BLINDED BY SEEING - ISRAEL’S MISSING MESSIAH
HOW MUCH SIGHT LEAVES YOU BLIND?
Sometime before the coming of Jesus, rabbis separated miracles into two categories. First were those miracles anyone would be able to perform if they were empowered by the Spirit of God to do so.
The second category of miracles was called ‘messianic miracles,’ which were miracles only the Messiah would be able to perform. So, because of the rabbinic teaching that certain miracles would be reserved only for the Messiah, whenever He performed one of these miracles, it made the Establishment take notice.
We will see that Jesus intended to demonstrate He was the Messiah using the very theology and teaching of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Let us see how it went.
Let us first look at these miracles.
1. THE FIRST MESSIANIC MIRACLE: THE HEALING OF A LEPER
The first messianic miracle was the healing of a leper. From the time the Mosaic Law was completed, there was no record of any Jew being healed of leprosy.
Leprosy was the one disease that was left out of rabbinic cures. Yet Leviticus 13-14 gave the Levitical Priesthood detailed instructions as to what they were to do when a leper was healed, even though the rabbis had no such cure.
As a result, it was taught by the rabbis that only the Messiah would be able to heal a Jewish leper.
Luke 5:12-14 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
Note what Jesus then told the leper to do (Luke 5:14), “… go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."
His healing, his cleansing was the witness to the power of Jesus. The word ‘them’ refers to the Sanhedrin leadership of Israel. Jesus sent this man directly to the priesthood in Jerusalem to follow the commands of Moses in Leviticus ch.s 13-14.
This man appeared before the priesthood of Israel and declared himself to be a cleansed leper; on that day, the priesthood started seven days of investigation and they would discover three things.
1. This man had been a leper
2. The man was perfectly healed of his leprosy
3. Jesus of Nazareth was the One who healed the man of his leprosy
Jesus deliberately sent this cleansed leper to start the investigation of His messianic claims and His message of the Kingdom predicted by the Jewish prophets.
a. THE SANHEDRIN INVESTIGATION STARTS
The investigation started as described in Luke 5:17-26. First, though, Mark 2:1-12 points out that this incident was in Capernaum in Galilee, many miles from Jerusalem.
Luke 5:17 states: And it came to pass on one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judaea and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
Often we miss this and notice that there weren’t Jewish leaders from just the town of Capernaum, but from all over the country. According to Sanhedrin law, if there was any kind of messianic event, the Sanhedrin had to investigate. Stage one meant could only observe what was being said, done and taught. Then they were to return to Jerusalem, report to the Sanhedrin and give a verdict.
If the movement were declared to be significant, they would then ask questions in the second stage.
Luke 5:17 records the first stage. As Jesus was teaching, four friends of a paralytic tried to bring him to Jesus to be healed. Because the doorway was blocked, they climbed onto the roof and lowered the paralytic to the feet of Jesus.
At this point, instead of just healing the man, Jesus told him, “Your sins are pardoned.” There was a real reaction as we read Mark 2:6,7:
Mark 2:6,7 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
b. THEIR THEOLOGY WAS CORRECT
Their theology here was correct, no one can pardon sins except God.
Since Jesus declared the right to pardon sins it meant one of two things.
1. First, it could mean that He was a blasphemer
2. But second, He was Israel’s Messiah
In response to the first messianic miracle of the healing of a leper, the intensive investigation of His messianic claims had started. Now the leaders were observing Jesus claiming the right to pardon sins.
* Jesus was either a blasphemer
* Or, Messiah
2. THE SECOND MESSIANIC MIRACLE: THE CASTING OUT OF A DUMB DEMON
Matthew 12:22-23 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
In verse 22, Jesus casts out a demon that caused the person to be both blind and dumb. Exorcism was not unusual in the Jewish world of that day. The Pharisees, rabbis, and their followers could cast out demons. However, there was one kind of demon against which Judaism’s methodology was powerless. The demon who caused the person to be dumb.
Because he could not speak, there was no way of establishing communication, no way of finding out the demon’s name. So, within the framework of Judaism, it was impossible to exorcise a dumb demon.
The rabbis had taught, however, that when the Messiah came, He would be able to cast out this type of demon. In verse 22, that is exactly what happened.
In verse 23 this raised the very question among the Jewish people, “Can this be the son of David?” In other words, isn’t this our Messiah?
After all, He was doing everything they had been taught that only the Messiah could do. This was a messianic miracle. This incident was being investigated by an official delegation from Jerusalem in the stage one process.
Now the Jerusalem leaders had two options:
1. Declare Him to be the Messiah considering all the evidence
2. Reject His messianic claims
And they took the second option. In Mark 3:22 they declared that Jesus was not the Messiah on the grounds of being demon-possessed. This action by the leadership of Israel set the stage for Jewish history for the next two thousand years.
a. JESUS’ FIRST RESPONSE
Jesus responded in two ways. His first response was to say four things in Matthew 12:25-29:
1. It could not be true because it would mean a division in Satan’s kingdom
2. The Sanhedrin recognised that exorcism was a gift of the Spirit, and even their followers were
able to cast out demons, though not dumb ones
3. This miracle authenticated His claims and His message – now 2 messianic miracles
4. It showed that Jesus was stronger than Satan
b. JESUS’ SECOND RESPONSE
Jesus’ second response was severe. It was the condemnation in Matthew 12:30-32.
"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
In this condemnation, Jesus said that this generation was guilty of the “unpardonable sin,” the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Note, that this is quoted in the context of the Jewish leaders' rejection of Jesus based on Jesus being demon-possessed.
* Because this sin was exactly what He said it was – unpardonable - judgment was now set against that generation, a judgment that could under no circumstances be cancelled. It came forty years later, in A.D. 70, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple – the Jewish religion has never been the same since.
* So can we see the meaning of the unpardonable sin?
This has caused much confusion amongst Christians, but when we do things correctly and read it in the context where Jesus quotes it, we see it is not an individual sin but a national sin; it was committed by the Jewish generation of Jesus’ day and was the national rejection by Israel of Jesus as the Messiah - on the grounds of being demon-possessed.
Note: In Mark 9:14-17 Jesus repeats this same miracle on a possessed boy who could not speak. However, this resulted in no change by the Jewish leaders.
3. THE THIRD MESSIANIC MIRACLE: THE HEALING OF A MAN BORN BLIND
In John 9:1-41, we see the third and final messianic miracle required to establish the Messiah’s claim, which would be the healing of a person born blind. It was one thing to heal someone who simply had gone blind but to heal someone born blind would be a messianic miracle.
In John 9:1-5 we read:
And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night comes when no man can work. When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Jesus then proceeded with the healing. As we know, the man went to the Pool of Siloam, washed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes, for the first time he was able to see.
Now since everyone knew this man and knew he was born blind, this created a sensation. John 9:8,9 records:
His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man."
They finally asked the crucial question, “How are you now able to see?” After all, this was a messianic miracle.
His response, in verse 11 was, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
Remember this was a messianic miracle, so he had to be taken to the Pharisees. In John 9:13-17, the man was questioned for the first time. In John 9:18-22, the parents were questioned.
The Pharisees are looking for trickery, but the parents confirm two things:
1. This man was definitely their son
2. He was born blind
So there was no longer any possibility for deception.
At this point, the man said to them in verse 25, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see."
The statement the man had made was a challenge to the Pharisees, one that they had to answer. What he was saying to them between the lines was:
* I was a man born blind
* You are the ones who taught me that only the Messiah would be able to heal someone born blind
* Jesus healed me
* According to your theology, I would think you would want to proclaim Him Israel’s Messiah.
* Instead, you call him a sinner
4. THE FINAL MESSIANIC WITNESS
Jesus performed one more special miracle at a unique point in time that sent a clear message to the leadership of Israel. Then He said something else because of His rejection. There would be no more signs for the nation except one, the sign of Jonah, the sign of resurrection.
RESURRECTION SIGN
The sign of Jonah came in John 11:1-44, with the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four days.
The fact that Lazarus had been dead for four days is significant. Pharisaic Judaism taught that when a person died, the person’s spirit hovered over the body during the first three days. During those three days, there was always a possibility that resuscitation could bring him back. On the fourth day, the person’s spirit descended to Sheol and from then resuscitation was impossible.
Jesus needed to wait until Lazarus had been dead for four days to be certain that it would be impossible to explain away his resurrection of Lazarus by claiming resuscitation. So, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after four days, such a thing had never happened, could never happen.
In John 11:45-54, the Sanhedrin once again met and deliberated. During the deliberations, all these blind guides could do was carry out one additional step to the rejection they had already made.
After the second messianic miracle, they had rejected His messianic claims. Now their response to the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus was to sentence Jesus to death. It was Caiaphas, the high priest, who led the Sanhedrin to this final act.
* They had all the evidence before them
* Everything Jesus did was in line with their theology and teaching
* They saw so clearly but completely blinded themselves and missed the Kingdom that Jesus came
to establish
Jesus rose from the dead and sits in heaven as Messiah and Lord in the power and splendour we see in Rev 1:12-18 – we have no excuse to miss Him
Revelation 1:12-18 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I [John] saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
5. CONCLUSION
Who is Jesus to you? He demonstrated He was the promised messiah – is He really yours – today? That affects how we carry out the Great Commission and how we see His Body the Church.
Let us not miss Him, let us not deny His claim to our lives. He provides freedom from sin and the only door to eternal life. He says to you, “Do not be afraid.”
Be Certain Today
