The Blinding

In John chapter 9, we see four refractions of Jesus as the light of the world. This comes to us in the amazing story of a blind man receiving his sight. Each refraction sheds light on who Jesus is and who we are. Today we'll learn about the parable of the light, the polarization of the light, the piercing of the light, and the paradox of the light stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller.

Today, join us for another in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John. A series we're calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus, the blinding. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford and Assistant Pastor Larry McCarthy.

Well good morning everybody and welcome to The Moody Church. We're so glad you're here. Today, we're going to see Jesus opening the eyes of a man who was born blind. And in doing so, actually a whole bunch of people around, their eyes are closed to the glories of who Jesus really is. It's amazing how one display of light can cause one person to open their eyes and another to shut them.

And we want to be the kind of people who open our eyes wide to let in the light of who Jesus is. But to do that, we need the Holy Spirit to come to open our eyes today.

So let's pray that God would come and do that work in us. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we pray that you'll open our eyes. Jesus, help us to see who you are. Holy Spirit, come.

Do a work in us so that we might receive all of the light of who Jesus is. We give you ourselves. We hold nothing back. Come and teach us, make us new. We pray this in Jesus' matchless name.

Amen. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look for his wonderful face, and the things our earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look for in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and red O Lord of my heart be others to be saved thou art sigh by day over the night. My God, with thee, voice meeting, thy presence, my life.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true love, I ever live, thou my grave, I thy true son. Thou in me is battered, as thou wilt be warned. He not overty praise of my inheritance thou and always faith my heart, my king of heaven, my treasure thou king of heaven, my victory one may I rich him choice over. Lord of my own highlights will be my vision, all over, amen. God is so good, God is so good, God is so.

He's so good to me. He answers prayer. He answers prayer. He answers prayer. He's so good to me.

I love it. I love it. I love his soul. He's so good to me. Father, we come humbly into your presence.

Each one of us. would have to confess that We rush in when we should await it. We talk. When we should listen. We sleep.

when we should pray. We've been courageous. But oftentimes Careless.

So we crowd collectively, Father, for mercy. Our prayer this morning is simple. Father, we humbly just ask you that you would. use Pastor Philip this morning that your word would go forth with power. power and authority.

that you would Open your word to our hearts and our minds today that you would. Rebuke us. that you would correct us. That you would set us straight. that you would guide us.

We need you, Father. We need your word. Men, fail us. Systems Fail us. But your word is steadfast.

Your word. It's health to our bones your word is true. We crowd to you and you alone now. Be our God.

Now we pray. In the matchless name of Jesus, Father. And amen. Holy God, full of mercy and our weak be came to bring us home again. High God takes the broken and whole God, touch the leper, raise the windman And he caused the blind to see, my God takes the broken and makes them whole my God stood for justice, shame the pride one.

But he called the sinner friend, my God takes the broken and makes them whole. My God felt the anguish of the soldier. Make his child to save him again. My God takes the promenade and makes them bold My God, mocked and beaten, crushed and bleeding, yet crying, Father, God, for Him. My God being broken to make people.

On the birthday in the glory of the shadows of the lake, my God took the progress and made them born. My God took the progress and made them more. John's Gospel is not only a historically Accurate account of the life of Jesus. It is a brilliant. literary masterpiece.

John isn't in this gospel just assembling random events involving Jesus, sort of slapping them together, weaving them thoughtlessly in place here. No, it's a brilliant strategy, his assembling of material. He is weaving together a biography of theological and rhetorical Brilliance. He tells us as much at the end of his book. In John 21, verse 25, this is what we read.

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written down, I suppose that the whole world itself couldn't contain the books that would be written.

So John tells us: I'm not giving you everything there is to know about Jesus, I'm being selective. It's like the Monet exhibit at the Art Institute Museum. When there's a traveling exhibit, we don't get to see everything that the painter painted. It's a curated exhibit, isn't it? We have representative samples of his work.

And in a well-curated exhibit, it helps us experience the artist in an even deeper way. By placing certain paintings next to and alongside other paintings in juxtaposition, we began to compare and contrast and make connections we otherwise wouldn't make concerning the artists. Work. And what we have here in the Gospel of John is we have a curated picture of who Jesus is. Yes.

In John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, John tells us exactly what he's doing. He says, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written.

so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. The Son of God, and by believing, you may have life in His. Name.

So, all this material in the gospel, all the events, the interactions, the dialogue, has been carefully curated so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He is indeed the Son of God, and that by believing in Him we might have life in His. Name.

And this curation is brilliant. The way John has arranged his material is so insightful. Just for example, something we've seen already. In chapter 5, it ends with the statement, Moses bears witness concerning me, Jesus says. Moses is bearing witness.

Chapter 6 then immediately shows us that Jesus is in fact the new Moses who is teaching on the mountainside, bringing bread in the wilderness, delivering his followers safely across the sea. And of course, the bread that he gives in the wilderness then sets up the bread of life discourse where Jesus proclaims himself to be the bread come down from heaven. And so, out of all the dozens of miracles and teachings and healings that happen in the life of Jesus, John is homing in on these. brilliant connections arranging this material so that we would see Jesus. And he does this again in chapter 9.

Which is where we are today. We're going to be in John chapter 9, the whole chapter, verses 1 all the way down to 41. And you'll recall in the previous chapter, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And now in chapter 9, we are going to see or refractions of the light of the world, the light of Jesus. We're going to see the parable of the light, the polarization of the light, the piercing of the light, and the paradox.

of the light this morning. And each one of these refractions sheds light on who Jesus is and who we are as well.

So, would you bow your heads as we open God's word together? Heavenly Father, shine the light of Jesus. We pray. May we see him. May we see ourselves and may we not shrink back from the light, but let it expose all that's in us so that we might come fully into the light today.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So the first refraction here is the parable of the light. In John chapter 9, verse 1, this is what we read, and he, this is Jesus, as Jesus 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.

So here we have Jesus walking along, and as he walks along, he notices this man, this blind man, who's been blind all of his life from the womb. In verse 8, we're going to learn that he's a beggar.

So here he is, probably begging along the side of the street, overlooked by most but seen. By Jesus. And the disciples, following his gaze, they notice he's interested in this man, and so they ask, Rabbi, who sinned? this man or his parents that he was born Blind.

Now they make an assumption, don't they? They assume that this blindness is a punishment. Uh there's some reason for it. Either he deserves to be blind because of his particular sinfulness, or maybe his parents deserved a blind son because of their sin. But either way, they believe basically in what we now call karma.

They believe that you get what you deserve in life, and so this man is obviously paying for something.

So Jesus answers. Look at his answer. He doesn't play this game. It was not that this man sinned. or his parents.

Listen. You've got this completely wrong. This man is not blind because of his sin or his parents' sin. Jesus is telling us here, this is very important for us, that we cannot draw a direct line. From personal suffering to personal sin.

We can't draw that line. He's blind, yes, but not because he's been bad.

Now it is true that in the universe all suffering ultimately is due to sin. If Adam hadn't sinned, there would be no suffering. We know this.

So you can draw a generic line. See? From sin to generic suffering. All suffering is due to sin. That's called the curse.

But what we cannot do is draw a specific line. between personal suffering and personal Sin. That's not the curse, that's karma. And that's not. Biblical.

Which is why, by the way, it makes my blood boil whenever I hear people saying foolish and hurtful things. Say people like, well, the reason you have cancer is because you don't have enough faith. Friends, do you realize Jesus would never Say anything. Like that. He says it was not.

that this man sinned or his parents. but that the works of God might be displayed in He says, this is not a punishment. It is a platform. That the works of God may be displayed in His. Life.

He says, look, you see this blind man and you assume that God's finished with him. But I see this blind man, and I tell you, God is just getting started. Verse four. 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.

So, friends, Jesus is the light of the world, and he is at one moment going to depart. He's going to leave the world, and when he does, the light goes with him. It will be night, but for now. It is the light of day. And the time is ripe for the works of God to be done.

The very works of God that Jesus just said must be displayed in this man's life. He says, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Now this is not a throwaway phrase. Huh. I am the light of the world. Here is a man who cannot see any light in the world. And Jesus is the light of the world.

I wonder what will happen when you bring These two people. together.

Now, of course, Jesus has said things like this before in just in the previous chapter, in John chapter 8, verse 12. He said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. This is a theme that we have seen is connected all throughout the Gospel of John. In John 1, verse 4, John introduces Jesus and says, In him was life, and that life was the light.

Men.

So Jesus is the light. He is here shining brightly for all the world to see. And as we have seen, some are drawn to that light. Their eyes are open to who Jesus is, and they believe in him. And on the other hand, the irony is that others are blinded by his light.

They shut their eyes to him. They reject who Jesus is. Is. And Jesus himself told us this would happen in John chapter 3, verses 19 to 21. And this is the judgment, it says, that light has come into the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light.

so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out. in God.

So, what is about to happen in this chapter is, Jesus is going to enact. a kind of parable. An illustration of what it means that he is the light of the world. We've seen there's a pattern.

Some eyes are opened, other eyes are closed.

So this is not just a dramatic healing that took place. This is a dramatic, real life enacted parable of the light. Just like Jesus multiplied the bread in order to show that he was the bread of life, now Jesus is opening the eyes of the blind to show us that he is the light of the world.

Now, verse 6. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. He anointed the man's eyes with the mud, and said to him, Go wash in the pool of Silom. which means sent.

So he went and washed and came back seeing. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. I I don't know about you, but this seems kind of gross to me, okay? Jesus spitting in the mud and making up this little mud pack. Putting it on his eyes.

This is the only time Jesus ever heals like this. What on earth is going on? Why would he do this?

Well, I don't know and nobody really knows. We're all guessing here, but I have I have three things that I suspect are at play here. The first one is I think it evokes creation. You remember in Genesis chapter 2, God got down and put his fingers in the dust and he formed humanity from the dust of the ground. And then he breathed into Adam the breath of life.

Remember this?

So the idea of the creator working in the mud, in the dust, forming that which will be life. This is evocative of creation itself. The second thing I think is going on here is this is a personal touch. This man is blind. He doesn't have the ability to see what Jesus is doing.

And so Jesus puts this mud on his eyes. I think it's very tender. It's a tactile experience of the healing for this man. They can feel what is happening. is speaking and and communicating in his own categories here.

The third thing is that it is creating space.

So Jesus, by putting the mud on his eyes and sending him off to go wash at the pool, this gives time for Jesus to slip away.

Okay? And he won't show up until the very end of this chapter. But we will learn in verse 14 that it's the Sabbath, and we already know what happens when Jesus does healings on the Sabbath.

So I think Jesus is wise to this. He slips away. They just tried to stone him in the previous chapter.

So he heals him and then he creates space. Go wash, and then I'm going to slip away from here. And so he goes away, and here the man comes back, seeing, having washed. The light of the world has opened his eyes to the light. It's a parable, the parable of light.

has begun. Secondly, we see here the polarization of the light, the polarization of the light. Verse 8. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?

Some said it is he. Others said, no, but it is like him. And he kept saying, I am the man.

So, the funny thing, of course, is that they can't believe their eyes. when they see this guy. Pun intended, right? First ten.

So they said to him, Then how were your eyes opened? He answered, the man called Jesus. made mud and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to Salaam and wash.

So I went and washed and received my sight. And they said, Where is he? And he said, I I don't know. It's comical, isn't it? You can finally see, but Jesus can't be seen anywhere, right?

He slipped off. But this news is too big to be contained.

So, verse 13, they brought to the Pharisees the man who had been formerly blind, and now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Oh no. We know where this is going, don't we? Verse 15, so the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.

You notice his story keeps getting shorter, right? He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.

Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God. for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? But there was division. amongst them.

So they're polarized, don't you see this?

Some of them, on the one hand, are saying he's not from God. He's breaking the Sabbath again. He's healing on the Sabbath. How dare he? Remember this?

We've had this controversy before. But others are saying he can't be a sinner. A sinner can't do miraculous things like this.

So on the one hand, people are saying he's a sinner. On the other hand, they're saying only a healing can come from God. God is clearly with this man, Jesus. He can't be a sinner. And if he's not a sinner, Who is he?

See. And the light is shining. And some of their eyes are being opened. And others are being Shut. polarization.

Of the lack Now Thirdly, we see the piercing. of the light. The third refraction, the piercing of the lighting. Verse 17.

So they said again to the blind man, What do you say about him? since he has opened your eyes. He said. He is a prophet.

Now You're supposed to see the connection here. You see what's happened? Jesus has opened his eyes. Physically. to the light.

And now his eyes are being opened spiritually. to who Jesus is.

Now he has limited understanding. I mean his eyes are just barely open, right? But he's on his way. Everything's coming into focus, but at first he thinks he's a prophet. This is a prophet.

Now the Jewish leaders can't argue with his logic here. If Jesus really did open his eyes, then that means he's wielding the very power of God, which means God is with him, which means at a minimum, this is a prophet sent from God. gone. But they decide they're not going to try to counter his logic. They're going to try to counter his testimony.

Because maybe there's an easy way out of this, and that's that this guy's a fake.

So verse 18: the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight. Until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight. and asked them Is this your son? whom you say was born blind. How then does he now see?

His parents answered, we know that this is our son. and that he was born blind. But how he now sees We don't know. Nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him.

He's of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, He was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, he's of age, ask him.

So these These poor parents here, these poor parents, they begin to sense that they're caught in the middle of a political mess here. On the one hand, they want to stand up for their son and rejoice in what's been done in his life, but on the other hand, they know the political tide is shifting against Jesus and they're unwilling to take any heat. Afford him here. And so, to save their own skin, they kind of chicken out, don't they? And they throw their son, in a sense, under the bus.

He's of age, ask him.

So, verse 24.

So, for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. What is this? This is very heavy-handed. Do you see this?

Give glory to God. It's the equivalent of an oath. Say what you're going to say. Tell the truth. Give glory to God.

It implies that he was lying the first time around, you see. They're leading the witness. We know that this man is a sinner. Now, they were just divided, but it is the majority view that is being espoused here. Not everyone's on board with that statement.

But the the people who believe that Jesus is a sinner have the loudest voice at this moment. We've already made up our minds about this man. Uh they can't even say the name of Jesus, you notice. He's not a prophet like you said he was. He's a sinner.

A Sabbath breaker, definitive answer. Look at how he responds. He answered, whether he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing I do know that though I was blind, Now I see. Don't you love his simple, straightforward testimony?

I was blind. But now I See. Verse 26, so they said to him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them.

I have told you already. And you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? I love this guy's cheek here.

He knows. He knows they keep asking, not because they're earnestly trying to discern what happened, but because they're trying to wriggle off the hook. They're trying to trap him in his words or discredit his story somehow. They want to find a way to discount the miracle and dismiss Jesus. And this man has only had sight for just a few minutes, right?

But he sees right through them. Do you also want to become his disciples? I love it. Verse 28, and they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple. But we are disciples of Moses, you know.

We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not even know where he comes from.

Now, look at this amazing reply. Verse thirty. The man answered. Why, this is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from?

And yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do.

Nothing.

So simple.

So clear.

So irrefutable. Isn't it? This man can't. Be a sinner. He opened my eyes.

Only if it were from God could he do that. Never since the world began has anyone ever heard of a man who had been born blind having his eyes open. It's never been heard of. Did you realize if you go back through your Bible, you'll find that blindness, the healing of blindness in the Bible is extremely rare? Only a few sort of exceptional cases, and congenital blindness.

Blindness from birth, never. never healed before. It's never happened before. He says Jesus has to be from God. God alone can open the eyes of a man born blind like this.

Now there's plenty of biblical precedent for this. Exodus 4 verse 11. Then the Lord said to him, This is Moses, who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf? or seeing or blind, is it not I the Lord?

Psalm 146 verses 7 and 8. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind The blind receiving sight was a prophecy concerning the Messianic age. Isaiah 29, verse 18, In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. Isaiah 35 verses 5 to 6.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. And the servant of the Lord was foretold. As having this ability. Isaiah 42, verses 6 through 8.

I am the Lord. I have called you, his servant, in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord.

That is my name. My glory I give to know. Other See, there's ample Old Testament evidence, friends. They should have been able to see Jesus. But here's the irony.

This man Seas with perfect clarity. And the Pharisees Their eyes are clouded. Verse thirty-four, they answered him. You were born in utter sin. And would you teach us?

And they cast him out.

So unable to contend are they with his. Clear logic. that they resort to viciously attacking his character. and bullying him away. His very presence is too indicting, and so they want him out of their sight and they kick him out of the synagogue.

Here this man stood up for Jesus. was willing to pay the price. And he did it with his eyes wide open. But do you notice what's happening here? The clearer the light shines.

The more piercing it is. Revealing the hearts of the Pharisees. The light is pure. piercing through. And despite all their holy words and their claims of following Moses, it's not hard to see what's going on, is it?

The rationalization. that they're resorting to, the manipulation of the situation, their desperation to have any other answer than that Jesus is who he claims to be, the victimization of the evidence and trying to get rid of this man. How they will stop at nothing. to shut their eyes tight in denial about the light that's right before their eyes. Which leads us to the paradox of the light.

The paradox of the light. Look at verse 35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? I love this. He's been rejected by the leaders.

abandoned by his own parents. He has no way to find Jesus. He's never seen him with his eyes. But Jesus goes and finds him. He stood up for Jesus, and now Jesus stands up for him.

Do you see this? And using his favorite title for himself, Jesus asks, Do you believe in the Son of Man? The Son of Man that Figure from Daniel 7 who receives all authority and power and judgment over the nations. Verse 36, he answers, And who is he, sir? that I may believe in him.

Jesus said to him, You have seen him. You have seen him. And it is he who is speaking to you. He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

Let's see. This is an amazing journey of faith. It started when Jesus sent him to the pool with mud on his eyes, remember? And he watched and he came back seeing. And then his faith started sprouting when he told everyone what Jesus had done for him.

This simple, clear testimony of a changed life. And then it started cultivating and growing as he articulated his belief that Jesus was a prophet empowered by God himself. But then it came to a moment, do you realize, when he had to make a choice. Either fit in with the religious establishment of his day or stand up for his healer, Jesus. And even his parents wavered.

But he chose in that moment to stand up. And speak truth with clarity and boldness and grace. And he was willing to count the cost, willing to suffer for the name of Jesus. And that's what happened. They kicked him out.

But then Jesus found him. And the Son of Man revealed himself to him. And he says, Lord, I believe. And he worships. Jesus.

Friends, do you realize in the book of John, this is the clearest confession? this point. as to who Jesus is. This is the first time someone bows down in worship. of the sun.

of God.

So not only does he see See you. You see. And see the great irony. The great Paradox. On the one hand, no one has ever seen Jesus as clearly as this man does.

He goes from total blindness to to crystal clarity in just a few hours. And at the very same time, processing the very same information in the very same place and time, the religious leaders have never been so blind. They are active. actively resisting Jesus Light. And here's what's amazing.

The guy everyone assumed was furthest from God. ends up the very closest to him. And the people everyone would have assumed were the closest to God end up the furthest away. Verse thirty-nine Jesus said, for judgment I came. into this world.

that those who do not see may see. And those who C. may become Blind. Because friends, the light does this. It draws some close.

and others it drives away. Verse 40.

Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things. and said to him, We also blind We heard you. Were you talking about us? Verse 41, Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see Your guilt.

remains. Because there is no greater blindness. than that which insists. It can see when it cannot.

So, the takeaway for us, friends, is simple. Jesus' light is blinding to some. and beautiful to others. Jesus' light is blinding to some and beautiful. to others.

Think about it with me. What separates these two groups of people? The ones who are drawn to the beauty of his light, and those who are blinded to it. What separates that group? Both of them see Jesus.

Both of them hear his words. Both of them are confronted with his power, his authority, his claims, his miracles. What makes those two groups different?

Well, it seems to me that it all comes down to whether we're willing to admit our blindness or not. That's the real differentiator here. The man Who's blind from birth? He knows he's blind. Not just physically.

But spiritually, too. That's why he's so quick to accept that the one who healed his eyes can also heal his soul. He knows there's a darkness that lies deep within him. And so he welcomes the light. But the Pharisees, on the other hand, they insist that they can see.

Not just physically, but spiritually too. And they are too proud to admit that there is darkness actually in their own souls. And so when the light comes, it is a threat, you see. Because the light exposes the darkness that is in them. And so they do everything they can to shut out the light.

And so, don't you see this story, this parable is not just a story. It's the story not just of this One man. It's the story of us.

Now, we may not all be born blind, but we're all spiritually born blind. And there's a choice when the light comes that we have to decide: will we admit the darkness that is in us? and discover the beauty of the light. Or will we deny the darkness that is in us? and be blinded by the light.

See, this is the this is the Differentiator. This is what separates the two groups. It's why sinners draw near to Jesus. And self-righteous religious people Stand far. Away.

Because the closer you get to the light, the more you see your darkness. And if you believe in karma, That you get what you deserve in life. Then you can't admit to your sin because then you deserve condemnation, don't you? Don't you see? But if you believe the world is framed in grace, If you believe the world as Jesus reveals it to be, that He comes.

in order to lay down his life. To have his light snuffed out, so that he might take our darkness upon himself, so that we might live forever in the light. If that's the way the world is, then you can come into the light, you see. If you believe in karma, the light is an enemy. If you believe in grace, the light is your friend.

So how about you? What will you do with the light? Won't you let the light in? Friends. Jesus is the light of the world.

His light is not Our enemy. But our friend. Oh, it will expose us. It will show the darkness in the corners of our life. But that's nothing to be afraid of.

Because the world doesn't run on karma. The world runs on grace. And the beauty of our Jesus, who is the light of the world, who came that we might have life. abundantly. in him.

Won't you come? To the light. Even today. Let's pray, Heavenly Father. We want to admit.

That our souls are darker than we Admiral. often in public. There are things we hide. Things we run from. dark corners in our souls that We're afraid if they come into the light are the consequences of that.

But, Father, we also believe. That you sent your Son into the world to be the light. To shine, that his light is not just exposing, but is purifying. is cleansing. That he comes to drive the darkness out of us so that it no longer defines us, but that we might have freedom and life.

and not be enslaved to the darkness anymore. That if we would believe in Jesus, That he is your son. that he came and offered his life on our behalf. died on the cross in our place and for our sake and rose again. to make us right with you.

that the light would come in. and that we might be changed. And so, Father, right now we commit ourselves to you. All that we are, would you shine in our hearts? Draw us into the light.

Make us holy and righteous and pure. Be our Savior, be our Lord, be our everything. We want to let the light. Yeah.

So we come to the line. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. On today's Moody Church hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with another message in a series he's calling Loved by Jesus, the book of John.

We heard about the blinding, lessons on how to truly see the light that Jesus offers.

Next time, we'll hear Jesus proclaim, I am the Good Shepherd. The Moody Church Hour is a listener-supported ministry. We count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you. Together, we share solid biblical teaching. that transforms lives across America and around the world.

You can call us at 1-800-200-0. 2155001. That's 1-800-0. 2155001. Online, you'll find us at MoodyChurchHour.com.

That's MoodyChurchHour.com. Or Write to us at Moody Church Media. 1635 North La Salle Boulevard. Chicago, Illinois, six oh six one four. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.