John 1:1-18
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 8:12
Jesus is the Light
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Mark 8:22-26
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying,“Don’t even go into the village.”
John 9:1-11
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1 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 works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works 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.”
6 After saying 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.
8 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 asked.
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.”
My wife and I go to the movies regularly...As we have gotten older I have noticed as we come out of the movie theater, my eyes need some time to adjust to the light...I can no longer take in the lights and the bright sun after being in a darkened theater for a couple of hours...I need some gradual exposure to the light, before I can take it all in...Then after my eyes gradually adjust over a period of time to all the light, I see much better...
In an Emily Dickinson poem, Tell All the Truth, But Tell it Slant, she said basically that it is hard to take in the whole Truth of things, all at once...Dickinson said that, "The truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind."...
In the Gospel According to John, we are told that Jesus came to us and dwelt with us...No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father...And God, His Father has made His Son known to us...Jesus has been with God from the beginning...So Jesus has seen God and He does not need this gradual time to see the whole and complete Truth...God sent His Son to us, to live among us and to teach us, and to show us what He (the Father) is like...Jesus, the Son, is the Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...He is the Light...The Light that is full of grace and Truth...And we know that Jesus was originally born in Bethlehem and grew up in the regions of Galilee and Nazareth and came to us later as a Traveling Teacher and Rabbi...Although we did not know much about Him when He was young, He grew up and we got to know Him over a time period...Especially, His three year ministry...
Jesus called Himself the Light...If the Light came at us and upon us all at once, could we scarce take it in?...If the Truth walked up to us and He completely overwhelmed us with His Grace and Truth, what would we do?...I think this is something like what happened to the blind man that Jesus headed at Bethsaida...Jesus first uses His own spit to heal the man's eyes...After Jesus heals the blind man's eyes and then He asks Him, “Do you see anything?”...The blind man looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”...Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes...Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly... Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”...
In another healing of a blind man, Jesus heals one who was blind at birth...After his healing and as this healed blind man looked around what was he seeing...How would he know what grass looked like, a fig tree, an olive tree, a glass of water, a glass of wine, all these things would be overwhelming...I suspect, he would gradually learn about all the new objects and things he was now seeing...This must have been so interesting, seeing all these new and unseen things...Things with different shapes, different colors, and different sizes...
It seems as though the first blind man was not ready to see after Jesus first wet his eyes...The man at first could not see well...The next thing we know, is that men and women are looking like trees...The healing blind man's sight seems to be improving...And finally the blind man seems to see everything in its proper context...Jesus had healed the blind man gradually...It was a longer process than many of His other miracles...The blind man had gradually been touched by the Truth...The second blind man must have been completely overwhelmed by having seeing everything at once, trees, people, houses, villages, roads, everything...And surely theses two blind men must have been in wonderment and have been dazzled...Jesus had helped them, healed them, and understood, they would be adjusting to their new found sights...
And in the scheme of things, these miracles happened quickly...These two blind men did not get a gradual healing, as we think about it...Everything was upon their eyes now...They would be learning about these new things, or the things they had never seen...No doubt they would not know everything they would be seeing for the first time...So much both to learn and see...And they must have wondered how did this Man, bring them out of the darkness, and into the Light...The Truth and the Light had physically touched them...They could see the Light and the Truth now...I suspect they would reflect on this healing and this Man, for the rest of their lives...
There is controversy around this Man...There is not this world consensus on who He is...Truth often is not easy to hear...And sometimes truth is not what we want to hear...His short three years of ministry seem to have almost blinded many in a sense, about who He is and who He might be...But He is a Man who is all about Truth...He is Truth...He is our basis for Truth...This Man's miracles and the things He said are still being reflected upon and studied two thousand years later...