Blindness and Sight

It is hard for me to imagine total blindness, and from birth. How I take for granted all I have been able to see in my lifetime! Never seeing the faces of my mother, father, brothers, wife, children, grandchildren and friends alone is enough to make me sad. Add to this all the amazing sights of God's creation, the colors, the words on a page of the Bible and other books I have read, the paintings of man, the performances of artists, the architectural accomplishments of man, and amazing feats of daring, and how rich life is because of sight. I know the blind compensate and often lead very fulfilling lives and make great contributions to the world. I admire the likes of Helen Keller. But I want to see. I long to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord (Psa.27:4). I want to take a long, eternal look, and to stare (I hope that is alright in heaven).

The story of the blind man in John 9 is long. Why? It has a lot to teach us, and the major lessons do not come out until the closing scene. The blind man has sparred with the Jewish leaders about who healed him and how. The FKA(formerly known as) blind man has become exasperated with them to the point of wondering if these leaders really wanted more information so they could become disciples of Jesus. This infuriated the Jews and they made good on their threat to put him out of the synagogue. Jesus heard the news and found the FKA blind man, and a little evangelism took place. Jesus had a very complicated method of evangelism. He simply said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  It requires a "yes" or "no" answer. The FKA blind man had to clarify one matter. Who is the Son of Man? Jesus was happy to supply the answer. Jesus was happy to tell him that the FKA blind man has seen with his own eyes this Son of Man, Jesus and was presently hearing words from His mouth. At this the FKA bind man expressed his faith and worshipped. God had found another true worshipper.

But read what Jesus says next (John 9:39-41). Did you read it? I'll wait. Now in John 3:17-18 Jesus says He did not come into the world to judge the world but to save it. Here He says it was for judgment that He came into the world. Which is it? Both. There is no contradiction in Jesus' words. There are two parts to judgment. Jesus did come to give man a choice so that man could exercise his judgment. Those who know they are blind will seek sight. Those who think they see will not, but remain in their blindness or sin. The judgment of Christ comes later and is based on our judgment of him. If we judge Jesus as an imposter and fail to confess Him before men, then He will judge us as blind and will not confess us before His Father in heaven. Remember this chapter begins with wanting to know who sinned that this man was born blind. Physical blindness is not necessarily caused by sin, but spiritual blindness is always caused by sin.