“He saw a man blind from birth… He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?..’
“The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight… So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said, ‘Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses…’ The man answered, ‘Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes… Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out.
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.” John 9:1,6b-7,16,18,24-28,30,32-38
Both the Pharisees and the blind man were persistent, but neither could see. The Pharisees had God’s word, yet failed to receive its light and truly see. Their world was shaped according to rule, bound by prescription, and perceived through lenses distorted by stubbornness and pride. They persisted to find fault and condemn, spiritually blind to the mercy and power of God. The man blind from birth knew life from a whole different perspective. Though he could not see a calendar or count Sabbath minutes, he understood compassion and commands. He persisted to respond to and know Jesus as miracle-worker and worthy Savior.
How often and naturally do we resist the truth of God because it cuts like a scalpel, or the balm of His comfort because we’d rather suffer (and complain) as a martyr? Do we ignore the plank in our own eye because we’re too busy nit-picking at another’s faults? Where is God offering clarity to see the beauties of His nature, yet we continue in blindness because we struggle with erring people or can’t understand God’s ways? (Matthew 7:3-5; Hebrews 4:12-13; 12:15a)
To perfect spiritual eyesight we must infuse our vision with the Spirit of God. Would we admit to blindness to receive true sight?
Lord, grant me eyes to see You and as You do.
As the rain and snow 