I Once Was Blind

There is a moving account in the book of John that lifts my spirit every time I read it. It is found in John, chapter 9, and it involves Jesus' healing of a blind man. The story follows that Jesus and his disciples were walking one sabbath day, when they encountered a man that had been blind from birth. Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, placed the clay over the blind man's eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Saloam. The man did as he was told and came back seeing. Many, who had known him to be blind, began to question him. He recounted the events of his healing, of how a man named Jesus had annointed his eyes with clay and told him to go and wash, and how he was given his sight. He was brought before the Pharisees, the religious leaders, to be questioned. Over and over again they grilled him to explain to them how he came to see, and who it was that healed him. They called for his parents to confirm that he, indeed, had been born blind. You see, because the healing occurred on the sabbath day, the Pharisees were reluctant to accept this miracle. There was division among them, some saying that Jesus could not be a man of God because he did not keep the sabbath day, and others claiming that a sinner could not have performed such a miracle. Again they sent for the man to tell them exactly what had happened to him. Hearing their arguments, "He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see", John 9:25.

His boldness angered the Pharisees and they turned on him, cursing and reviling. They discounted Jesus as a man of God, claiming that they didn't even know where he came from. The man wasn't to be silenced. He stood his ground and questioned how it was that they didn't know where Jesus came from, and yet he had opened his eyes? He reminded them that God doesn't hear sinners, but only those who do His will. If Jesus were not a man of God, how could he have performed such a miracle? That really stirred them up and they answered, "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?", John 9:34. They threw him out of their midst, where he again encountered Jesus and worshipped him.

What the Pharisees didn't recognize was that they were spiritually blind. The chapter ends with the following, "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind". Some of the Pharisees asked him if he was referring to them. He answered, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remains".

Why were the Pharisees at such odds with Jesus? Why did they hate him so much? Primarily because he saw through them. They may have been the religious leaders, but they really did not care for the people. They were only concerned with keeping their power. During the time of Christ, Israel was under Roman occupation. The Jews were allowed to practice the customs and traditions of their faith, as long as they didn't cause trouble for the government. The Pharisees kept a tight reign on the general populace, flaunting their authority and keeping the people in subjection to their teachings. They saw Jesus as a trouble-maker. He didn't follow their traditions and often made fun of them. Once he quoted the prophet Isaiah, who prophesied, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men".

Matt, chapter 23 records a scathing denunciation of the Pharisees spoken by Jesus to the multitude. He began by telling the people that, although the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat and their teachings were to be observed, their works were not to be copied. He followed with a list of grievances that he leveled against them. Over and over, he called them blind guides, hypocrites, snakes! They were not what they appeared to be. Everything they did was for show to be seen and admired of men.

- They put unbearable burdens on the people that they themselves would not carry.

- They did their works and charities to be seen of men.

- They loved the uppermost rooms at the feasts and chief seats in the synagogues.

- They loved the greetings in the marketplaces of Rabbi, Rabbi!

- They shut the door that leads to the kingdom, not entering in themselves, and denying entrance to those who would enter.

- They tithed down to the least herb, yet dismissed the spiritual requirements of the law; judgment, mercy and faith.

- They were like cups and dishes that were clean on the outside, yet inside filled with extortion and excess.

- They were like tombs that were painted white on the outside, but inside were filled with dead men's bones and all manner of unclean things.

In contrast, Jesus advocated an entirely different way of living for those who would follow him. Read Matt, chapters 6 and 23.

- Do not perform your good works and charities to be seen or praised of men. The hypocrites sound the trumpet before them in the synogogues and the streets to receive the glory of men.

- Do not pray publicly, to be seen of men, but privately to your Father in secret. Be not as the hypocrites, who pray standing in the synogogues and in the street corners to be seen of men.

- Do not use vain repetitions in your prayers, as do the heathen. They think they will be heard for much speaking.

- When you fast, do not draw attention to yourself, putting on a long face, to be noticed and admired of men, but secretly before your Father in heaven.

- Do not take upon yourself the title of father (in the spiritual sense), and call no man father upon the earth, for one is your Father in heaven, and you are all brethren.

Every lesson had the same theme. God doesn't appreciate a form of worship that is done primarily for show. Again and again, Jesus emphasized that we not display our personal worship to be admired of men, but secretly, saying that our Father, who sees in secret will reward us openly. The Pharisees sought the praise of men rather than that of God. They added a multitude of man-made laws to keep the people under authority, and make themselves look righteous. Jesus told them that they made the commandment of God of no effect by their traditions. Concerning them, he told his disciples, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch", Matt 15:14.

If we follow the teachings of our Lord to keep our worship pure and sincere, to the glory of God, not to the praise of man, His blessings will abound toward us and we will be able to proclaim, "I once was blind, but now I see".

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