The story about Jesus healing the two blind men is a story that reveals our need for the light of Christ and the way to receive that light. The irony in this story is that, in a spiritual sense, the two men have no need of healing. They already see with the eyes of faith. They clearly see and understand that Jesus has the power to do just that, heal them of their blindness. They demonstrate their belief in answer to his question, do you believe that I can do this. When they answer yes, Jesus affirms their steadfast faith and spiritual vision by restoring their physical sight. They simply ask and Jesus responds.
This story highlights a common need for spiritual light as the way to be healed of spiritual blindness. Jesus highlights this need when he says that “the lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is bad, your entire body will be in darkness,” and that darkness is great indeed (Mt 6:22-23). In putting it this way, Jesus describes the need for light in both a physical and a spiritual sense.
Scripture reveals this dual function of light in at least three ways. The first is the way light functions in the creation story. On the first day of creation, the earth was covered with darkness and God created light that he called day and the darkness he called night (1:1-5). On the fourth day, God created the sun to illuminate the day and the moon and stars to illuminate the night (1:14-17). God was not the light itself. Rather, the light was merely a manifestation of His presence (Ps 4:6). Today, the light of God allows us to see his creation in all its plenitude, beauty and variety.
The second role for light is the spiritual function it has for us. Jesus reveals this role in his claim that he is “…the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8-12). With this claim, Jesus declares himself to be light in a spiritual sense. Jesus is the light that gives life to the soul, for all things were created in and through him, including life itself. His light “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (Jn 1:1-5).
This is why Jesus tells his disciples, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light” (Mt 11:35–36). To be a child of light through faith in Jesus, therefore, is the third role of light.
The children of light believe in Jesus and follow his way. Their faith enables them to become light for the world and salt for the earth. As children of the light, the followers of Jesus do not to hide their light under a bushel basket. Rather, they let others see the good deeds they carry out with his light in imitation of his good deeds. In fact, we are made for good deeds born of the light of Christ (Mt 5:13-16; Ep 2:10).
The challenge for us today is how to access the light of Christ. How can we see with the eyes of faith? We need the light of Christ here in the physical world as much as we need his light in the spiritual realm. The blind men who were healed by Jesus show us the answer. They simply ask for his light. Their faith motivates their search for healing, and their search born of faith leads them to Jesus, who is eager to comply.
Jesus wants to give that same light to everyone. This is the very reason he came into the world (Jn 1:9). Jesus is light itself (1 Jn 1-7). He is the new dawn that brings “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lk 1:78-79). He gives us light to heal our spiritual darkness, and that healing brings us peace. All we have to do is ask for his light. Why else would he say to us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you” (Mt 7:7-8). There is simply no better way to put it.
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