SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is He, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

John 9:35-41

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I was in my optometrist’s office a week ago for a routine checkup. While waiting, I heard the receptionist say she was having trouble remembering we are in a new year now, to which I replied, “It’s 2020. That should be easy to remember for someone in this business.”

Well, we shared a laugh over that one and I found myself coming back to it as I read the scripture passage for today, drawn from the closing verses of John, Chapter 9. My thoughts, always driven by the Holy Spirit, were attached to the matter of 20/20 vision as being the standard for good vision. It would indicate that a person could see things clearly.

Compare that with someone who is blind. They are the polar opposite of one with 20/20 vision because their eyesight is non-existent.

Now, extend this thinking to the matter of spiritual vision, the ability to see where you are in regard to your relationship with the Lord. This would include clarity in seeing whether or not you were doing things that were righteous and acceptable in the Lord’s presence or performing wicked acts of sinfulness. With this as a backdrop, the questions the Lord would present to us in the new year include:

How is your spiritual vision? Can you see where you are in regard to the way you’re living in my sight? If so, are you living in holiness, set apart from the world and its sinful ways, or are you partnering with the world’s ways and living in transgression?

As we look at our scripture passage today, we find the very matter of spiritual visual acuity at the forefront. You’ll recall earlier in this chapter that Jesus encountered a man who had been blind from birth and restored his sight after spitting in the dirt, forming mud, and packing it into the man’s eyes, directing him to wash off the mud in the Pool of Siloam. After rinsing the mud packs off, the man could see clearly for the first time, much to the surprise of his neighbors and others in the community who took him to the Pharisees.

In yesterday’s devotion, we saw where the healed man testified to what Jesus had done but the Pharisees refused to believe him, despite the clear evidence before them, evidence which included the validation from the man’s parents that he was indeed blind from birth. After the Pharisees stubbornly continued questioning the man, even starting to repeat questions asked prior, the man angrily asked the Pharisees present if they wanted to become disciples of Jesus and asserted that no man not of God would have been able to do what Jesus did. His words angered the Pharisees who threw him out of their presence. Through their actions, we see that while the healed man could not only see 20/20 physically and spiritually, the Pharisees were the ones who were spiritually blind.

Well, word definitely traveled in first century A.D. and we see in today’s passage that Jesus got wind of the way the Pharisees treated the once-blind man. And so Jesus sought Him out and presented one single question:

“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Now, you’ll remember that when the Pharisees asked the healed man who Jesus was, the man said he believed Jesus was a prophet. This is why the man answered Jesus’ question with one of his own:

“Who is He, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

To which Jesus replied:

“You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.”

Note the man doesn’t question Jesus. There is no doubt that Jesus is who He claimed He was. No, the man immediately makes his profession of faith, saying:

“Lord, I believe.”

And with that He worshiped Jesus. Clearly, the man displayed what 20/20 spiritual vision looks like.

As we turn back to the scriptures, we find Jesus has more to say about why He had been sent by God from heaven to earth:

“For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Well, Jesus wasn’t alone with the once-blind man. We see in our passage that some Pharisees were in their company as they always seemed to be hanging around when Jesus was doing His work. These Pharisees asked Jesus this:

“What? Are we blind too?”

The Pharisees didn’t get the concept of spiritual blindness because they were not in tune with Jesus or God, despite claiming allegiance to the latter. If they had truly been connected to God, then they would have been informed all about Jesus and would have partnered with Him as His followers instead of engaging in persistent, consistent opposition all the way to Calvary’s cross.

You see the “blind” Jesus was talking about were those who were spiritually blind, those unable to see that their sinfulness was keeping them separated from God and nothing could bridge that separation except for a Savior, someone willing to be the atoning sacrifice to cover the transgressions of God’s people. Jesus was that atoning sacrifice, the One that John proclaimed was the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

The Pharisees were blind and didn’t even know it. They weren’t physically blind and so they were fully aware of the sins they committed as they were in full sight before them. But their unwillingness to realize that they needed salvation and that salvation was right in front of them in the way of Jesus, a salvation sent from God, was what made them spiritually blind.

Sadly today, there are countless people who suffer from spiritual blindness, just as the Pharisees did. And just as the man had his sight restored from a mere encounter with Jesus, so too can the multitudes of spiritually blind people have their sight fully restored to 20/20 through Him today. All they need to do is place their hope and trust in God’s one and only Son and freely receive the greatest gift that God has ever given.

Going back to the earlier question:

Are you spiritually blind?

If so, I pray you will follow the lead of the once blind man and simply come to Jesus saying:

“Lord, I believe.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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