The Blind Dilemma

The Blind Dilemma

John 9:1-3 KJV  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  (2)  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  (3)  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

In his Gospel, John records a miracle of Jesus healing a beggar, blind since birth, and giving him sight for the first time in his life.  The blind beggar could not see Jesus nor was he able to search for Him, even if told of His existence.

Although physically blind, this beggar represents the spiritually blind such as the Pharisees of that day, and the lost unredeemed of today.  The unredeemed cannot see God and therefore do not search for God.  They can be taught about God and the Bible but they do not understand the teaching.  For the lost to find God their blind eyes must first be opened by God.  As Paul stated, “there is no person who seeks God and His truth”. 

There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.

(Romans 3:11 NET)

As Paul explains again in 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned”.  According to Paul (and God) the unbeliever can’t understand anything spiritual concerning Jesus Christ and the Biblical teachings of scripture because they are spiritually discerned and the unbeliever does not have the spirit of God and thus is not spiritual.  Paul further states that the spiritual person is not understood by anyone (who is not spiritual).

The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.   (1 Corinthians 2:15 NET)

The blind man was in an uncomfortable position.  Because of his physical blindness, he could not support himself; he could not seek help or assistance; and he had no monetary means for hiring someone to work for him.  The unredeemed or spiritually blind have similar issues.  They may try, but apart from God they will never find spiritual redemption.  No amount of idolatry, Luciferian doctrine, or false esoteric religion will even admit one into the Kingdom of Heaven or a so-called promised reasonable facsimile offered by Satan/Lucifer/nachash/whatever.

Who Sinned?

John 9:2 NET  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?"

Probably from a well-known synagogue teaching, one of the disciples asked Jesus to identify the sinning party – the blind man or his parents. 

You must not worship or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me,  (Deuteronomy 5:9 NET)

Jesus answered that it was neither one.  Rather, this man was born blind so that the actions of God could be revealed through the coming miracle of healing.  With dirt and spit, Jesus made mud and smeared it on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash it off at the pool of Siloam.  The blind man went and did as he was told and came back with the ability to see.  To the crowds, it was an unbelievable event and they questioned the former blind man.

When the beggar informed the people that a man called Jesus smeared mud on my eyes, told me to wash it off at the Siloam pool, and now I can see.  The crowd took the man to the Pharisees.  Some of the Pharisees exclaimed that Jesus is not from God because He does not observe the Sabbath.  Other wondered how a sinner could perform such miraculous signs.  They asked the former blind man his opinion, and he said, “He is a prophet”.

One of the Pharisees stated they knew that God had spoken to Moses but they didn’t know where Jesus came from.  The seeing man answered, “This is a remarkable thing, that you don't know where He comes from, and yet He caused me to see.  We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him.  Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see.   If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.  The Pharisees became offended because he was presuming to teach them, then accused the man of being born in complete sin and threw him out.

Due to their Old Testament doctrinal misunderstanding, the Pharisees (and most Jews of today) are spiritually and doctrinally blind.  Jesus was not their synagogue learned concept of the Messiah.  They were expecting (and some still expect) the advent of the Davidic, Lion of Judah, Messiah who would bring in their idea of the Kingdom of Heaven (which was heaven on earth) through the actions of a conquering King.  That will only occur at the Millennium.  They may have gotten their desire if they had believed that Jesus was and is the Messiah (who knows).  However, their wish will deceptively be fulfilled when their Messiah-ben-David, the beast/antichrist, appears and declares himself as “god”.  Of course, the Jews are not the only spiritually blind in the world.