The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-02-21

Immediately after this saying, he pro-
cecded to cure the man of his blindness,
Without waiting Tor any appeal, SO far as the
record goes, for help from the blind man.
OF the six cascs Of blindness cured 10y the
saviour, this was the only case Of cungenital
Observation-Disclosures from birth,
The means used were the simplest, HnUint-
ing with -pjttle and clay, and sending him 10
the pool of SLOAN To wash. Yet simple as
they were, they We're just suited 10 the pur-
pose of hclpfulness to the man in securing
his sight. and typical of the means by
which the soul is recovered from sin. The
amounting brought the poor blind man in
touch with the Healer, aud was means of
faith that enabled him to 80 and obediently
wash in the pool.
lie went his way, therefore, and washed,
and came seeing" Here, while We have an
actual miracle of mercy, we have also one Of
those beautiful paraDies Of redemption with
| which the life of Jesus ubuunded. Light and
Il rkness are frequent symbols Of righteous
ness and sin.
Jesus in the lesson represents Himself as
1.-THE light Of life" He is called the "Sun
of Righteousness with healing in his wings;
the ''dayspring from ON high; 1.-THE bright
and morning star"
The sun is a perpetual symbol and illustra-
ton of what Jesus is doing for the world.
As the sun Is the source of light in the nat
ural world; 50 all spiritual light comes from
Christ. As the sun Is the source of heat to
he natural world; 50 in God 5 love TO US in
Jcsu- Christ, bringing warmth and cheer
uud blessing. As the chemical rays of the
sun cause the movements Of life in the
plants: 10 Us is Christ the source OF spir-
ituul life. As the absence Of the sun would
cause binding darkness and death in the
earth; 50 the absence of Christ from the soul
brings sin and darkness and death. such
being the apalugies, how strikingly and
beautifully does The miracle OF the lesson
illustrate the conversion of the soul; the
passing from darkness to light, from death
to life.
The comparison Of Jesus is shown in break
ing through the cold theological theorizing
of his disciples; cutting short the discussion
as to the cause of lnis poor mans condition,
and emphasizing the duty of doing something
to relieve his wants, showing II mself the
ideal good Samaritan, Christ could just as
| easily, by Il simple word, have given sight to
the poor beggar, but then the teaching would
have been lost that it is through obedience
| to God plan that the soul is brought from
darkness - light. He was to do the very
OF this obedience--the evidence OF his faith
--came light to his darkened eyeballs and
subsequently the light Of life to his soul.
In this case Jesus cured the body that he
might cure the soul; he flashed sunlight into
the sightless orbs that spiritual light might
come to the sin-dHrkened soul. We see this
in the subsequent verses of the chapter,
from which also We gather other valuable
lessons in the conduct Of the Pharisees, the
parents and the man himself The fact Of
the miracle was so conclusively established
upuu the evidence of the nelghbors, the
parents and the man himself, that the Phari-
sees became divided, some cuntending that
Jesus was sinner because the cure was
effected the sabbath day" others
raising the question: "Huw can man that
| Is sinner do such miraclesr'
| The parents through fear of excommunlca-
| ton, after identifying their son as the one
| born blind and now seeing, backed down
from giving any evidence in favor OF Jesus,
and threw the whole responsibility upon
their son as "uf age and able TO speak for
| himself" 1t is wonderfully interesting to
see this young man standing up for Jesus,
| boldly facing those brow beating Pharisees,
aud without flnching, squarely answering
| their questions and hurting back any insinu-
alton that he was a sinner, "Slnce the
world began was It not heard that any
man opened the eyes OF one that was born
blind. II this man were not Of God he
could do nothing" And true to their ma
ture, and illustrating the spirit of bigotry In
ali ages, as "A last argument, ''they cast him
out" But Jesus found him again, revealed
Himself fully TO him as the Son Of God, and
| the young man said: Lord believe; and
he woIshiped Him."