The Blind Who See

The Blind Who See

Read: John 9:35-41

“For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

John 9:39

“The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous event in human history.”

—Malcolm Muggeridge

IN WORD Jesus is the deciding moment of history. He does not say that He came to pronounce judgment—not in His first coming, anyway. He came that the world might judge itself. Those who believe in Him have judged themselves in need of a Savior. Those who will not believe Him have judged themselves capable, at some level, of working out their own means to God—through enlightenment, through good works, through a naive trust that their sin is not so bad. Whatever the attempt, it is a denial of the Savior’s mission. As Jesus clearly spelled out in John 3:18: “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Judgment is self-inflicted.

This self-judgment that proclaims a person’s ability to find his or her way to God seems to be visionary in the eyes of this world. Media laud the prominent spiritual seekers among us. The gurus who help people find their inner path—to God, to healing, to whatever—are highly esteemed in our culture. But what does Jesus say of them? “Those who see will become blind.” They have neglected the litmus test of wisdom. They have refused the exclusive claims of Jesus.

IN DEED Do you see Jesus? There is a prerequisite: We must first have been acutely aware of our blindness. Jesus does not cater to the human illusion that we might discover truth. We never discover truth. It is always revealed. This was our means of understanding the gospel in the first place, and it is our means of progress in the life of discipleship. We cannot follow Him well unless we know: Truth is a gift. Just as we were saved by grace and therefore live by grace, we were awakened by revelation and are now taught by revelation. We can never forget this. It is the only way to see.