John 1:4,5 – In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Light and life are major themes found throughout the gospel of John. Every miracle Jesus performed, every life Jesus touched, was affected by His light and life. There was the man born blind in John 9, this man had never seen anything since the day he was born. In a sense he was walking as a dead man, cut off from the beauty of God’s creation. The moment he followed the Lord’s instructions and washed his eyes in the pool of Siloam his eyes were opened, he could see for the first time. He saw colors and faces, he saw the trees and the sky, he saw the crowd rapidly gathering shocked by this miracle. More importantly he saw Jesus. Now he didn’t just see Jesus, he really saw Him. Many people think they see Jesus but they don’t really have a clue, it is only the light of God that can open our eyes to see Him. Here is a quote from my commentary on John about this passage.
“First, people that are spiritually blind cannot even comprehend what light is. How do you describe light to a blind man? Once the blind eyes are healed the blind person enters into a brand new world. This is how the light of Christ is. Not everyone can see, but when Christ opens your eyes everything comes alive.
Secondly, darkness can never create light. Think about it, the darkness of this world comes from the prince of darkness. He is a fallen, created being. He is no challenge to the light of the world and can never overcome the Light of the World.
Finally, darkness can never put out the Light of Christ. His Light is infinite and all powerful. The Light penetrates the darkness of this world, all that know Him live and rejoice in this light.”
In today’s verse John describes the power of the light of God, darkness cannot overcome it, stop it, or comprehend it. That’s why when Jesus was born most of the world, even the religious teachers had no idea who He was. Only the touch of God can heal a blind man’s eyes, only the touch of God can help us to comprehend the gospel. When we grasp the truth of God’s word, like the blind man we can finally see the face of Jesus.