The Problem with being Spiritually Blind
Are You Spiritually Blind?
Maybe we should start with a True or False question.
True or False? Seeing is Believing.
At some point in your life you’ve probably said something like, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Will the Cowboys ever win the Super Bowl again?
I’ll believe it when I see it!
Will Texas A&M ever win the SEC?
I’ll believe it when I see it!
When we’re kids, it’s easy to believe in things we can’t see.
But something happens when we get older, we tend to get more skeptical.
I still remember the night when my son Will was like 5 or 6 years old. We were living in Atlanta, GA and he was listening to the Atlanta Braves game on the radio as he was going to bed. The problem? They were down by 8 runs. I’m older, I’m skeptical that the Braves are going to come back and win this game. In fact, I’m certain they won’t.
Will is only 5 or 6 years old. I try to tell him the game is over. Do you know what he said? He said, “Dad, all they need is two grand slams!”
I’ll believe it when I see it!
Sometimes Seeing is Believing!
The truth is, there are things that when we see them we do believe and they absolutely change our lives forever.
I remember the day Alisha and I got married, and I still remember exactly what she looked like and how beautiful she was in her wedding dress. I saw her and I believed in us, I believed in love, and I believed the future was bright.
I remember when our children were born, and I still remember what they looked like, how much they weighed, how much hair was on their head, and the hospital blanket they wrapped them in. I saw them and I believed in a different kind of love than I had ever known before, the love of a father. I believed in God’s grace. And I believed that God had great plans for their lives.
My guess is that there are moments in your life when you saw something, experienced something, that changed everything for you. That’s true because on some level, SEEING is BELIEVING.
When we have eyes open to see, everything changes. Or at least everything can change. But if our eyes are closed, then nothing changes. Blindness… both physical blindness and spiritual blindness, limits our ability to believe.
Blind from Birth
That’s what was happening in those days when Jesus was walking the streets of Jerusalem some 2000 years ago.
If you have your Bible or your Bible app I want to invite you to open to John 9.
This story in John 9 is a bit of a long story, but I want you to be able to SEE what’s happening in this story and what John is trying to teach us.
Here’s the story….
1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
Back in those days blindness was a very common problem.
There weren’t many cures for eye disease and unsanitary conditions made it a prevalent problem. This is one of the reasons that Jesus was often healing the blind as a part of his ministry. It was a huge need back in that time.
Not only was it a problem because of the obvious reason… not being able to see… because he was blind his future was bleak and he knew it. He had no way to earn an income to support himself much less his family. His only option was to beg for money. And there was no social net to catch people or help people in his condition.
Right off the bat, you see that there’s an assumption about this man blind from birth, and every person who suffers some kind of physical ailment.
2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
The answer of course is NEITHER!
But right here, right at the beginning of the story we have translation problem. Your Bible probably says something like…
3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
That is one way to translate the Greek into English. But when you read it that way, it sounds like God caused this man to be born blind so that Jesus could heal him. In fact, that may be how you’ve read this before.
But there is another way to translate this that I think is helpful. Another way is to read it this way…
“‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus. ‘But so that the work of God might be displayed in his life, we must do the work of him who sent me while it is still day.’” – NIV Application Commentary
When we read it this way, we’re reminded that we live in a world that is broken by sin, but our suffering isn’t punishment from God for a specific sin in our life. And in this story, Jesus says…
“God had not made the man blind in order to show his glory; rather, God has sent Jesus to do works of healing in order to show his glory.” – Gary M. Burge, NIV Application Commentary
The Blind Man Sees
So Jesus, ready to show the world around Him the glory of God in this blind man’s life, does this…
6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
The people who knew this man, who SAW this man almost every day, can see that this man who was blind can now see, but they’re not sure he’s the same man. For them, seeing ISN’T believing! At least, not yet!
10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
The Sent One Can See
John, the author of this story, loves double meanings. Jesus in the gospel of John is described 20 times as the One SENT by God. This blind man is SENT to the pool of Siloam and Siloam means SENT. So this blind man is SENT by the One who is SENT by God to go wash in a place called SENT!
And why does he need to wash in the pool called SENT? It’s through baptism in the pool called SENT that he is healed of his blindness and he can SEE!
What’s interesting is that those who can PHYSICALLY SEE in the story are SPIRITUALLY BLIND to what’s happening in front of them.
Some Can Physically See but are Spiritually Blind
12 “Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
You might think that these religious leaders, these church people, would be able to SEE that what happened could only happen by the power of God. But they couldn’t see it.
Just like the people earlier in the story these Pharisees can PHYSICALLY SEE but are SPIRITUALLY BLIND.
17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
Frustration Rising for the Spiritually Blind
Can you sense the frustration rising in these religious leaders who are spiritually blind?
This often happens to religious people who refuse to see what God is doing. They are regularly confused, frustrated, and unwilling to SEE what God is up to.
These religious leaders decide to call in the man’s parents. Yet they’re holding power and fear over these poor people and place them in an impossible situation.
If his parents say yes, he was blind and Jesus healed him by the power of God… then they’ll be cast out of the synagogue and rejected by their faith family. Their community.
If they say this didn’t happen like their son had described they effectively call their son a liar and reject the work of God in their son’s life!
His parents tell the religious leaders that their son is old enough to speak for himself. So they question him again. But his story is unchanging. He was blind, now he can see, and all this happened because of Jesus!
Because of his faith, his unwillingness to be intimidated by the religious leaders, because his life had been changed by Jesus and he had decided to be a disciple of Jesus… it cost him everything. He was expelled from the synagogue.
Jesus Seeks and Finds the One Cast Out
35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
After being harassed, embarrassed, rejected and cast out by the Pharisees, Jesus finds the man. Jesus seeks and finds those who have been beat down by religious leaders. Jesus loves those who are done with church.
Jesus has eyes to see those that religious people are blind to!
36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
I love this. Remember, this man hasn’t SEEN Jesus yet. The last time he was with Jesus he was blind and Jesus sent him to the Pool of Siloam to wash, to essentially be baptized!
Did you know that God can be working in your life and you might not be able even to see that it’s him? That Jesus could be orchestrating things in your life for your good and His glory, and you might not be able to see it’s him!?
Jesus looks him right in the eyes and says…
37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
Do you remember the first time you SAW Jesus?
When was the first time what you KNEW about Jesus in your HEAD connected with EXPERIENCED Jesus do in your HEART?
18 inches.
For many of us, the difference between seeing and believing is only 18 inches. They say 18 inches is distance between your head and your heart.
For many of us, until we find a way to close that gap, until we find a way to connect what we know in our heads with what we experience in our heart, we’ll never be able to SEE JESUS.
I’ve got an idea for you. Set a timer on your phone for 3 minutes. Then close your eyes. Essentially make yourself blind for 3 minutes. Then, when you open your eyes, look at this picture. I want you to look at it before you look at anything else. And I want you to think about what you see and what you feel when you see this picture.
Yes, Lord, I Believe!
When this man in John 9 realizes he’s SEEING Jesus, His Healer, His Savior, listen to what he says…
38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
If we’re honest with this story, most of us are more like the neighbors, the jewish people, and the religious leaders who are able to physically see but are spiritually blind.
This takes great humility, but what I want to ask you to consider is the question, “Am I spiritually blind?” And if you’re able to at least consider that possibility, then I want to encourage you to pray, “Jesus, heal my blindness.”
The reason this is so important is because our enemy, the devil himself, is working to blind us over and over and over again. He wants us to live in darkness.
But when Jesus heals our blindness, when we SEE Jesus, our hearts are unleashed to WORSHIP!
So today, let me encourage you practice seeing Jesus. And as you do, worship.
See Jesus, think about all He’s done in your life, for your life, think about the cross, remember His love, His grace.
See Jesus. Don’t let anyone keep you from believing what you know is true. That once… you were blind, but NOW, because of JESUS, you can SEE!
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