He Knows My Darkness
Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41
Meditation
Ever since his ministry began, Jesus has been invading the dark places.
When Nicodemus came to him in the middle of the night, Jesus struck a match of love to guide him on his way. As Jesus sat by the well in Sychar, he kindled acceptance around a five time divorced Samaritan woman who was hiding in her shame. When asked to pass judgment on a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, he stoked the fires of forgiveness.
Wherever he went, Jesus blazed like the sun.
His love brought warmth, his words illumination.
“I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”1
One day, as Jesus left the temple grounds, he saw a beggar sitting by the side of the road, a man blind from birth. All the beggar knows, and has ever known, is darkness.
No sunrises or sunsets.
No color, except the ink black of his days and nights.
No faces or expressions, only voices.
Though his eyes are sealed shut, his ears are always open. When he’s near the temple grounds, he overhears people talking with the rabbis about his plight. They wonder why he was born blind.
The rabbis explain the man’s darkness by quoting the words of the Law.
“Still, he (God) doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”2
It’s a tidy explanation for a messy situation.
For the religious authorities, the man’s blindness is both theological and logical. After all, infirmities like this just don’t randomly happen. There has to be a cause for every effect.
Somewhere in the man’s past, there had to be wrongdoing. His blindness had to be the righteous and just result of a sin; the sin produced a curse and the curse was passed down from generation to generation.
The rabbis are fond of quoting,
“There is no death without sin,
and there is no suffering without iniquity.”
As the disciples pass by the blind man, they ask Jesus some of the same questions. They want to know the root cause of the blind man’s condition. They don’t ask out of compassion but out of curiosity.
They see the man more as a theological riddle to be solved than someone who is riddled with pain. They want to know it all: who’s to blame, why it happened, where it went wrong, all so that they can make sure it doesn’t happen to them.
The disciples’ minds are clouded. They’re asking the wrong questions. Like the first rays of the sun cutting through the stormy darkness, Jesus shines a divine light on the man’s life.
“You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”3
The disciples want to know who’s to blame but Jesus wants to show them what God can do.
According to Jesus …
The man’s darkness isn’t a punishment.
It’s not a generational curse.
It’s an opportunity for the Messiah to do his illuminating work.
Going over to the man, Jesus spits in the dust and makes a clay paste with the saliva. He puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go the Pool of Siloam and wash. Immediately, the man stumbles his way to the pool, washes the mud from his eyes, and for the first time, sees.
Light. Colors. People. Places.
The miracle is so amazing that, when his neighbors see him running through the streets, they rub their eyes in disbelief. Some say that he’s the blind man who used to sit and beg. Others say that it couldn’t possibly be him. It must be his twin.
After further investigation, they all realize that it isn’t a case of mistaken identity; he is the man who was born blind. Stunned, they march the man to the Pharisees to get an explanation.
Because the healing had occurred on the Sabbath, the Pharisees grill the man. After hearing his story about Jesus, they’re split in their opinion.
Some hold to the Sabbath law and deny the validity of the miracle and the miracle worker. Others embrace the miracle and trace its origin back to the Messiah.
After all, the prophet Isaiah did say,
“At that time the deaf will hear word-for-word what’s been written.
After a lifetime in the dark, the blind will see.”4
Embedded in the middle of the controversy is the man born blind.
The religious authorities tell him to give credit where credit is due. They reason that Jesus couldn’t possibly be the Messiah because he broke the Sabbath. Whoever breaks the Sabbath, they believe, is a sinner; furthermore, everyone knows that God doesn’t listen to sinners. So this Jesus has to be an impostor.
To which the man simply replies,
“I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.”5
Though the Messiah is blazing in their presence, the only one who can see the Light of the World is the one who had been in the dark.
Unwilling to validate the work of the miracle worker, the Pharisees degrade the man in front of his friends, excommunicate him from the family of the synagogue, ostracize him from society, and throw him back out into the darkness of the streets.
When Jesus hears that the religious authorities have thrown the man out of the synagogue, he goes on a search for the man.
Finding him he asks,
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man said, “Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You’re looking right at him. Don’t you recognize my voice?”
“Master, I believe,” the man said, and worshiped him.6
As soon as the man matches the loving tone of his healer’s voice to the tender look on Jesus’ face, he falls at his feet and worships him.
The Light of the World does his best work in the darkest places.
Reflection
What dark places are there in your life?
How do you view the dark places in your life? Do you see them as punishments from God or opportunities for him to do his best work?
How has the Light of the World done his best work in your darkness?
What’s your testimony? In what ways were you once blind but now you can see?
Prayer
Father,
There are many dark places in my life. Like the blind man who sat by the side of the road, I wonder if the darkness is a direct result of my sin or simply the ever-present reality of living in a broken and depraved world. Whatever the cause, remind me that your Son is the Light of the World. Assure me that he sees my darkness, not as a disqualification for grace, but as an opportunity to do his best work.
During this day, send your Light. Illuminate me. Enlighten me. Warm me. Open my eyes to see the face of Christ. When I can’t see the face of Christ, help me listen for the cadence, pitch, and tender tone of his voice. When the darkness lifts and people see me running through the streets, and wonder what has happened to me, help me tell my salvation story—“I once was blind … now I see.”
It’s in Jesus’ name that I pray. Amen
1John 8:12 2Exodus 34:7 3John 9:3-5 4Isaiah 29:18 5John 9:25 6John 9:35-38
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day. Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted. All Scripture quoted in this post is taken from THE MESSAGE: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001 & 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.