John 9:35-41
“Notice what you notice.” Jesus makes two statements that were confusing to me: First, he says …so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. (v. 39b) Then, he adds If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. (v. 41). Confusing! So I looked up the passage in The Message. Here’s verse 41: If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure. In verse 39 The Message makes the point of people …who have made a great pretense of seeing. The verses are much clearer (obviously) in this modern adaptation.
I have said in the past that I have never doubted Jesus and His love for us and His substitutionary death on our behalf. But if my faith is that firm, if I have never doubted, am I “seeing everything so well” that I am really blind? I feel that my faith is firmly rooted, but could it be that, in reality I have some level of “blind faith”? I don’t think so, but all too often I identify with the Pharisees in their mistrust of this “new prophet” who sees everything so differently than the norm. If I had been a Pharisee, I would have had a hard time in my confrontations with Jesus. But as I said a couple of days ago, I think this miracle of Jesus’ healing a man born blind could have won me over. It truly is a great miracle – and a great story throughout.
Slava Bohu!
Hi Fred, I don’t think that it is blindness. More like a Berean who goes to scripture to check things out before believing just anything.
Good points, Fred. V. 31, Spiritual blindness is our stubbornness, complacency, self-satisfaction, etc. I think that we all have blind spots if not total blindness, particularly when we are not able to be honest with ourselves and God. The older I get, the more God helps me remove my blind spots, one at a time. A VERY slow process. And still they are there, like lots of eye floaters!