Spiritual Blindness

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” John 9:13-17

When Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1-12) he didn't stop to ask what day it was first. He saw a man who was blind and gave him sight. It was an act of compassion and love. The man who was born blind not only had the power sight, but his whole life was transformed.

This was unacceptable to the Pharisees who believed that no person who followed God's law would ever heal on the Sabbath. In fact, for them Sabbath healing made it clear that Jesus was not from God in any way. The narrowness of their thinking limited their understanding of what God can do. They became so convinced of their religious categories and customs they sought to punish Jesus for healing. They would rather the man remain blind than have any work done on the Sabbath.

When religion prioritizes legalistic rule following over compassion for people, it is no longer from God. Jesus calls this mentality spiritual blindness (9:41) because the Pharisees are unable to see what God is doing in front of them. They were so insistent that Jesus was wrong they spoke with the man's parents to verify he was born blind (9:18-23) and questioned the man a second time (9:24-34). Even after these conversations they could not accept Jesus. They dismissed the formerly blind man by saying: “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” Rather than open their eyes to see the truth they dismissed the blind man out of fear and ignorance.

When we think we know it all, we are spiritually blind. When we think we know what God can and cannot do, we are spiritually blind. When we dismiss the powerful stories of God shared by others, we are spiritually blind. When we are no longer open to the new ways God is working in the world, we are spiritually blind. The man Jesus healed was open to God working in his life. He refused to believe the lie about sin causing his blindness and was ready to believe in Jesus. His physical limitation was no limitation at all because of his faith. May we all be so blind that we might see God in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see you working in my life. Help me to remain open to your love and presence and to understand that through you all things are possible, in Jesus' name, AMEN.