Open My Eyes: Spiritual Blindness

Blind Without Knowing It

☐

When some of the Pharisees heard Jesus talk about blindness, they asked, “Are we blind also?” (John 9:40). Jesus taught that there is a kind of blindness worse than closed eyes. It is the blindness of a heart that cannot see God.

Two kinds of blindness. The man in John 9 could not see with his eyes. Spiritual blindness means not seeing who God is, not seeing our own sin and not seeing who Jesus really is. A person can have perfect eyesight and still be spiritually blind.

Born that way. The Bible says this is true of every person until God opens their eyes. “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:11).

The enemy's trick. Paul wrote that Satan blinds the minds of people who do not believe, so that the light of the good news about Jesus does not shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Blind guides. Jesus told a short parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39). A guide who cannot see leads others into trouble.

Careful but blind. Jesus called some religious leaders blind guides. They were very careful about tiny rules, but they missed the big things God cares about, like being fair, showing mercy and trusting Him (Matthew 23:16, 23-24).

Rich but blind. Jesus told the church in Laodicea that they thought they were rich and needed nothing. Really they were poor and blind, and they did not know it (Revelation 3:17).

Seeing signs, not believing. John says that although Jesus “had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him” (John 12:37). Some people watched Jesus open blind eyes and still did not see who He was.

We see. That was the problem in John 9. Jesus said, “but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains” (John 9:41). Saying we do not need help keeps us in the dark.

The lamp of the body. Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye” (Matthew 6:22). What we love and look at shapes what we see. A heart full of pride cannot see God clearly.

Our need. We cannot cure this blindness on our own. Learning more facts or trying to be good will not open our hearts. Only God can do it, and He does it through Jesus.

What we learn. Ask God to show you any place where you have been blind to Him. The people Jesus helps are the ones who admit that they need Him.

Jesus gave a warning that day: “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (9:39). The deepest blindness in John 9 was not the beggar's.

Typhlos. The Greek word for blind is typhlos (say: too-FLOSS). It describes the man's eyes in 9:1 and the Pharisees' hearts in 9:39-41. The same word covers both, because both are a real inability to see.

Blinded minds. Paul says the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so that the light of the gospel of Christ's glory does not shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:4). He describes the unbelieving heart as darkened in understanding and cut off from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18).

None who understands. “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:11). Left to ourselves, we do not go looking for God.

Blind guides. “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39). Jesus later called some scribes and Pharisees blind guides who strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel (Matthew 23:24). They were careful about tiny things and careless about justice, mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23).

Laodicea. The risen Jesus told the church in Laodicea that they said they were rich and needed nothing, but did not know they were poor and blind. He counseled them to come to Him for eye salve so that they could see (Revelation 3:17-18).

Signs without faith (John 12:37). “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.” In John 9 the leaders saw a man born blind who could now see, and still called Jesus a sinner (9:24). Seeing a miracle is not the same as seeing Jesus.

The eye as a lamp. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (6:23). What we love and look at shapes whether we see clearly.

Why it matters. Spiritual blindness is not mainly a lack of facts. It is a heart that will not see, and pride is its surest sign. The cure begins when we stop saying, “We see.”

Lord, Open My Eyes

☐

The man in John 9 could not open his own eyes. Jesus had to do it. Spiritual blindness works the same way. Only God can open the eyes of the heart, and He loves to do it.

God promised. “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them” (Isaiah 42:16). Jesus did this for the man in John 9. He sent a blind man on a way he did not know, and the man came back seeing.

God shines in. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:6). The God who made light shines into dark hearts so that we can see His glory in Jesus.

Do you believe? Two blind men once followed Jesus. He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said, “Yes, Lord.” He touched their eyes, “and their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:28-30).

Sent to open eyes. When the risen Jesus met Paul, He sent him to people so that their eyes would be opened and they would turn from darkness to light and receive forgiveness (Acts 26:18).

A prayer for sight. A psalm writer asked God to open his eyes to see wonderful things in His Word (Psalm 119:18). Paul prayed that the eyes of believers' hearts would be opened to know God better (Ephesians 1:18). You can pray the same way.

Admit your need. The man asked Jesus, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” (John 9:36). He knew he did not know, and he wanted to. That is the opposite of saying, “We see.”

The cross opens our eyes. Jesus came to take away the sin that blinds us. He “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

Alive to give sight. Jesus “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). The risen Jesus still opens hearts today.

New sight, new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). People whose eyes are opened begin to see God, other people and themselves the way He does.

What we learn. Ask the Lord to open your eyes each time you read His Word. Then follow Jesus, the light who gives sight.

Only God opens. “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind” (John 9:32). What was true of the man's eyes is true of every heart: sight is a gift, never an achievement.

The Lord leads the blind. “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them” (Isaiah 42:16).

Light in the heart (2 Corinthians 4:6). Paul gives God's answer to blinded minds: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The Creator speaks light into the heart.

Faith asks (Matthew 9:28-29). “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord.” “According to your faith let it be to you.” Faith does not open eyes by its own power. It brings the blind to the One who can.

Sent to open eyes. The risen Jesus sent Paul to the nations to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they would receive forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18).

A lifelong prayer. The psalmist asked God to open his eyes to see wondrous things from His law (Psalm 119:18). Paul prayed that believers would have the eyes of their understanding enlightened (Ephesians 1:18). Seeing more of God is a prayer for every day, not only for the first day of faith.

Humility sees. The man asked, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” (9:36). Admitting that we cannot see is where sight begins: “that those who do not see may see” (9:39).

The cost of our sight. Christ “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree… by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). He “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:4). The healing of our blindness was bought at the cross and is given by the risen Lord.

Why it matters. No one argues his way into seeing God. God opens eyes through Jesus, and He does it for people who come to Him in need.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.