Jewels From Johnনমুনা

When the Blind See What Others Fail To 

Then Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge: Blind people will be given sight, and those who can see will become blind.” John 9:39 (GW)

Read John chapter 9 for the entire account

When Jesus healed the man born blind, there was an uproar among the people. Some of his neighbours and people who had seen him begging earlier even doubted his identity, and totally disbelieved the miracle. The Pharisees, on the other hand, questioned him and disbelieved Jesus, for the sole reason that He healed the man on the Sabbath. Strangely, the parents of the man who knew all about their son’s condition from birth, were unwilling to stand with him, only for fear of the threats of the Jews, to excommunicate anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ.

In the midst of all of this confusion, the blind man who was healed, was firm in his faith. When he went and washed in the pool of Siloam to receive his sight, he did so, fully believing Jesus’ words. He had not yet seen Jesus, but when questioned by the religious leaders, he unreservedly acknowledged that Jesus was probably a prophet, a devout man and one sent from God, all based on the fact that Jesus did something for him that had never been done before—restoring the sight of one born blind. The consequence the blind man faced was expulsion from the synagogue. That’s when Jesus met him, and revealed to him that He was the Son of Man. The man bowed down in worship, and acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus over his life.

It was at this time that Jesus told the Pharisees and the Jews that they who claimed to see were actually blinded to who He really was. On the other hand, the man born blind readily recognized Jesus’ identity. 

The things that blinded the religious leaders and Jews were disbelief and traditions. “Jesus told them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be sinners. But now you say, ‘We see’, so you continue to be sinners.” John 4:41 (GW). The parents, on the other hand, were blinded by fear of men, and by the need for approval from men.

Let us not rejoice that we can merely see with our physical eyes, but may we search our hearts to recognise all those areas of our lives where we might be blinded by sin, disbelief, traditions and fears. Let us allow the light of God to shine in our hearts, so that all the areas of blindness will be expelled. Here’s an admonition from John 12:36, “Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” (NLT)