news Translation of the Bible there are 317 references to “light.” In John 3.12 Jesus refers to himself as “the light of the world,” a powerful metaphor indicating that he will illuminate those who follow him.
When God created the world, He commanded “Let there be light” (Genesis 1.3) and was pleased with what he saw. God named the light “day,” and we got our first indication of “daylight” with the sun and the moon as the source.
He also made the stars, which we see in “darkness,” the absence of the clear light of the day. When the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt, he provided a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to show them the way they should go.
Moses wanted to see the “dazzling light” of the Lord’s presence, his glory (Exodus 33.22), but he needed to be shielded from it. When we translated “glory” into the Kewa language, it included their word for light as well. But perhaps the most dazzling example of light is in lightning. Its power and extreme light are incredible, and they cannot be contained by humans.
When someone is totally blind, they cannot see light. However, Jesus, who is “the light of the world” (John 8.12) has offered his light, his presence, and his illumination, to everyone so that they would not remain in spiritual darkness.
Many years ago (the date is uncertain and controversial), C.S. Lewis wrote a short, four-page story called either “Light” or “The man who was born blind,” depending on the version you accept. Walter Hooper included the latter title in his edited book of some of Lewis’s unpublished stories in “The Dark Tower and Other Stories” (1977). The mystery and intrigue surrounding the story is studied in detail by Charlie Starr in his book “Light: C.S. Lewis’s First and Final Short Story,” (Winged Lion Press, 2012) with an introduction by none other than Walter Hooper.
The story about the man who was born blind is not one for bedtime reading for your children and (spoiler here) ends in tragedy.
Physical blindness is not uncommon, and we read that Jesus healed several men of the malady. In Matthew 9.27 he heals two blind men who are informed that he is near and follow Jesus inside a house and he tests their faith asking if they believe he can heal them. They do, and he does. People bring a blind and mute man to Jesus (Matthew 12.22), a man with a demon, and Jesus heals him so that he could talk and see. And “The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 15.31)
People, including the disciples, thought that the cause of blindness was sin, or the sin of the parents. Jesus said, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him.” (John 9.3)
Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath, so the Pharisees had to investigate the matter because they did not believe the man had been actually born blind. They harassed the man and his parents but “When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9.34) He informed the people that he had come into the world to enable the blind to see and that “those who see should become blind [spiritually].” (John 9.39)
Jesus can and has healed both the physically blind and the spiritually blind. He needs to because “God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them.” (John 12.40) Spiritual blindness, he said, is worse than physical blindness. (John 9.41)
Now that I am old, I cannot see 20/20, like I once did. Glasses help, but they do not cure. In the same way, we cannot see clearly spiritually unless Jesus provides the lenses and, here on earth, we see things “like a dim image in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13.12), but we are assured that we shall see things in heaven “face-to-face.”
We can help people understand God’s message, but only the Holy Spirit can enlighten a person. “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.” (John 14.26)
As many have observed, life is a journey, and we need to stay on the right path as we travel it. God in his kindness and mercy has provided us His light so that we do not have to stumble along “as blind as a bat.”
Karl Franklin
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