I AM the Light of the World

The Christian hymn, Amazing Grace, is one of the most recognized songs in the English-speaking world. Ever since its publication in 1779, it has been popular throughout the centuries till today. From its English roots, its fame spread across the ocean to America, where it was sung by all denominations and religious movements. It also became the emblem of the African American spiritual, thus its influence spanned from its early days in motivating William Wilberforce to fight against slavery in the British Empire, to becoming a source of strength for the later civil rights activists. Clearly its message about redemption from the depths of human suffering is one that resonates with many who have come to know and love this song.

What some of you may not know however, is that this song was written based on the personal experiences of its creator, John Newton. Newton was a pastor writing hymns for his church. He often wrote in a first person testimonial style in plain language when speaking about his own experiences with God. In the case of Amazing Grace, he was confessing to the depth of his sins, and the joy he felt when he received the grace of God’s forgiveness. You see, John Newton was previously on a self-destructive path. He began his adulthood drafted into the Navy where he was badly abused for his rebellious and profane nature. From an unruly sailor, he then became a reluctant merchant of the slave trade in order to escape his enemies. Newton joined his colleagues in brutally imprisoning the slaves and engaging in sexual misconduct with the female captives. However, his quarrelsome personality led him to be enslaved by his shipmates until he was rescued by another slave trading ship. He often mocked at Christians and denounced God as a myth and his vile language was repulsive to all.

One day, God saved him from a life threatening storm at sea. He believed from that incident that God was sending him a profound message and from then on he tried to turn his life around. But he wondered if God would still want a man like him. Giving up his seafaring days, he went into ministry. He began a new positive life well-loved as a pastor because he was personal with his own experiences. From a previous slave trader, he then became heavily involved along with Wilberforce in abolishing slavery. The hymn, Amazing Grace, speaks of his admission of guilt but also of his joy of divine deliverance. The “toils and snares” described his life’s tribulations and how he was a “wretch” in his past as a slave trader. He was the prodigal son that “was lost but now am found”. He was the man that “was blind but now I see”.

Yes, brothers and sisters, that last line in the first verse of the song is a deliberate direct quotation from the story today “I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25) Newton of course was never physically blind. He was speaking metaphorically about his spiritual blindness and how it was by amazing grace that he could finally see the truth. Newton had appropriated this healing story of John as a description of his own transformation. Like John Newton, the blind man’s life was a hopeless tragedy. “We have to forget the images of seeing-eye dogs and Braille books. He sat at the roadside and begged. No employment, no prospects for marriage, no social honor. His future was bleak and he knew it.” The gift of sight was a new life to the blind man. John Newton experienced this new life, and that was the foundation of quoting that line.

However, John Newton is not alone in discovering that there is something more than meets the eye in what Jesus is doing in the story today. The millions who identify with the truthfulness of the hymn Amazing Grace testify to the experience from blindness to sight. The enduring power of its message through the ages is the story of the blind man replaying in the lives of all who sing the verse. “I was blind, but now I see.” Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that John the gospel writer had carefully crafted this narrative to reveal this great significance from a basic story of Jesus healing a blind man.

In the gospel of John, Jesus’ miraculous works are described as signs. The miracles do more than just demonstrate Jesus’ supernatural power. They are also indicators of Jesus’ true identity and his relationship with God and his people. We see the Pharisees referring to Jesus in v. 16 “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But the reply came from others, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs.” This is a critical rhetorical question implying that the healing of the blind man is a sign that Jesus must be from God. If the story is a sign, what does it say in today’s story?

We find embedded in this common healing story, the startling proclamation by Jesus, “I am the light of the world”. This is the conclusion of the sign. To understand Jesus as the light of the world is to experience divine transformation: a transformation of darkness to light. The blind man experienced it, and hence he proclaimed “I was blind but now I see”. Jesus is the light, giving not just sight, but also the meaning of life. John Newton experienced it, and he wrote “I was blind but now I see”. Jesus is the light that gave him amazing grace. This experience of Jesus as the light of the world is replicated again and again throughout history when we confess our salvation and sing “I was blind but now I see”. In my opinion, Jesus as the light of the world was proclaimed most powerfully when the blacks identified their liberation from slavery and racism as amazing grace. This story of Jesus making the blind man see is the sign that points towards Jesus as the light of the world. This light is life itself; it is also divine forgiveness, salvation and liberation.

If this sign is so significant, it rightly deserves further investigation. The Jews continued to question the man, and he said “He is a prophet”. This statement maintains the insight that Jesus is from God. The Jews then asked his parents. Their reply revealed the Johannine themes of knowing and seeing. “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know.” Their reply is highly evasive but the implied meaning is very clear. There are things we can know from the sign. The parents are testifying that the man is indeed their son who was born blind. We the readers know more, we know that it was Jesus who opened his eyes so that he can now see. We then reach the climax of the story when the man is questioned yet again. He replied them, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” This is his unchanging testimony. The one thing that is undeniable. This is also the testimony of John Newton quoted in the hymn Amazing Grace. It is the testimony that affirms the reality that Jesus is the light in their world.

Interestingly, we are told by John acting as the narrator that the parents did not give their own testimony directly because “they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.” This statement seemed rather odd because we do not know of any such situations occurring during Jesus’ lifetime. Many at that time were claiming to be the Messiah and their followers were not expelled. Furthermore, weren’t Jesus, the healed blind men, the parents and the crowd all Jews? Who were “the Jews” that they needed to be afraid of? It is at this juncture that we realize that John is indeed telling more than just a healing story. It is from verses like these that we can peer from the biblical story into John’s world some decades later. John the gospel writer, just like John Newton, was also applying the story metaphorically into his own context.

From the story of John Newton to the story of the blind man, we now come to the story of John the gospel writer. We have spoken previously about the siege mentality of John’s community. They faced opponents who believed in false doctrines about Jesus Christ. Their separation threatened to tear the church apart. Today we will come to know that they also faced persecution from “the Jews” who were not too happy about this new offshoot Jewish sect called Christians. What's going on here of course is what you believe about Jesus the Messiah has to do with whether you will be allowed to stay in the synagogue. If you confess he's the Messiah, you'll be kicked out of the synagogue, that's the basic conflict of the story. Look at verse 28, they're basically saying: either you are a follower of Moses or a follower of Jesus. Look we know Moses, this guy Jesus can't be the Messiah, we don’t know where he comes from. The man answered, "You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. If this man were not from God he could do nothing." Then they drove him out of the synagogue.

This drama between the new convert and the Jewish authorities is symbolism for the difficulties faced by John’s church. Their personal experiences of Jesus as the light of the world have enlightened them to the truth that Jesus is sent from God. But they face obstinate religious authorities who always claim to know better. They face the threat of expulsion from the synagogue if they want to hold on to their confession of what they now see. The parents of the blind man are symbolic of the reservation and fear that many in John’s church felt. The blind man is like someone who comes to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, someone who was blind but now can see. But if he really confesses that, he's going to be thrown out, and so he leaves the synagogue and he joins up with Jesus. In other words, allegorically speaking, he has to leave to become a member of John's church. John is telling a story about a blind man but he's also telling a story about the conflict that his church is having with the synagogue in the neighborhood.

These overlapping stories of John’s gospel, John’s church and John Newton brings out the full nuance of Jesus as the light of the world. Jesus said “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (v.39) Jesus is the light for the blind who now see. They are those who have experienced a new life through Jesus Christ, like the healed blind man and the forgiven John Newton. The blind who see also refer to the Christians in John’s church who are eye-witnesses to the gospel truth: that Jesus died and rose again. Jesus as the light of the world has brought salvation from sin and liberation from persecution. They stand firm in their convictions despite outside attacks. But Jesus as the light also has another implication. “Those who see will become blind” refers to those who have seen the signs but continue to oppose the truth. They are rejecting the light of the world and hence they will be blind.

Brothers and sisters, I invite you to come and see. See the sign of the man born blind who can now see. See the members of John’s church who can testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Many died for their testimony. See the salvation of Newton from sin to holiness. See the millions who validate the truthfulness of Amazing Grace as they sing those very words. “I was blind but now I see”.

Now that you have come to see the light, you have a choice to be his disciple. Do you want this transformation? Jesus said, “You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (Isaiah 60:1-2)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace
Gary M Burge, John (NIV Application commentary), p 280
http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/introduction-to-new-testament/content/sessions/lecture11.html