Sight to the Blind

          While doing my devotionals today I am reminded of one of the greatest worship songs ever written Amazing Grace by John Newton.  The story behind this very song is amazing in itself, but with today’s readings I am taken back to the second verse in the opening of the song “I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”  These lyrics reflect what is happening in John 9.  Jesus physically heals a blind man that had been blind from birth, yet the Pharisees refused to believe this was the work of God through His Son.  They were blind to this.

          We are all born blind to the beauty and presence of God.  Of course as young children we did not the have capability to understand a world beyond this one, let alone the world we were in.  As we get older there comes a time when we are faced with this reality and we either remain blind to it due to the hardness of our hearts as the Pharisees were, or we believe and our eyes are opened to the truth of Christ.

Jesus restored this man’s sight not for his benefit, but for the glory of God.  Sometimes we need to be aware of this when hard times come.  This is apparent as the beginning of the passage as His disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Unfortunately we tend to think like that at times we see someone suffering.  In Jesus’ answer though we find the real truth behind some hardships that befall us.

3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  John 9:3

In the case of the blind man here, Jesus not only gave him physical sight back, but also spiritual sight.  The man was thrown out of the synagogue for testifying to the truth that the Pharisees would not accept.  Then Jesus came to this man again.

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.

          Jesus had come into this world not only to be a sacrifice on our behalf and save those who would see His truth, but also for judgment which is shown in John 9:39,

39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

               For the blind, those that know they are in spiritual darkness will see.  And those that see will become blind.  How could it be those that see could become blind?  Here Jesus is referring to those that “think” they can see the spiritual light apart from Jesus. So we must ask ourselves this question, are we blind to the truth or has our sight been restored in the light of Christ?