For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, and the ones who see may become blind.”
John 9:39-41 NET
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and asked him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus replied, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains.
This chapter of John opens with a man born blind and a question from Jesus’ disciples about the cause of his blindness. Jesus told them that this man was born blind, not because of sin, but so that God’s work would be revealed through what happened to him. He was going to be an object lesson.
Then Jesus restored this man’s sight. But since the healing happened on the Sabbath, it resulted in a confrontation with the Pharisees. After the Pharisees rejected the man’s testimony and excommunicated him, he met with Jesus again. This resulted in another restoration of vision, this time spiritual, as the man believed in Jesus.
As Jesus pointed out, when this blind man was first introduced, his healing illustrated God’s work. Jesus expressed that he had come into the world so that those who were blind might see, but also so that those who could see, or at least claim to see, might become blind.
Jesus was referring to spiritual sight rather than physical sight. All of us are born spiritually blind. Jesus came to open our eyes, restoring sight to the blind. When we believe in him, our eyes are opened, and we can see.
But there are some who, even while blind, claim to be able to see. And, being convinced they can see, they will remain in darkness, rejecting Jesus, the true light that came into the world (John 8:12; 9:5).
Only Jesus can open the eyes of those born blind. Come to him for healing and wholeness. Other ways may claim to deliver sight, but they are nothing more than exchanging one darkness for another.
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 NET
