Two responses to the Light of the world
John 9:13-41
In John 1:4-5 John writes that there will be conflict between darkness and light, between those who are spiritually dead and the revelation of the light of the world. In John 8, Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of the world” and then in John 9, illustrates this thought by healing a man born blind.
In our text we notice two different responses to Jesus as the light of the world. There is opposition by the Pharisees, who thought of themselves as being enlightened, to pressure the man who was born blind into denying his certainty that he had received light (sight). Then in verses 35-38 we see reception to the light of world by the man that was healed. Notice the progression of this man as he comes to a saving faith if Christ. In verse 11 he thought of Jesus as “the man”, and then in verse 17 “as a prophet” and then in verses 35-38 he comes to recognize Jesus as the “son of man’ and worships him as Lord.
John 6:37,44 “all that the Father gives me will come to me and whosoever comes to me I will never cast out … no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Thru this healing God is drawing people to the light of the world, Jesus. The Pharisee rejects him while the blind accepts him as Lord. John 3:19-21 reveals to us basis for the two types of responses to Jesus as the light of the world.
In John 9:39-41 we see the judgment of the light. If you are without Christ you are lost, you are in darkness. The Lord puts each man through a series of steps to draw them to himself. The person who sits in church and hears the preaching of the gospel is in the presence of the Light. That light reveals your blindness. If you know the facts about Jesus but will not believe then you are spiritually blind and there is nothing else to offer you. If you have been in the presence of Jesus and have rejected him as Savior there is no other Savior to offer you.
Which group are you in?