John 9:35-41 – Cultivating spiritual sight

John 9 started with Jesus’ healing of a man who was born blind on a Sabbath. Not only did He heal on the Sabbath, the method He used to heal was also seen as working on a Sabbath. All that led the Pharisees to conduct a series of interrogations climaxing with the blind man being expelled from the Temple. Verse 35 tells us that when Jesus heard of what happened, He came looking for the man. His mission was to seek and save the lost. So through the conversation, the blind man now healed and could truly see, was led to acknowledge Jesus as his Lord. The obvious then took place: he worshipped Jesus. When we recognize Jesus for Who He really is, we will also be drawn to worship Him. He deserves our worship and adoration.

The light of the world went out into the world and brought light to a blind man. He now not only could see with his eyes but also with his heart. How contrasting the situation was! Those with physical sight were actually so blinded by their unbelief. Verse 39 reads, “For judgment I (Jesus) came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” This verse tells us that the coming of Christ into the world made two groups of people distinguishable. Those who thought they could see but in reality are blinded by their unbelief. Then there’s the group, who though spiritually blind, acknowledge the light of Christ and be led into a relationship with God through Him. They are those that recognize their spiritual blindness and are willing to see through the light that Jesus came to give. Which group are we in? It will determine our ability to receive the true light of God.

When some Pharisees, who were present with Jesus, heard what He said, took offence. They surmised that Jesus was referring to them. Being self-absorbed, they must have thought that of all people, they should be those who see and know best. They failed to realize how badly sin had affected their ability to see the truth. They tried to deal with sin through rigid external appearance, but never truly confront the darkness in their hearts. They were self-deluded thinking that they could see, but in reality they were blind.

Whereas for the blind man, the two words “I see” was never in his vocabulary till Jesus made Him see. He was accustomed to physical darkness, but through his encounter with Jesus, he also recognized that he was spiritually blind as well. Ability to see with the physical eyes does not necessarily translate into ability to have spiritual sight. We who have physical sight must recognize how dark our hearts can be, and how desperately we need Christ. Otherwise we may also allow evil to run unrestraint in our souls.

The first key to seeing and be initiated into more spiritual growth is the awareness of how dark our hearts are, and how desperately we need Christ. When we can recognize that without Him we are nothing, and have nothing to commend us to God, then are we in a state to reach out to His hand that is extended towards us. Let’s take a clue from the blind beggar. Like him, we must acknowledge our spiritual ineptness without Christ. This will help us to submit and yield to Him. And as we obediently follow Him, we will be able to see, not only with our eyes but also with our hearts.