What Did Jesus Say About Spiritual Blindness?
We all have certain beliefs and fears that we tightly hold onto that obscure our perceptions. If we are unwilling to have our eyes opened by Jesus, our vision will remain impaired.
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1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
What We Don’t See
We all have moments where we think we see clearly what is in front of us while missing what is, in fact, the most important. We think we see how God is moving among us. We think we see one another, but the truth is that we only partially see the entire story.
In John 9, it tells about an encounter Jesus had with a blind man, but the underlying story is about so many of us who are guilty of seeing but not seeing as Jesus does.
In this story, we see individuals and groups who were unable to recognize the work of God that was performed right in front of their sighted eyes, so they miss the opportunity to be a part of what God was doing.
Instead, what should have been a day of great celebration, quickly deteriorated into a day of controversy, debate, fear, divisiveness, and expulsion. What were religious leaders, friends, neighbors, and family not seeing? What do we not see?
The story begins with some truly incredible news that says Jesus saw the blind man, which in itself is stunning. Because when Jesus sees you, something tremendous is about to happen. But we quickly see that even those who saw Jesus up close and personal every day were still out of touch with God's heart for the situation.
Scripture tells us that even the disciples missed it. They've been traveling with Jesus and have seen what He can do. However, they chose to get into a theological and philosophical discussion at that moment. "Okay, Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents?" There is no love or compassion for the man. Instead, they asked the blame question, "Whose fault is it that this happened?"
The popular belief distorted their vision that even continues to this day, that suffering is caused by sin, and you get what you deserve. But, if we're honest, that's the same question we frequently think about when we look at those living on the margins. I can say that because I know I do it too.
Jesus responds by saying that you're asking the wrong question in effect. Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Their perception had nothing to do with the Kingdom of God that was unfolding in front of them. Jesus did not sugarcoat the situation or avoid the harsh realities of life.
But truly, what good does the blame game do? The real question is, what is God going to do with it?
Learning to Notice God At Work
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus engaged every heartbreaking and complex human situation by pointing out that in those circumstances, the most amazing possibilities exist for God to be at work. Therefore, Jesus told His disciples and us, let's learn how to notice when God is at work.
So we can join in the disciples’ blindness. It's a sobering thought to me, and I hope it is for you as well. If these in-person followers of Jesus can still miss things, what will it take for me to see with the eyes of Jesus?
Jesus is always moving His followers to concrete expressions of love with real people rather than theoretical conversations. Such conversations may help us better understand the situation at hand. But if those conversations don't move us to see as Jesus does, then we're only adding noise to the mysterious works of God.
Seeing What You Expect to See
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8 His neighbors 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.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “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.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
The blind man's neighbors had the opportunity to recognize what happened. Their story was different from the disciples because they knew the blind man personally. He was born blind, and day after day, he sat in the same place to beg. While they sometimes noticed him, they regularly walked by without acknowledging him. What did it matter? He couldn't see them anyway.
Each one looked at the man, but they never saw him. Perhaps some of them remembered his birth. The grief of his parents when they learned he was blind. But neighbors found ways to talk themselves out of seeing clearly by questioning whether he was, in fact, the same man. He looked like the man they knew. But surely it couldn't be him, despite the man standing before them claiming his identity.
The neighbor's response cuts close to us because if we're honest, we're ready to see what we expect to see. They could not move past the image of the way things had always been; a blind man sitting and begging. It's all he had ever known. Blinded by their disbelief, they keep asking him, how are your eyes opened?
Dismissing Threats to Our Beliefs
As we move on, the scene gets more confusing. The disciples nor the neighbors know what's going on. So, where do they try to go? The religious leaders, the Pharisees. These were by the book people who only had one concern: preservation of the religious system. This system kept a man blind if he could only be healed on the Sabbath.
Two times the religious leader interrogated the blind man, and both times he gave glory to God. They could not see the new life, the new man, the new creation that bore testimony, and that Jesus was sent from God.
They turn their own blind eyes away from this man and his God twice. They have chosen power, rules, position, and boundaries over truth. As a result, their religious eyes have grown dim. By waving the "Sabbath-Keeping" flag, they couldn't experience the fresh wind of the Spirit of God that was blowing among them.
The Pharisees tried as hard as possible to get the man to back down from his story. So on this most amazing day, no one jumped in elation, hugged, or high-fived this man who gained sight. Nothing. Instead, they fought to dismiss anything that might threaten their beliefs as they understood it.
Can you even imagine? The man's mind had to be racing. For the first time, he is connecting voices to a face. He saw his parents for the first time and sunsets and stars. He may have smelled freshly baked bread before, but he didn't know what it looked like. He'd never seen his home. He'd never seen a smile or an empty stare until that day.
Before that day, it was as if he didn't exist. But today, because Jesus saw him, this man was moved from the margins and into God's kingdom. He became a new creation and a living testimony.
Confronting Our Own Blindness
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18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind.
The Pharisees called the blind man's parents for an interview to get to the core of the matter, but the parents knew better. They knew that the questions of the Pharisees were not honest ones. As parents of a blind son, that would've put them on the margins. So they were afraid when the Pharisees called them forward because they knew the truth. They were afraid of answering honestly for fear of punishment and expulsion from the spiritual community.
The Pharisees confront them with, "Is this your son?" "Yes, this is our son. Yes, he was born blind." But then they plead the fifth. They couldn't answer on the grounds of his sight without incriminating themselves. So they can talk about their blind son, but not their seeing son. "We don't know who opened his eyes, ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself." So the Pharisees call the blind man forward again and threaten him.
This is how paradigms keep us from really seeing God at work.
Our way of seeing help us make sense of our lives so we can function.
But such thinking has a powerful tendency to filter out any new information, including anything God might be doing right before us.
They all looked, but none saw the man on the margins. If they saw Him, they would have to confront their own blindness. The only difference between the man and all the others in this encounter with Jesus is that he knows he was blind. Until you and I come as the blind man, we can never see with new eyes. Surely we are not blind, are we?
Healing Spiritual Blindness
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35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Blindness is not about the quality of our vision or the physical condition of our eyes. It's not about the darkness around us but the darkness within us. We do not see God, people, things, or circumstances as God does, but rather as our darkened eyes do. Until we are willing for our eyes to be opened by Jesus, our seeing is a projection of ourselves onto the world.
We have to acknowledge that apart from Jesus, our vision is impaired. We all probably know someone so determined in their beliefs that they cannot see another point of view or other possibilities. Unfortunately, not only have we met these people, but too often, we are these people. Like the disciples, neighbors, Pharisees, and even family and friends, we all have certain beliefs and fears that we hold onto so tightly that there is no room for us to have eyes like Jesus.
But God's reality is so much greater than our limited one. He sees far beyond what we see right in front of us.
We need to be rescued from seeing ourselves as fundamentally able because the opposite of ability is not disability; the opposite is dependence. It's being vulnerable and open to God's work and transformation in our lives. The more we understand ourselves as dependent and vulnerable, the more we walk away from the assumption of a hierarchy of human value. The more we can receive from one another and God.
The good news is that those who know their dependence and blindness find Jesus ready to cover our eyes in mud and send us to the pool to wash so we can be recreated.
You will not be a part of the work of God's kingdom, restoring all things to Himself, unless you can see as Jesus sees. When you think about what that might mean for you, the danger isn't that you might not get it right every time. The danger is that you might not get it at all. So let Jesus touch your eyes with mud and be obedient so you can join him.
TL;DR
When we review John 9 we see the story of a man who recovers his sight, but those around him fail to understand the miracle’s true glory.
Jesus always moved His followers to concrete expressions of love with real people rather than theoretical conversations.
We're ready to see what we expect to see, and we struggle to move past the image of the way things had always been.
When they brought the former blind man to the Pharisees they fought to dismiss anything that might threaten their beliefs as they understood it.
No one saw the man on the margins. If they saw Him, they would have to confront their own blindness.
When we allow Jesus to clear our eyes, our hearts are opened.
Related Reading
How Do I Find My Mission In Life by Grant Caldwell
Have You Prayed About It? by Mike Weaver
Can God Use a Sinner by Bro. Chris Carter
About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services
