John 9:1-7:
"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing."
This is an important passage to me for multiple reasons. First off, the disciples of Christ naturally think that misfortune is a result of sin. They think this man's blindness is God's method of justice. Jesus replies by saying that his worldly suffering is not a result of his or his parent's actions.
Yet this is how so many Christians today think. We blame God for circumstances that go wrong in our life. How can God be loving if he let this person die? How can God be good if he doesn't protect his people? But Jesus answers by presenting this idea that "shit happens". There is no one to point the blame to, it is merely an effect of the broken world.
But luckily, Jesus doesn't stop there. He transforms. He acknowledges the brokenness of this imperfect world, but gives its brokenness purpose in a plan of redemption. The point of this story isn't that God will fix everything in your life that you want fixed, but rather it was a miracle to illustrate the purpose of Jesus, and his followers.
Jesus is the light of this world. And the most amazing part of this story, in my opinion, is the use of the word "we". "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day". And since God sent Jesus, "we" is roping us in with God's work. Whoa mamma! That is pretty awesome to think about. Corrupted people, like me, can do the work of God.
The last part is a repeated theme in John. "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." That is us, too. We are the church, the body of Christ. Our job is to be the light of the world. And what does a light do? It sets up a path. Not a path of strictly doctrine. We are not called solely to share the gospel with people and give them step by step instructions to get to heaven. Not that sharing the gospel is bad, I am actually pro bible (despite my criticism of biblical inerrancy). But Jesus doesn't say "I shine the light of this world." He says "I AM the light of this world." And that's our job! Live the life of Christ. Be the Way, don't just preach the way or merely believe the way works.
That is how we see the light of God in this dark world. We need to be the light. It's then that we can be the healing power that this world so desperately needs.
