“True Blindness”

 

                The Word of God is so rich in the lessons, it can teach us even when we are not expecting it.  In the reading for today, Jesus heals a man that has been blind since birth.  This man had never been able to experience the gift of sight that we so often take for granted.  The miracle gets the attention of the Jews as they notice the man who had formerly been a blind beggar, now walking around being able to experience sight. This miracle also faced a great deal of criticism because Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath day, which according to the religious leaders was a blatant disregard for the Law of Moses.  As the Council sought to understand how this man had received his sight, they had decided that if anyone had attributed this miracle to Jesus, they would be kicked out of the synagogue.  After much deliberation, they label the former blind man a sinner and expel him from the synagogue.  Realizing what had happened, Jesus sought out the man and introduces Himself to him as the Son of Man.  As the man worships Jesus, Jesus says, “For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near Him heard these things and said ‘Are we also blind?  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind you would have not guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” (John 9.39- 41).  There it is, right when you least expect it, Jesus teaches a lesson to the Pharisees.   It seems that the main reason for this story being recorded for us wasn’t just to reveal the power of Christ to heal a blind man, but to point out that the true people who were blind were the Pharisees.  Even though they were able to physically see, their arrogant, self-righteous attitude had revealed that spiritually they were blind to what was right in front of them.  Arrogance will do that to us.  Let’s make sure that we seek to keep an open mind when it comes to our study of the Scriptures, so that we never get diagnosed with spiritual blindness.