Spiritual Blindness
“All I know is this: once I was blind, now I can see.” John 9:25
How many times have you read a story, watched a picture and became so engrossed that you were a part of the action taking place?
To read the events of the gospels, one must become a participant in each scene, to be an eye witness, involved in every action. Not just there looking on, but to identify with each character, for in each instance a part of our self is in each one.
This blind pan presented by John….Who is he? Could it be myself?
The disciples and misguided questioning? Myself? Not a spectator, not a bystander, not a looker on. The gospel says no, one has to take their place in each event.
This man by the Judean roadside is just ourselves, until God in Christ made us to see. Without this we cannot know ourselves as we really are. We cannot see our fellow man as he really is. We cannot see the meaning, the wonder and purpose of life. We cannot see earth crammed with heaven and every bush afire with God.
The proofs of blindness with our sight is in the prejudices we mistakenly call truth, illusions we cherish, dull familiarity of things that leads us down in miserable depression. You see mistakes tend to atrophy the faculty of vision. Every moral compromise is a progressive desensitizing of the soul.
WITHOUT GOD IN THOUGHT WORD AND DEED, WE ARE AS JESUS SAID, “THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND” AND BOTH FALL IN THE DITCH!
Man trying to build a new order and better world with God nowhere in their thoughts are no more than dreamers.
Look at the disciples; we are there too. The question they asked was based on what they saw as a theological problem, “who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind.”
This arose because in the centuries since God looked on creation and pronounced it “Good”. Man had gone astray in his thinking, action, labors and worship. Jewish theology gave the answer to the question asked by the disciples. Such cases of blindness were a direct result and punishment for individual or corporate wrongdoing, whether of others, even to the prenatal wrongdoing of the sufferer himself.
Now look at the scripture. Jesus did not accept this. He sets aside the orthodox notion of an equivalence between suffering and sin. Still this lingers with so man even to this day. Chiefest of sinners because of the suffering? That comes to me.
Notice also that Jesus does not pursue the question any farther than his answer; “neither did this man sin; for his parents.” Jesus leaves it along, “But that the works of God should be manifest in him, I must now do the work of Him who sent me.”
Now Jesus is not ruling out that effort or trade out and destroy or deal with evil of sin. The point Jesus is making here is that we are not to be so concerned as to why the situation arose, but rather How are we going to let God in upon it so that His will can take control? Please understand, for in any and every situation no matter how dark, God can be made manifest.
To ask why any such and such a calamity happened or as to the reason why trouble suddenly breaks in is not the correct question. Rather we should ask, “How can I let God in upon this thing?” You see Jesus will not answer such questioning any more than He answered the disciples that day long ago. Beloved, there is no conceivable situation in which there does not exist some opportunity to Glorify God. Learn this and one is more than a conquer.
The blind man’s eyes were anointed, and he was sent to wash in the healing waters. Sight came, and beloved this is the characteristic work of Jesus still, for you, me and the rest of the world shattering the darkness of a lifetime.
Note the man saw four things. The wonder and beauty of creation, the faces of his fellow men, himself and Jesus to whom he owes everything.
Does not God open our eyes to the glory of His creation? Does He not open our eyes to our fellow man, seeing them as children of God? Not as a cog in a machine, factors in some race problem, not just faces in a crowd. Does He not open our eyes to ourselves, seeing ourselves as the prophet of old who saw himself unfit for God’s presence.
Does He not open our eyes to Himself, no longer is He someone we read about in a book, hear about in church, argue about in some discussion. He opens our eyes and we see Him as the center of our very life, the light before which all darkness has fled, the wisdom to know truth, a new vision as the very light of the very world!
Note the former blind man is questioned by his neighbors. This is as sure to happen today – let Jesus open your eyes and the questioning begins. The former blind man did not know but very little as to who Jesus was, just someone who opened his eyes, someone who helped. He did not know where he went – healed by the one he knew so very little.
Cannot we see that saving faith is quite a simple thing. We do not need elaborate intricacies of doctrine for a beginning. Jesus said, “Go wash” and he did and beyond that his apparatus of faith was naïve. It was on these terms Jesus gave him sight. Can you not see the millions today who know even less than this blind man? Just a vague idea of theology and sense of moral issues, still if they give Jesus the simplest faith, the first word of assent, mighty things will begin to happen.
I see here a man in debt so deep. There was no hope of repaying the miracle that happened to him. What is the value of sight? How many today are living on the Christian capital of the past generations? Their code of ethics, sense of values, ways of thought colored and flavored by almost every point of Christian influence of almost 2000 years, and not once acknowledging the debt let alone repudiating our debt.
I wonder if you noticed the thing that gave voice to the criticism of this man’s healing? Paradoxical, it certainly is. The attempts to discredit the basis of his healing made his faith more explicate. Isn’t is strange that Christ cannot do a work of grace without the opposition trying to disparage it? Every forward movement of faith accentuates the opposition.
It really is not so strange because this world is a battle ground of light vs. darkness. Any assertion of faith exasperates the darkness and every triumph of faith is defeat of darkness.
There will always be voices to discount every miracle. There will all ways be ways hands to carry cold water for every fire. There will be rationalizing arguments to deflate every sense of the supernatural. There will always be a counter offensive to every triumph of the Lord. There was a Herod even at the cradle.
Jesus dared to heal on the Sabbath, and that violated the opposition’s interpretation of God’s law. Frustrated they began to badger and to bait not only Jesus, but the faith of the one healed. But the real crux is, here is evidence of truth, proof of the power of Christ. So it is with every Christian, they will face the militant opposition of faith.
Here is the feature of this miracle. The opposition made the former blind man an out and out believer. The opposition had an opposite effect, and could it be today as Christians we need a challenge to faith? Apathy seems to be the cancer of the Church. We need to be really challenged from the outside.
Look at their attack, they attacked his parents. Sadly, they took a path too many today in the Church take. To the questions of the Pharisees, they denied and refused to answer the question out of fear.
But the former blind man, he refused to be intimidated. “All I know is this: once I was blind, but I can see.” All the argument the Pharisees presented did not disprove the fact, “once I was blind, but now I have sight.” Any question by darkness presented to the believer is just as unintelligent today. Sin and Evil cannot tell light from Darkness!
Beloved: if Christianity was just based on theory, by theory it could be disproved and demolished. If it is only of psychological basis then psychologist could tear it apart. Because it is based on actual events, history and solid facts of the life of the redeemed and men made new, there is nothing that can shake it. It stands on its own right.
Note the reaction of the man, “Why are you questioning me, do you want to become a disciple too?” Stinging Jibe. They cast their aspersions on Jesus’ character. The former blind man, his faith became more and more explicit. “A man called Jesus, a prophet, someone from God.” His enemy became so enraged they excommunicated him.
Now here is the conclusion of the whole matter. Jesus hearing that he had been cast out, went and found him. He asked him, “Do you believe on the Son of God?” His answer, “I believe!” Did you see it? Jesus went out and found him.
Much is said about finding God as if all the search is on man’s side, as if man takes the initiative. The New Testament declares this to be very untrue. All the time God is seeking man.
The Holy Spirit awakening the desire for God in the heart is nothing compared to or with the compassionate longing of God’s heart for man.
A man called Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man and he called out, “I Believe, and he worshiped Jesus.”
Here we leave this former blind man, kneeling before Jesus on the side of the road.
Jesus still asks the question, “Do you believe?” Healed, forgiven and set free …. Do you believe? Worship Jesus Today, Tomorrow and Forever.
