“The Light of Life”
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great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of
being regarded as a great sinner.
Thus the way was prepared for the Jews to reject Jesus. He who
“hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” was looked upon by
the Jews as “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;” and they hid their
faces from Him.
Isaiah 53:4, 3
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God had given a lesson designed to prevent this. The history of
Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan, and is overruled by
God for purposes of mercy. But Israel did not understand the lesson.
The same error for which God had reproved the friends of Job was
repeated by the Jews in their rejection of Christ.
The belief of the Jews in regard to the relation of sin and suffering
was held by Christ’s disciples. While Jesus corrected their error, He
did not explain the cause of the man’s affliction, but told them what
would be the result. Because of it the works of God would be made
manifest. “As long as I am in the world,” He said, “I am the light of the
world.” Then having anointed the eyes of the blind man, He sent him
to wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man’s sight was restored. Thus
Jesus answered the question of the disciples in a practical way, as He
usually answered questions put to Him from curiosity. The disciples
were not called upon to discuss the question as to who had sinned
or had not sinned, but to understand the power and mercy of God in
giving sight to the blind. It was evident that there was no healing virtue
in the clay, or in the pool wherein the blind man was sent to wash, but
that the virtue was in Christ.
The Pharisees could not but be astonished at the cure. Yet they were
more than ever filled with hatred; for the miracle had been performed
on the Sabbath day.
The neighbors of the young man, and those who knew him before
in his blindness, said, “Is not this he that sat and begged?” They looked
upon him with doubt; for when his eyes were opened, his countenance
was changed and brightened, and he appeared like another man. From
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one to another the question passed. Some said, “This is he;” others,
“He is like him.” But he who had received the great blessing settled
the question by saying, “I am he.” He then told them of Jesus, and by
what means he had been healed, and they inquired, “Where is He? He
said, I know not.”