Jesus said, �gI am the Light of the world.�h And as to prove that, Jesus cured the man born blind. This man could now see with his eyes: that was a great miracle, but a greater miracle was that now he could see with his heart! At first he thought Jesus was just a man, then he said thought he was a good man, then a prophet, and finally he confessed his faith that Jesus was the Son of Man, the promised Messiah. �gLord, I believe�h he said (6:38), and he worshiped Jesus.

Meanwhile in the story, there are the Pharisees. Even though they saw the miracle with their own eyes, they did not want to believe it. They tried to disprove the miracle, but they couldn�ft. So then they tried to disprove Jesus by calling him a Sabbath-breaking sinner. They thought Jesus was a no-body. They had no faith. Even worse, they did not want to see the truth, they did not want to have faith in Jesus.

Jesus said, �gI am the Light of the world.�h He is the light that will save the world: first the man-born-blind, then the disciples, and then all who believe in him. His light is for the whole world, for all who believe in him.

First that light shines into our hearts and into our lives. It reveals our sin. It shows that we live in darkness. It is a light of judgment, a light of condemnation. It shows our sin. Then what shall we do? We can try to hide from the light. We can close the curtains of our hearts. We can try to deny our guilt; we can try to deny that sin is important; we can try to say that our sin is not that bad. We can try to live without Jesus. But in the darkness we will stumble around and fall down, and falling in sin means falling into hell. Or, when we see our sin, we can call out to Jesus for help. We can confess our sin and ask in prayer for help and forgiveness.

And then the light of Jesus reveals forgiveness and love and peace. The light becomes like a beacon, like a lighthouse, like streetlamps on a dark night. Then we can walk in the Light of God�fs love.

When the love of Christ shines into our lives, it is like the miracle that healed the man-born-blind. Our understanding of Jesus changes. First he is just a nice man and a good teacher, then a prophet, then a miracle worker, then the Christ who dies for ours sins, and then the Resurrected Son of God who gives us eternal life. Then our lives are filled with the light of Christ as we see and live by faith. Like the man in the Gospel reading, we confess our faith to those who do not see Jesus with their hearts. We try to lead others to the Light.

Jesus is the Light of the world. On Good Friday, that light is put out when he is killed on the cross. But the glimmer of hope survives. And on the third day he rises in glory and great light to show us the way to everlasting light.

Amen.

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