Gillespie, J Stewart: John 9 I AM The Light Of The World

It is nice to be with you again in Butte Hall. Uh, so Bob has told me what to speak on. He hasn't given me any notes to follow those, so I have to come up with that bit myself, and we'll do our best to have a look at the I am seeing, I am the light of the world. First of all, please, could we, um, begin, uh, reading in the Old Testament of the scriptures, in the book of First Samuel. First Samuel, please, and chapter number three. First Samuel and chapter number three. First Samuel and chapter number three. And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see. And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here am I. Verse, chapter four, verse number four. So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the post which dwelleth between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. And you'll remember, of course, that that battle goes against the nation of Israel. In verse eleven, the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were slain. Uh, verse thirteen, and when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside, watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, what meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily and told Eli, Eli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see. And of course, there is a grandson born to him, and verse twenty one, and she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory is departed from Israel. And a verse, please, in the book of Psalms, Psalm um one hundred and eighteen. Psalm, Psalm 118. Just for connection, verse twenty two eh, of this Messianic Psalm, Psalm one hundred and eighteen, verse twenty two: the stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. And those words in verse twenty five, save now in Hebrew, of course, are Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. Over into John's gospel, a verse, first of all, in chapter one of John's gospel. John's gospel in chapter number one, verse number four. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And then, uh, John's Gospel in chapter number nine. John chapter number nine. John chapter nine and verse number one. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, Neither had this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me whilst it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And when he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the sparrow, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation saint. He went his way, therefore, and washed and came seeing. The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that that sat and begged? And some said, This he, this is he, others said, He's like him. But he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? And he answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed, and I received sight. And they, then, then, then said they unto him, Where is he? And he said, I know not. And they brought, they brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind, and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then again, the Pharisees also asked, asked him how he had received his sight. And he said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and, and I watched and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. And we do look to God for help as we think about some of these things together this evening. John's gospel, of course, is a gospel that is full of patterns. You'll have noticed that, eh, many times, I'm sure, as you read through the gospel. Eh, in particular, one of the patterns that you find right the way through John's gospel is the pattern of groups of seven, groups of seven. You, you will have noticed, I don't know how far through, eh, the I ams you are. I don't know if you're doing them one by one or not, or if you're giving them out, eh, eh, just at the speaker's preference, but you'll have worked out, I'm sure, eh, that there are seven I ams, and there's a, there's one group of seven for you anyway, the seven I am sayings of the Lord Jesus. To that, of course, you could add the seven miracles, the seven sign miracles. There are, eh, more than seven miracles in John's gospel, but there are seven specific sign miracles the Lord Jesus Christ performs that we might accurately, uh, and and easily identify him for who he is. He is none other than the creator of the universe, and he shows that and displays that by his power over, uh, natural elements, his power over water to turn it into wine, by his power over the storm, by his power over life and over death, and he shows that he indeed is the creator. He is the Word who was with God and who is God. To those seven, of course, you could also add the seven women of John's Gospel. I don't think I've heard anyone else speak about the seven women of John's Gospel. I've spoken on it myself, but if you were to go through John's gospel, you would find that the Lord Jesus Christ meets seven women. And in fact, not only does he meet seven women, but he meets seven women on seven separate occasions. And that's not just the same thing said twice in a different way. For if you actually look at the occasions when the Savior meets women, you'll find that sometimes he meets two at a time, Mary and Martha, of course, in John eleven. Sometimes he meets three women at a time, uh, uh, the three Marys at the foot of his cross, and sometimes just one at a time, the woman at the well, of course. But if you count them all up, you'll find there are seven separate women names or or identified women in John's gospel who meet the Savior, and the Savior would meet them on seven different occasions. It's also the gospel, of course, of seven disciples. You would say, well, now, Stuart, we know that you made that one up because we know there's twelve. Well, as far as John's concerned, there's only seven. Uh, he only names seven. uh He does make reference to the twelve, but only seven disciples are actually named in John's gospel, and you can see that there is something going on here in this interesting gospel. Not only is it the gospel of seven women and seven I am sayings and seven miracles, uh, and seven meetings and encounters with the Lord Jesus, but it's also the gospel of seven water pots. Seven water pots. And believe it or not, I even managed to get a ministry message out of that. That stretched it a bit, but seven empty water pots, uh, of John's gospel. Y- you would find, I'm sure you remember six of them, don't you? You remember the six empty water pots in John chapter number two. Uh, they're at the wedding of Cain of Galilee, dead and dry and barren, a picture of Judaism, and the Savior comes and he's able to fill it with wine and with joy. There is a seventh. Where's the seventh? It's interesting that John bothers to record it, isn't it? For you remember that it is John in his gospel who tells us that if everything that could be written about the Lord Jesus Christ was written, the world itself could not contain the books therein. And yet the Spirit of God and the Apostle John take time in John chapter number four uh to record the whereabouts of the seventh empty water pot. It's still sitting there, as far as John's concerned, at the edge of that well. You remember the woman who came, uh, to draw water, uh, from the, the, from Jacob's well, uh, at Sychar. You remember that woman, and she left her well water pot. It's recorded in scripture. She's li- she left her water pot. John just says, I'm really pressed for for space here, you know. He records that, that she left her water pot, and she went back to her town to tell others about the Savior. It's the same word that's used in John two of water pots, and that makes seven empty water pots. Uh, just one more I'll I'll give you. You can find more if you like. It's also the gospel of seven hungry disciples. The gospel that begins with seven empty water pots in John chapter two and chapter four concludes in John chapter twenty one with seven hungry disciples. One very simple lesson I would take from it all is this, that the Savior who is able to perform seven great miracles and who has these seven great titles of I am that we'll think about in a moment, or one of them anyway, is the Savior who is able to satisfy. He's able to fill the seven empty water pots at the beginning of the gospel, and he's able to satisfy seven hungry disciples at the end of the gospel. He is the all-sufficient Christ. John's gospel makes much of the Lord Jesus, and it makes much of the Lord Jesus in many ways. Uh, it makes much of the Savior in the patterns and in the pictures that John gives us, and in these lovely titles, the I am titles. Now, maybe we could, we could just say one or two things before we, we actually look at the, the, the, the I am title that is before us tonight, I am the light of the winnow. Uh, perhaps by, by, by general comment, we could just, uh, draw your attention to this, that when the, the Savior, uh, uses these titles, uh, he's not just describing attributes that might just be, um, that we might just be able to give to anyone. Uh, he, he uses this title in a very special way, and I think we have a very clear indication of, of how the Savior uses this title, uh, just back a verse or two from John nine, at the end of John chapter number eight, You remember there in John eight and verse fifty six, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. And then said the Jews unto him, thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. I am. And there is the root of all of these seven titles, I am, I am. Now, someone has well observed that I am is lousy English for I was. The Savior is not saying that before Abraham was, I was. He says before Abraham was, I am. And as he lays hold of that title, the Jews are absolutely clear about what the Savior is claiming. For it says there, in the concluding verse of John chapter eight, then took they up stones to cast at him. There were only seven reasons that you might stone a person under Jewish law. The one that, the, the only one that would be relevant here is blasphemy. They knew that in taking the title I am, the Savior was taking them back to the beginnings of God's revelation to Moses, at the opening pages of the book of Exodus, where God appeared to Moses, and Moses asked who it is that has sent me down there in Egypt. Who, who shall I say has sent me? And the divine title I am was revealed to Moses. So we remember that as we read the title tonight, I am the light of the world. We read one of seven titles, but all seven titles have this in common. They begin with this great, eh, title of deity. And so all seven titles, including the one that we see tonight, are titles, titles of God, titles of deity. These are seven, eh, divine features or or seven, eh, aspects of deity, if you like, a- a- and the one that we have here, I am the light of the world. You you can see, of course, as you you look back or as you look forward, I don't know quite where you've got to in your studies, but you can see it, of course, I'm sure that as you look at some of these titles, that it's quite clear they could only be used in that way. They're only true of God himself. For example, back in John chapter number six, you have that title, I am the bread of life. And there the Lord Jesus Christ presents himself as the very sustainer and source and origin of life. You'll remember that it was taught to the people of, of, of Israel way back in the book of Deuteronomy that only God himself is able to sustain life. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God shall man live. As the Savior presents himself as the bread of life, as the very sustainer and upholder of life, he claims for himself a divine attribute. Later on, of course, in John chapter number eleven, the Savior will present this great attribute o- o- o- o- and great title, I am the resurrection and the life. You'll remember, of course, that that too could only ever be claimed by God. It is a divine title. You have it, of course, way back in the book of Genesis. God, eh, took man, or or God took the dust of the earth, he formed it, he breathed into man the breath of life. God himself is the source of life. As Elijah would perform one of the, eh, three resurrection miracles in the Old Testament scripture, there in First Kings chapter seventeen, you'll remember that before he was able, eh, to see that boy raised up the window of Zarephath's son, he went up into his room and he prayed, and he interceded for God, for he knew that only God himself was able to raise up that boy from the dead. You'll remember, of course, in the book of Exodus, as the the ten eh, plagues sweep across Egypt, eh, wi- wi- wi- with destructive power, you'll remember that the waters are turned into blood. Pharaoh's magicians can copy it. You'll remember that the frogs come out of the river. Fa- Pharaoh's magicians can copy it. And you'll remember that, that, that, eh, lice, the dust is taken, and it's turned into lice, and Pharaoh's magicians are unable to copy it, and they conclude that it's the finger of God. Why? Because only God can give life. So as the Savior takes these great titles, he's taking titles that are only true of deity. Now, I think that, that perhaps amongst all of the great titles that are given to the Lord Jesus Christ in John's gospel, the one that we have tonight is perhaps, uh, the clearest of them all, as being a title unique to God himself. I am the light of the world. You will remember, of course, that the, uh, word of God that you and I have in our hands does something that is most unusual and something that was most unexpected in the ancient world. Uh, this book that you and I have in our hands, it divided two things that pagan men and women never divided. It divided the source and the substance of life. And if you were to go to the book of Genesis in chapter number one, you would find something there that perplexes men even till today. For in, in, in, in the book of Genesis, on the very first day you have light, but it's not until you reach the fourth day that you've got the sun. And yet from the, the days of Genesis and forward even till today, the commonest god that men and women worship was the sun god. Why? Because the sun was the source of light. But from the very beginning of our Bibles, God draws a distinction, and God teaches us that the source of light is not the sun, but there is a source of light beyond the sun. And you remember that God himself brings light into this world in Genesis chapter one. He'll give light to the world. Not only will he be the source of light for the world, but you'll remember that in the days of the plagues of Egypt, as darkness came upon the, uh, nation of Egypt, the, the children of Israel had light in their dwelling. He would give them light in their dwellings. You remember too that as they were led out of Egypt, they would be led by a pillar, eh, by the day and by a, by, by fire by night. He would give them light for the way. And you'll remember that in the tabernacle, where there was no natural light of the sun, there was a lamp. A lamp that was made i- i- in the figure of a tree. It was bringing forth almonds. It was shaped with branches. It was a life-giving thing. It was a thing that, that was pictured there with the, with the almond. The Hebrew word for almond is the waker. The first thing that, eh, brings forth fruit, I- I'm told. I don't know much about plants, but I'm told that's why it was called the waker tree. It was the first to bring forth fruit, eh, in the spring. And they called it the waker tree. And there, in the midst of the tabernacle, there was light, no natural light, but God had provided the light, and it came forth from a living thing, says John concerning Christ. In him was life, and that life was a light of men. Only God could do that, provide light for the world, and provide light for the way, and provide light for the path, and provide light for the worship. It was a divine attribute. And so the Savior comes here in John chapter nine and verse number five, and you see the significance of the words that he uses. We've taken time to to back it up. As long as I am in the world, I am. That in itself is a claim to deity. I am the light of the world, and that too is a claim to deity. Now, some time ago, down at Newcomer, we took a little time, as you have taken yourself, to go through the I am sayings. Although, uh, we spoke on them on a Sunday night in the gospel, so a little bit different. And and we worked our way through the seven I am sayings of John's gospel. And then after we had done that, we did something else. We worked our way through the seven miracles of John's gospel. And it came very much to my attention, and and maybe it was a little bit convenient for me as well, because it was me that was working through them. But as we worked through the seven I ams, and as we worked through the seven miracles, there was a bit of repetition. I could repeat my messages. It's always handy, isn't it? But there are three unique I am sayings amongst those seven that overlap with the seven sign miracles of John's gospel, and this one is one of them. Three, three of them. Three that are quite distinct from the rest. So it's almost as if the Spirit of God is saying, look, if you go through these seven, seven I am sayings in, in, in this gospel, I, I, I, I'll draw your attention to a truth. And then if you go through this gospel again and you look at the seven sign miracles, I'm going to draw your attention to the same three truths because they overlap. Those three, of course, John chapter number six, I am the bread of life, and as the Savior would make that statement, he would make it within the context of the feeding of the five thousand. And so you've got one of these sign miracles and you've got an I am saying. You have it here in John chapter nine. it's the middle of them, very significant that bit. It's John chapter nine. you have this, a great statement, I am the light of the world, and you've got the miracle of the man born blind, and he gets his, his, his sight back. The third of them, of course, is John chapter number eleven, I am the resurrection and the life, and that, of course, is stated during that miracle in which the Savior will raise Lazarus again from the dead, and so the three overlap. Now, these three are different from the rest. All of the I am sayings tell us something about God. All of them are aspects of deity, all of them are, in a sense, divine titles. But of these particular three, and of the one that we're looking at tonight, you, you, you, you, you have the very character and the very essence of God. Let me just draw a distinction for you. There are certain things that God is in himself, and there are certain things that God does. There are certain, eh, abilities that God has, certain things that he can do, and then there are certain things that he is in himself. If you've ever taken the funeral of an unbeliever, and if you've ever sat with the relatives of unbelievers choosing hymns, you will find that top of the list of hymns is, uh, the Good Shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd. That attribute of God as shepherd. There are certain attributes of God that appeal to us. Certain features of Christ that, uh, have have a definite draw to us, because there are certain things that he can do for us. He is able to be our shepherd. I am the Good Shepherd. He is able to open up the door of salvation. I am the door. He is able to raise up men and women from the dead. And then there are certain attributes which God has in himself, which really are just all about him. It's what he is in himself. Not so much what he can do, the way into heaven, or the good shepherd. Not simply what I can enjoy of him, but these three central I am sayings. I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, and I am the resurrection and the life, the very essence of God, what he is in himself. And in these three I am sayings, not only are they repeated in the miracles, but you'll find that as these three particular attributes of Christ are presented to men and women, they are presented in such a way as men and women are given a choice. If you were to ask an unbeliever, would you like a good shepherd? I think most of them would say they would, and they'll sing it at their funerals, the Lord is my shepherd. If you were to ask men and women who are unsaved, would you like the way into heaven? Most of them, I think, would say they would. But if you were to ask men and women, what about God as the light? The light that shows up sin. The light that is absolute righteousness. The light that penetrates deep into your soul and is able to detect every error and every fault. The light that is the very revelation of God himself. Do you want that? And the interesting thing is that as the Savior presents not only what he can do, the way into heaven, the way back to God, not only that he is able to be a good shepherd, but when Go- when the Savior takes the very essence of deity, in him was life, and that life was the light of men, and he presents the life of God, he presents the light of God. The interesting thing is that it meets with one consistent, uh, response, it meets with rejection. So you go to John six as the Savior presents, uh, this attribute of deity that he is the sustainer of all life. I am the bread of life. You come into John chapter number six. verse number sixty six. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Didn't want to. We're quite happy to have the blessings, if you like, and the benefits from Christ, but when it actually comes to him personally, we're not too interested. Thanks very much. John chapter number nine, as the Savior presents his character, I am the light of the world. We kind of read a little of the reaction that he received, but John chapter nine, eh, verse number sixteen, therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God. And as you read down it, you'll find that they reject not only Christ, but they reject the man who was made to see. You come, of course, into John chapter number eleven. The Savior will present the, the, the, this attribute of deity. He will present the very character of God as the one who gives life. He raises Lazarus from the dead. John chapter number eleven, uh, verse, uh, number, uh, fifty three. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Three central I am sayings that tell us not only what he is able to do, but what he is in himself. That is why I read John chapter one, verse number four: in him was life, and that life was the light of men. It is the character of God, God is light. It is the character and essence of God. He is the source of all life. And as men and women are presented with this, not only the offer of salvation, but they're presented with what God is like in himself, that we find that he's rejected. Does that have any practicable consequences for me? I remember once a young man, not long saved, uh, he went along to an assembly, and he was there for a few Sundays, uh, joining with them in their morning worship. Very sincerely, uh, he happened to comment, and his comment was this about the morning worship meeting in the assembly that he had gone along to. He said, you know, it surprises me how long you can be a Christian and yet how little you can truly appreciate about Christ. He was surprised by how little of Christ there was coming out of the worship in that assembly. You see, there are certain things that I can enjoy about Christ. I can be pleased that he has saved me, and that is good. We ought to rejoice in that. I- I can be pleased that I have a hope after death, for he is able to raise me again from the dead. But the essence of these three central I am sayings is what about him in himself? What about him when everything else is stripped away? There is so much, after all, that can kind of artificially support our Christian life. Friends and family, good things, fellowship, health, a life that's going on without any huge problems. All of these things can kind of bolster our Christianity at times, but when these things begin to get stripped away and we're just left a bit like the woman in John chapter eight with nothing else but Christ in the midst. Is that enough? Is that attractive? Does that actually interest us? Or is it the other things? And the interesting reaction, of course, from the men and women of the day in which the Savior presented these things was that it wasn't enough, and and they really didn't want it. By all means, give us a Messiah, and by all means, give us eternal life, and by all means, a way into heaven. And yes, we would love to be raised up again at the last day. But what about the very essence of Christ himself? Do we find that appealing? Do we find his light appealing? Do we find his righteousness appealing? Do we find the revelation of God in Christ appealing? Are we interested in feeding upon him personally, John six as the bread of life? That's what's scunted them in John six. Scunted them. The dependence upon him. And in John chapter number nine, the Savior meets with total rejection. Seven I ams, I am the light of the world, presenting not only what Christ can do, but who he is. Maybe I will just make one or two comments. I see the time really has has kind of gone from us again, but maybe just one or two little comments I will, I will make about the, the I am saying in particular here in John chapter number nine, just be- before we, we, we, we, we finish it. I think in in that chapter, you know, in John chapter nine, as the the Savior would speak there, or or in verse number five, I am the light of the world. I I I I can see at least three things in which the Savior, in a sense, is fulfilling in that chapter. The three things in which, uh, the Savior, uh, really would reveal himself, three ways in which he would reveal himself as, as, as the one who is expected of all. You can see here in John chapter nine, I think, a mark of his creatorial power. There is something in John nine of the creatorial power of God. You see there a man that was born blind. You notice that it was a miracle that occurs on the Sabbath day, one of seven miracles, of course, in the Gospels, that, that, that, that, that would transpire on the Sabbath day. And here in John chapter nine, the Savior is going to perform a work. In a sense, it is a work, eh, that will commence where God finished in Genesis chapter number one. God, of course, did his work for six days, and here in John chapter nine, the Savior will come in on the seventh, on, on the Sabbath day, and the Savior will, in a sense, complete a work that God had finished in Genesis chapter one, a work that has, of course, been ruined and wrecked by sin. The Savior comes in, and he will restore, eh, what has been taken away. You can see the hands of the Creator in all of this. I draw your attention to verse number six, the the very means by which the Savior would perform the miracle. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and he made clear the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. Here are the hands of God. Here are the hands of God that, that moved there in the opening pages of the book of Genesis. You remember how God had made man at the very beginning. He had taken, eh, man from the dust of the ground. He had formed man of the dust of the ground. He had called them Adam. Adam from the Hebrew word for clay, Adama. And man formed from the clay, eh, made into a living being. Here is Christ, and he'll take of that same clay as the creator had done in the opening chapters, o- o- o- an opening chapter of Genesis, and he'll take the clay and he'll spit in it. And you would follow, you you could follow eh the the the spittle through the Old Testament scriptures, not a very eh inspiring study perhaps, but if you were to follow it through, you would find that almost always it is connected with a curse. And so the Savior would take the thing that would be connected with a curse, and he would take the ground from which the man was formed, and he would reverse the curse. He's going to take a man born blind, and he's going to do a creatorial work. This isn't just a man who's got an illness and a sickness that has to be reversed. It's a man that has never had a possessed the ability to see. He's going to do a crea- creatorial work. And from the dust of the ground he creates, and and and and from the spittle he reverses the curse, and he anoints the eyes of the man that was born blind. The Savior will fulfill, eh, this great picture of the Creator. You will notice perhaps too that the man is sent there to the Pool of Siloam. The Jews had a great expectation that one day Messiah would come. The coming of Messiah was linked with that Pool of Siloam. The setting of John nine is the Feast of Tabernacles. You'll find that back in, uh, John chapter number seven, verse number two. Uh, now the, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. And each morning in the Feast of Tabernacles, uh, the priest would come from the temple, he would go down to the Pool of Siloam, he would take a golden, uh, beaker, and he would draw water from the golden beaker. He would go back before the morning sacrifice, eh, go up to the altar, and with the water from the Pool of Siloam, he would pour it into a silver funnel. The water would pour out at the base of that altar, eh, of the sacrifice in the morning of the Feast of Tabernacles, and as he poured it out, he would quote from Psalm one hundred and eighteen, verse number twenty five: Said now, I beseech thee, O Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. He would sing Hosanna as he poured out the water. And the teaching, the picture for the Jew that was taught, that the meaning that was given to all of that was this, that one day Messiah would come and water of blessing would be poured out and God would abide with his people, the Feast of Tabernacles. Messiah would come, there would be a blessing that would flow from him. And so the Savior would send a man at the Feast of Tabernacles down to the pool of Si- of of Siloam, uh, to draw the water and to wash his eyes. He was fulfilling the expectation of a coming Messiah. He was fulfilling the expectation of the Creator, he was fulfilling the expectation of the coming Messiah, and I think as well he was fulfilling the pictures of Old Testament scripture. It was sad days that we read of in First Samuel chapter number three, the closing days of a great nation in many ways. You'll find that towards the end of the history of the people of God in the Old Testament scriptures, before the captivity, you'll find that they had a blind priest, Eli. You'll find that they had a blind prophet, Ahijah, and you'll find that they had a blind king, Zedekiah. We, we, we, we read of one of them, the blind priest. You would find him there at the same place that we read of, really, in effect, in John nine. Eli was found at the tabernacle. They didn't have a temple in those days, but he was there at the tabernacle. He, he was sitting there as a, as a blind priest, just at the gates of the tabernacle. You would read there in First Samuel chapter number three that the light was going out. Darkness was coming to the tabernacle. Blindness was there at the tabernacle. It was the place where God himself o- ought to have been honored, and as you, as as we read through, eh, through chapter four, you saw, of course, that the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of the presence of God, had gone. God is able to redeem the situation. It takes till John nine for him to redeem the situation, as the Savior will return, and the presence of God will return, and as the light that went out in First Samuel three comes back, in a sense, in John chapter number nine. Not now at Shiloh, but here, not far from Siloam. Very similar word in the Hebrew, not the same word, but very similar. A- a- and, and, and the glory that was being lost in the Old Testament, the blindness of the priest, the light going out, a- and the absence of the glory of God is being reversed as the light of the world is coming there to the temple, as the offer of salvation is being made, and as the man that was blind in the precincts of the temple receives back his sight. He's able to move there as creator, and he's able to move there as redeemer, and he's able to move there as Messiah. He is indeed the God that they had expected, the light of the world. Shall we? Our Father, we do just come into thy presence. We thank thee for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank our Father of what he is in himself. We remember our Father that he is indeed the light of the world. And we remember our Father that he indeed is the very bread of life, and we remember, our Father, that he indeed is the resurrection and the life. We think of these things that really mark what he is in himself, and we pray, Father, that there might be that desire after him. We think, our Father, of many things about him that are appealing. We think of the blessings that come from him that we enjoy, but we think, our Father, of that, uh, which he is in himself. We pray that that would always give us a real appetite for Christ, a hunger and thirst after him, and we pray, Father, that thou would satisfy us with him. We thank thee, our Father, for the way that Christ indeed has laid claims to the very, eh, identity o- of God himself. We thank thee, our Father, for these great titles. We thank our Father of the way that he fulfilled expectation, the way our Father that he was marked by the power of the Creator, and the way in fact our Father in which he redeemed, eh, the problems, uh, of sin, uh, that sin had brought. We thank you, our Father, for Christ. We return thanks for him. Give us a passion for him as we offer thanks in Jesus' name.