Tawa Baptist

Eyes

Scriptures:   Psalm 139:1-16, Psalm 33:13-19, 2 Chronicles 16:9,

Matthew 5:27-29 & 38-41, Matthew 6:19-23, John 9.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/sNXqQRibsoQ

Audio Link: Stream Sermon – 19 Jul 2026 – Eyes by tawabaptist | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The eyes of God
  • The eyes of the body
  • The eyes of faith
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

The human eye is a remarkable thing. Apparently, your eye can see something like 10 million different shades of colour. It can detect the flame of a candle over 2½ kms away and take in around 36,000 bits of information every hour.

I’m not sure how scientists work this sort of thing out, but any way you look at it, the human eye is amazing. Your eyes provide your brain with the data you need to make decisions. They guide you and protect you. They help you in a myriad of ways, without you even being aware it most of the time.   

Today we begin a new sermon series on body parts. The Bible is full of hands, feet, hearts, lips, heads, bones, ears, and other body parts. This morning’s message focuses on the eye. Eyes are mentioned somewhere north of 500 times in the Bible. So make yourself comfortable, we have a lot to get through today. Just kidding.

Our message this morning takes a closer look at just three types of eyes:

the eyes of God, the eyes of the body and the eyes of faith. We begin with the eyes of God. The eyes of God see the inner workings of the human heart.  

The eyes of God:

According to the internet, there are in excess of 15,000 active satellites orbiting the earth with operational payloads. Most of these (over 11,000) are owned by the US.

These satellites are used for communication, navigation and observation.

They are like 15,000 eyes in the sky. However, they do have their limitations.

Satellites are expensive to launch, difficult to fix and not always reliable.

They are subject to limited band width (which restricts how much data can be transmitted at once) and they are vulnerable to bad weather. A satellite cannot see through dense cloud, much less read your mind or rescue you.

The eyes of God though, are not affected by the weather, they never fail and they penetrate deeper than the surface of things. In Psalm 139 we read how God has x-ray vision. The psalmist writes…

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar… 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…16 Your eyes saw my unformed body

God is our maker and he sees further and deeper than we can.

In Psalm 33 we read…

13 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all humankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

The eyes of God see everything and everyone, better than any satellite. More than just seeing what people do, the Lord sees into the human heart and mind. He considers our actions. From verse 18 the Psalmist continues…

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

The Lord God does not just watch from a distance, like a satellite, detached unfeeling, impotent. No. The eyes of the Lord are looking out for those whose hearts trust in him, in order to save them.

Did you know, the pupil of the eye expands as much as 45% when we look at someone we love. Scientists reckon this response is triggered by the anticipation of reward or pleasure. They say dopamine and oxytocin flood our brain and dilate our pupils.

That may be true on a chemical level but there is more to love than hormones. True love lasts long after the dopamine and oxytocin have worn off. Love is an enduring commitment to the wellbeing of another.

In Second Chronicles 16 we read: 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

In other words, God is on the lookout for people who love him in a committed way, when the dopamine and oxytocin have worn off. God’s eyes see deep into the human heart; our motivation, our fear, our hope, our trust, our loyalty.

The eyes of the Lord are looking to strengthen those who love him.

Jesus had his Father’s eyes; eyes which can see the inner workings of the human heart and mind. Eyes which look on people with love.

The eyes of the body:

What then did Jesus have to say about eyes? Well, Jesus’ teaching was more focused on the human eye. The eyes of our body serve an important function; they guide us.   

Let me tell you a story dating from eleventh century England. At that time there lived a nobleman named Leofric. Leofric was Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry. His wife was known as Lady Godiva.

According to legend, Leofric levied a burdensome tax upon the people of Coventry. Lady Godiva looked upon these people as her friends. She acted as a mediator on their behalf. Feeling compassion for the people, Lady Godiva asked her husband to reduce the tax, but he refused.

Not one to be easily dissuaded, Lady Godiva pestered her husband until finally, to get some peace, he said: “The day you ride naked at noon through the streets of Coventry will be the day I reduce the taxes.”

Leofric thought this would be the end of the matter. He could not imagine his wife doing such a thing. But Lord Leofric should have known better than to test his wife’s resolve.

Lady Godiva passed word to her friends all through the city, asking that on a certain day at noon everyone remain in their houses with their shutters closed. Out of love and respect the people did as she asked.

At the appointed time, Lady Godiva mounted a snow-white horse and rode naked through the city and back again. To his credit, Lord Leofric, honoured his word and promptly reduced the tax.

In Matthew 6, Jesus had this to say about our eyes…

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Jesus is speaking figuratively here. This is symbolism, not science. The purpose of a lamp is to shine light so you can see where you are going. A lamp guides you in the dark. Likewise, the purpose of your eyes is to guide your body, to help you see where to go, so you don’t bump into things or fall into a ditch.

If your eyes are healthy, if you can see clearly, then your body will be protected (inside and out); you won’t kick your foot against a piece of furniture or walk off the edge of a cliff. You will have the information you need to make good choices and take care of yourself.

But if your eyes are not healthy, if you cannot see clearly, then you will inevitably put the rest of your body (and soul) in danger.

Lady Godiva had healthy eyes. Her perception of others was sound and generous. She could see her neighbours in need and she cared about them. She could also see her husband’s tax policy was unfair. It was crippling people. Lord Leofric’s eyes were unhealthy. He saw the common people as cash cows to be milked, not as people to be cared for.    

In the same breath as talking about the eyes being the lamp of the body, Jesus warns against hoarding riches. From verse 19 the Lord says…  

19 “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.

Jesus is warning against the dangers of greed and accumulating excess material wealth. Pursuing worldly riches can make us blind to the well-being of others. It can cloud our perception and darken our inner life.

If your eyes are healthy, like Lady Godiva, then your perception, your way of looking at others will be generous, warm and open hearted. Your inner life will be full of light; meaning you will have a right perspective and be happier. More than this, you will store up riches for yourself in heaven.

But if your eyes are unhealthy, like Lord Leofric, then you will look at others with a meanness of spirit and your inner life will be filled with darkness. You will lose perspective and become cynical, cold and suspicious.

Given the importance of our eyes in guiding us, it logically follows we need to take care of our eyes and be careful what we look at.  

There’s a dark addendum to the legend of Lady Godiva. A tailor named Tom sneaked a peek at the naked Lady, through a gap in his shutters, and later made the mistake of bragging about it. He lost his eyesight. Some said his blindness was divine judgement. Others said it was caused by local citizens with red-hot pokers.

The infamous Tom is still remembered today. His name is often used to describe any peeping Tom who spies on another person, especially a man who sneaks a lustful look at a woman when she doesn’t want to be seen. [1]  

Our eyes guide our body. If we are not careful, they will guide us into trouble.

In Matthew 5, verses 27-29, Jesus talks about taking care of our eyes and what we look at. The Lord says…

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into Gehenna…” 

Adultery doesn’t start with jumping into bed with someone. It starts with the eyes and the way we look at people. If we look at a person with a view to how they might satisfy our appetite, or how we might use them, our body and mind will be guided into dark places.

Gehenna was the name of the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem, always smouldering, where the worm never dies. It has become a metaphor for hell. Verse 29, where it talks about gouging out your right eye, is not to be taken literally. Jesus is speaking figuratively; he is using words to paint a picture.

The point is to rid your life of anything that would lead you astray. Don’t be a peeping Tom. Don’t put yourself in a position where you may see things with your eye that tempt you in the wrong direction. You don’t want your eyes to guide your body into Gehenna.

Are there things in your life that you need to be rid of? Things that distract you or syphon off your best energy? Things you need to cut out. Don’t let those things become habits. Whether they have become a habit or not, ask God (your spiritual surgeon) to remove them.   

There is a saying which comes from the Old Testament law of Moses:

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

You can interpret this verse one of two ways. If your eye (or your perception) is bad, then you might think you are commanded to take revenge when you are wronged. Tit for tat. This interpretation is false.   

The good eye, the healthy eye, looks at others with generosity and interprets God’s law in a positive way. Moses was not commanding revenge; he was trying to limit revenge. The intention is to prevent people going overboard when avenging wrong.

As Ghandi pointed out, ‘An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind’. Ghandi got his inspiration from Jesus on this point.

This is how the good eye of Jesus interpreted the law of Moses…   

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

This is difficult to do. Jesus did it, but it doesn’t come naturally to us. Everything in us wants to get even when we are wronged.

Resisting the temptation to take revenge requires us to look at the situation with the eyes of faith, trusting that God (who sees all) will make things right in the end.

The eyes of faith:

What then do we mean when we talk about the eyes of faith? Well, faith is how we see spiritual reality. Just as our physical eyes enable us to see the material world, so too our faith enables us to see God at work in the world.

The eyes of faith are like a guide dog. We cannot see the spiritual realm.

God is invisible to us and his ways are a mystery. But faith in Jesus guides us through this world to the next, sort of like a guide dog guides a blind person.

As Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians: We walk by faith not by sight.   

There are a number of gospel stories of Jesus healing people who were physically blind. Often though, these blind men possessed the eyes of faith to see who Jesus really is, when others couldn’t. They had spiritual insight.

One such story is found in John chapter 9…

As he went along, Jesus 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. 

Interesting. When the disciples see this blind man, the first thing they think of is sin and who to blame. They operate from, what we today might call, a deficit model. They can only see what is wrong, not what is right. Jesus sees this man using a strengths-based approach; as someone capable of glorifying God.

Jesus heals the man by making some mud with his saliva and putting the mud on the man’s eyes. We are reminded of God, at creation, forming Adam’s body from mud. Jesus is creating eyesight for this man.

The blind man obeys Jesus. No questions. This is faith. Trust with obedience.

Now you would think most people would celebrate with the man, but no one seems to do this. Not even his parents. When the Pharisees investigate, they want to know who healed the man, because this happened on the Sabbath and, by their (bad eye) interpretation of the law, healing people was work and therefore not allowed on a Saturday.

The Pharisees are divided. Some think Jesus is a sinner (because he healed on the Sabbath) and others are not so sure, saying: “How can a sinner perform such signs”. They cannot decide whether Jesus is from God or not. So they question the man again and he applies the Pharisees’ own logic to the situation, saying…

“Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The man whom Jesus healed cannot get over the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness. It seems obvious to him that Jesus is from God. How can they not see it?

The Pharisees don’t want to look at the evidence; much less be hoisted on their own petard. In their anger they throw the (formerly) blindman out of the synagogue, unjustly.

Afterwards, Jesus caught up with the man who was expelled and revealed himself as the Son of Man. The Son of Man has a range of meanings in the Bible but, in this context, it refers to Jesus as the long-awaited Saviour from God, who redeems humanity and indeed all of creation.

The man whom Jesus healed responded in faith and worship. He has the spiritual insight to recognise divine revelation when he sees it. He possesses the eyes of faith.

Then Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

These words need some explanation. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn people. Jesus is not looking to catch people out. No. Judgement is not Jesus’ purpose, but it is the inevitable consequence.

Jesus is the light of the world. Light does not condemn. Light simply reveals what is there. Jesus’ presence reveals the truth of the matter. There is no sitting on the fence with Jesus. You either see him with the eyes of faith (like the man born blind), or you don’t (like the Pharisees).    

Who is Jesus to you? That is the question we each need to face. And it can only be answered by faith. We judge ourselves by the way we respond to Jesus.  

Conclusion:

This morning we have considered three types of eyes in the Bible:

The eyes of God, the eyes of the body, and the eyes of faith.  

The eyes of God see the human heart.

The eyes of our body guide us.

And the eyes of faith enable us to see Jesus.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, give us eyes of faith to see you at work in the world. Guide us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. Help us to walk in the light of your word. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Discuss / reflect on the eyes of God. How are God’s eyes (vision) different from our human eyes? What does God look for?
  3. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body’? In the context of Matthew 6:19-23, what does it mean to have healthy eyes? What does it mean to have unhealthy eyes?  
  4. Are there things in your life that you need to be rid of? What practical steps can you take to be rid of them? Ask God for his help.
  5. What do we mean by the eyes of faith? Can you think of a time in your life when you couldn’t see a way forward but then discovered the way by faith? What happened?
  6. How does Jesus see the man who was born blind? How is this different from the way most other people saw the blind man? How do you view people who are different from you?
  7. Why does the blind man worship Jesus?  Who is Jesus to you? 

Bibliography

  • Leon Morris, ‘NICNT: The Gospel According to John’, 1995.
  • Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, General Editors: L Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, Temper Longman III, IVP, 1998.
  • John Burge, ‘NIVAC: John’, 2000.
  • Leonard Mann, ‘Green-Eyed Monsters and Good Samaritans’, 2006.
  • R.T. France, ‘NICNT: The Gospel of Matthew’, 2007.  

[1] Leonard Mann, ‘Green-Eyed Monsters & Good Samaritans’, 169.

Tawa Baptist

Light

Scriptures: John 8:12-20; 9:1-39 and 12:44-46

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus guides
  • Jesus creates
  • Jesus reveals
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity. What we notice is how closely Jesus identifies himself with God the Father.

Please turn with me to John chapter 8, verse 12, page 129 toward the back of your pew Bibles. This morning we hear how Jesus says: I am the light of the world. From John 8:12-20, we read… 

12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

13 The Pharisees said to him, “Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.”

14 “No,” Jesus answered, “even though I do testify on my own behalf, what I say is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You make judgments in a purely human way; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I were to do so, my judgment would be true, because I am not alone in this; the Father who sent me is with me. 17 It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.”

19 “Where is your father?” they asked him.

“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

20 Jesus said all this as he taught in the Temple, in the room where the offering boxes were placed. And no one arrested him, because his hour had not come.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

There are many things we could say about light in relation to Jesus. This morning we will focus on just three things: As the light of the world Jesus guides, Jesus creates and Jesus reveals. First let us consider how Jesus guides.

Jesus guides:

A lighthouse guides ships to keep them off the rocks.

Traffic lights guide cars to prevent crashes.

Runway lights guide aeroplanes as they land.

A torch light guides your steps in the dark.

Ancient mariners guided their craft by the light of the stars.

Illuminated exit signs in a picture theatre guide you to the nearest exit.

The light of the sun (with the constant cycle of day and night) is our guide for measuring time. 

And when one of the lights on the dashboard of your car starts flashing, that’s usually a sign to indicate something needs attention. 

Light guides us.  

In the context of John 8, Jesus is sitting in the temple in Jerusalem. More specifically he is in the Court of the Women, which got a great deal of foot traffic. It was the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Shelters).

A ‘tabernacle’ is a tent or temporary shelter such as was used by the Israelites when they journeyed through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. God commanded the people of Israel to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles as a way of remembering the nation’s deliverance from slavery.

One of the traditions associated with the festival of Tabernacles was the lighting of four giant lamps. These lamps burned through the night, illuminating the city. The lamps were a reminder to the people of how God had guided his people through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

By saying, “I am the light of the world”, during the festival of Tabernacles, Jesus was making an incredible claim. He was essentially saying, I am the physical representation of God’s presence with you on earth.

The motif of guidance is brought out more clearly when Jesus says: “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

In other words, look to me and follow me to find freedom from the things that enslave you. I will be your security in the darkness. I will guide you through the wilderness to the Promised Land of God’s kingdom.

That was a huge claim to make in itself but Jesus takes it even further. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Not just the light of Israel, but the light of the other nations of the world as well.

No wonder the Pharisees reacted against Jesus. To them Jesus was a tall poppy that just had to be cut down. So they said to Jesus:

“Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.”

The Pharisees are appealing to a technicality in the law of Moses which required that at least two witnesses needed to agree for their testimony to be substantiated. Basically the Pharisees were saying to Jesus, ‘We don’t believe you are the light of the world. Prove it.’ 

In actual fact Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world was evidenced based. The evidence included, for example, the testimony of John the Baptist, the wisdom of Jesus’ own teaching and the miracles that accompanied Jesus’ teaching, as well as Jesus’ alignment with the things predicted about the Messiah by the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus’ claim to be light was even seen in the stars, at his birth, by wise men who travelled from the East with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The proof was there for those who were willing to open their eyes to see it.    

Interestingly, Jesus does not appeal to any of this evidence to support his claim. Instead he points to God the Father as his witness. From verse 17 Jesus says:

“It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.”

It is fitting the way Jesus testifies on his own behalf. You see, light is unique in that it bears witness to itself. Everything else requires light to be seen but light does not require illumination. Light is illumination. The light of the sun in the sky is self-evident. It is its own witness. [1]

God the Father also testifies on Jesus’ behalf. God does this by vindicating Jesus. That is by upholding Jesus’ words so they come true, by enabling Jesus to perform miracles that only God could do and, most significantly, by raising Jesus from the dead. Perhaps too, Jesus is referring to the day of judgement when God the Father will bear witness to Christ His Son.    

In Tolkien’s book, The Fellowship of the Ring, Lady Galadriel gives Frodo a phial of starlight and says to the Hobbit, “a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out”. Frodo uses this light in the darkness of Mordor as he faces the giant spider.

The opposite of light is darkness. Darkness comes in many forms. For example, there is the darkness of confusion. The darkness of grief. The darkness of despair and depression. The darkness of anger and violence. The darkness of ignorance and fear as well as the darkness of deceit and evil. Not to mention the darkness of loneliness and alienation.

All these forms of darkness have one thing in common. They make us blind. They rob of us of our ability to see. And when we can’t see we lose our way.

What darkness are you facing at the moment? Jesus is the light when all other lights go out. He shows us the way through the darkness, both the darkness out there and the darkness inside of us.

Jesus guides and Jesus creates.

Jesus creates:

In many ways light is the foundation of life. Without sunlight there would be no life on planet earth. Light causes plants to grow which feeds the animals and us.

Earlier in the service we heard a reading from John chapter 9, where Jesus healed a man born blind. In verse 5 of John 9 Jesus says, While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Then Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes and said, ‘Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam’. So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

This is a miracle of creation.

You may remember that when God created the cosmos, the first thing he said was, ‘Let there be light.’ Later he created humankind out of mud. By calling himself the light of the world and healing the man’s blindness with mud, Jesus is making a clear connection with God at creation. It’s like Jesus is creating new eyes for the man, so he can see.  

One curious detail in this miracle is that Jesus tells the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. Jesus gives the man something to do. He invites the man to participate in his own creation of sight.

Perhaps Jesus involves the man in this way to give him a choice in the matter. If the man doesn’t wish to see he doesn’t need to do as Jesus instructed.

Perhaps also we are meant to recognise the connection between faith and seeing. For the man to receive his sight he needed to trust and obey Jesus. That’s what faith is, trust which leads to obedience.

Yes, Jesus is the light of the world but we also have some light to bring. Our faith is the conduit of divine light. Through faith we participate in God’s creative action in the world.       

If we were to read on, in John 9, we would see how the man who was healed was interrogated by the Pharisees. Ironically the Pharisees lacked the faith to see that God was at work in and through Jesus.

The man who received new sight must have been a pretty nuggetty character. He stood up to the establishment saying, I don’t know if he [Jesus] is a sinner or not. One thing I do know: I was blind and now I see.

To the Pharisees this man was an was inconvenient truth. He represented that second witness they had asked for in John 8. Rather than accept the evidence before them, the religious leaders cast the man out of the synagogue.

It was quite sad really. The man’s healing was not meant to aggravate the Pharisees or anyone else. It was actually an invitation to believe in Jesus. But the Pharisees refused the invitation.       

Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus guides, Jesus creates and Jesus reveals.

Jesus reveals:

Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived around 400 years before Christ. One of his many gifts to humanity was the allegory of the cave.

In this allegory Plato asks us to imagine prisoners chained together in a cave. They cannot see out of the cave but are forced to look at the back wall.

Behind the prisoners (and out of sight) is a fire and between the fire and the prisoners are people carrying various objects. In the light of the fire these objects cast shadows on the back wall of the cave. The prisoners see the shadow puppets on the wall and think this is reality. They don’t know anything else.

I suppose in today’s terms it would be like someone whose entire perception of the world was formed through watching TV and playing video games.

One day one of the prisoners is set free. He makes his way out of the cave to broad daylight. Although it takes some time for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the outside world, he eventually sees that the shadows on the cave wall were not reality at all. In fact, the outside world is far more beautiful and life giving than his miserable existence in the cave.

The free-man decides to go back to the cave to release the other prisoners but when he returns the prisoners kill him. They cannot believe the testimony of the free-man. They think leaving the cave will be harmful to them.

Contemporary movie makers have picked up on Plato’s allegory of the cave with films like The Truman Show, The Village and The Matrix. In each of these movies the main characters find their way out of the darkness of false belief into the light of reality. Light reveals the truth of their situation.    

In some ways, Plato’s allegory of the cave fits with the story in John 9. People generally, at that time, held the false belief that blindness and other disabilities or calamities were a punishment from God for sin. But this belief was just a shadow puppet on the cave wall. It wasn’t real.

Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is not the fire inside the cave. He is not putting on a shadowy puppet show. No. Jesus is the light of the world outside the cave. The light of Jesus reveals the true situation. The light of Jesus reveals the beauty of God’s kingdom.

The man who received his sight was like a prisoner set free from the cave. Sadly, the Pharisees were like the prisoners inside the cave who could not accept any other reality than the shadows on the wall.

From John 9, verse 28 we read…

The [Pharisees] insulted [the man who had received his sight] and said, “You are that fellow’s disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for that fellow [Jesus], however, we do not even know where he comes from!”

30 The man answered, “What a strange thing that is! You do not know where he comes from, but he cured me of my blindness! 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do. 32 Since the beginning of the world nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind. 33 Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing.”

34 They answered, “You were born and brought up in sin—and you are trying to teach us?” And they expelled him from the synagogue.

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

38 “I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

39 Jesus said, “I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind.”

When Jesus says, ‘I came to this world to judge’, he does not mean judge in the sense of pass a sentence in condemnation. Jesus is not wagging his finger pronouncing people guilty. He means judge in the sense of reveal the truth. As the light of the world Jesus reveals the contents of a person’s heart. 

Jesus’ presence certainly revealed the truth of the situation in John 9. As it turned out the man who was born physically blind actually had faith and therefore the spiritual sight to see that Jesus is from God. While the Pharisees, who had physical sight, were actually spiritually blind. They did not have the faith to imagine any other reality than the shadows on the wall of their cave.

It may be tempting to look down on the Pharisees or to condemn them for their lack of faith. While many of them got it wrong about Jesus, and we cannot condone their behavior, we need to remember they were like prisoners chained in a cave with only shadows to look at.

We also do well to remember that each of us has a little bit of Pharisee in us. Hopefully we are more disciple than Pharisee but, ultimately, we are all limited in our understanding. We don’t know what we don’t know. We tend to accept the reality we are presented with.

Conclusion:

In John chapter 12 Jesus said to the people in a loud voice…

“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me. 45 Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.

Jesus was sent by God and therefore Jesus reveals God. Jesus shows us what it means to be truly human. To be human is to be made in the image of God. By shining a light on what the image of God looks like, Jesus reveals God.

If the world we live in (and the reality we accept) is like a cave, then we are all (at some point at least) like prisoners accepting the shadow puppets as real. The good news is, the cave of this world is not all there is. Outside the cave is the wide open expanse and breath taking beauty of God’s eternal kingdom.

Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus enters the cave not to condemn us but rather to invite us out, into the light. Not the man-made light of the fire in the cave. But the divine light of God’s kingdom, outside the narrow cave of our perception.

Our part is to trust Jesus, to follow him as we make our exodus out of the cave.  Ultimately we pass judgement on ourselves, by the way we respond to Jesus. If we follow Jesus in trust, we are saved. But if we reject Jesus in disbelief and cling instead to our chains and shadows, we condemn ourselves.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus Christ. You are the light of the world. You guide, you create and you reveal. Shine your light on our way. Set us free from blind unbelief. Guide us in the way of truth. Lead us out of our narrow perception into the light of God’s spacious kingdom. Give us courage and faith to follow you, even though we have never seen and cannot imagine what God has prepared for those who love him. We commit ourselves to you Lord Jesus, in trust. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why do you think Jesus waited for the festival of Tabernacles before saying, ‘I am the light of the world.’? What meaning (or significance) did the festival of Tabernacles lend to Jesus’ words in John 8:12?
  • What evidence (or witnesses) do we have to substantiate Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world?  
  • Can you think of a time in your own life when Jesus guided you through a dark place? What happened? How did Jesus shed light on your way?
  • Why did Jesus tell the man (in John 9:7) to go and wash in the pool of Siloam? What is the relationship between faith and seeing Jesus?
  • In what ways does Plato’s allegory of the cave connect with John 9? What (and/or who) does Jesus reveal?

[1] Refer Leon Morris, NICT John, page 390.