[CarrOut]

John chapters 9 and 10 are replete with teaching on light.

At the beginning of chapter 9, Jesus heals a blind man, bringing light into his eyes for the first time. This is in fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah 35:4b-5a: "God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened."

• The disciples had a hard time seeing it, asking, "who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "I am the light of the world."
• The neighbors had a hard time seeing it. In John 9:9 "Some said, It is he; others said, No, but he is like him" as they argued over whether the man who was seeing was the same man who had been blind.
• The Pharisees had a hard time seeing it because the man was healed on the sabbath and they considered healing to be work which should not be done on the sabbath.
• His parents pretended to have a hard time seeing it because they didn't want to be in trouble for disagreeing with the Pharisees.

Finally, when the man was questioned a second time by the Pharisees, he points out "this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes" (John 9:30). In other words, it was such a clear fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that anyone who knew the scriptures, especially the Pharisees, should have known from this miracle that Jesus is God. The Pharisees still didn't get it and threw the man out of the synagogue.

After the blind man was cast out of the synagogue for knowing that Jesus is God, Jesus lovingly sought him out and comforted him with the words "I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." The Pharisees then challenged Jesus "Are we also blind?" and Jesus pointed out at the end of chapter 9 that their guilt was tied to the fact that they claimed to see when the clearly did not. Jesus is a light to see for those who were blind, but a blinding light to those who are stubborn.

In chapter 10 Jesus gives the beautiful teaching about the sheep knowing his voice and following him. The blind man is an example of this. The fact that his eyes were opened told him that Jesus was God, so he followed Jesus. This is followed by another illustration of the sheepfold--that Jesus is not only the shepherd, but also the door. Then he reemphasized that he is the shepherd, explaining that he would lay down his life for the sheep. This reopened the argument among those who were listening and again (John 10:21) it came down to whether they put any significance on the eyes of the blind being opened. Interestingly, we learn from John 10:22 that this all happened at the time of Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights. In fulfillment of Isaiah's prophesy, Jesus

1. gave light to a blind man
2. at the Feast of Lights
3. and then declared "I am the light of the world"

but still "the Jews gathered round him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us" (John 10:24).

Father save us from such blindness. Give us sight to see how much our good shepherd loves us, laying down his life for us, blind as we are.