John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind
The reason I have not bumped into anyone today is because I have seen them. If I couldn’t see them, then it might well be that I would bump into them. Many people go through life bumping into others or bumping into hard objects because they can’t see. In John 9 we have a story about a man who was blind from his birth and the Pharisees who thought they could see but were truly blind because they rejected the Lord Jesus.
John 9:1 says, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” What could blind you today? No one wants to go through life not knowing where to go, what turn to make or not make, and lacking direction. All of us want to have good sight. The fact is that this man who had no use of his eyes was much more sentient, knowing where he was going, than the Pharisees who were religious and capable with all their senses, yet were blind. In fact, in the last verses of chapter 9 they said to Jesus, “Are we blind also?” kind of sarcastically, meaning, “Do you think we are blind?” Jesus answered, “Ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” They were blind.
What could blind us today? First, assumptions can blind us. The disciples’ question to Jesus, “Who did sin?” was based on an assumption. It was a theology that calamity is the result of a specific sin. While that may be true and while sin generally is the reason for heartache in this world, the assumption was that no one has specific difficulty unless they have committed a specific sin. The problem was this guy was blind from birth, so what do you do with that? Either you are forced to the position that he sinned in his mother’s womb or his parents were the ones who sinned? So, they asked, “Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” Their assumption was wrong. You cannot get a good answer from a faulty assumption.
Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” In other words, he wasn’t blind because of a fault of his own specifically. He was blind in order that Jesus could be glorified in this specific way. In John 11 there was a friend of Jesus who was sick. When Jesus was told he was sick, He said, “This sickness is not unto death.” Well, His friend died. So, what did it mean, “This sickness is not unto death”? Jesus continued, “For the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” Which would have brought more glory to God, if Jesus had healed this man from an illness or if Jesus had raised him from the dead? Jesus said, “This sickness is for the glory of God.” In John 9 with the blind man Jesus said that the man was not blind because of his fault, but “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
So, play the pessimist all you want, but don’t rule God out. Is there a difference between the truth and the whole truth? If I am just simple and tell the truth, I don’t need to make a distinction, but when you go to a court of law, they say, “Do you do promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Sometimes we see something that may be true, but we may be missing some key fact. Maybe we are pessimistic about our day because we see some problem we have. Play the pessimist all you want, but don’t rule God out.
What could blind you today? Assumptions can. Who sinned, this man or his parents? Jesus said, “Neither, but that the works of God should be manifest.” I don’t know how problems in your life may bring glory to God and show His power, but I do know that you should not rule God out.
Second, bias can blind us. More generally, bias is an unreasoned judgment. In verse 10 they didn’t ask a whoquestion they asked a how question. They said to the man who had been born blind and now was healed, “How were thine eyes opened?” He told them, but they didn’t like the answer. So, verse 15 says, “Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.” He told them again, but they didn’t want to hear that answer.
They asked the man’s parents saying, “Is this your son, whom ye say was born blind?” They ask as if the parents were fibbing. Of course he was born blind, but their question had a bias. They asked, “How then doth he now see?” The parents didn’t want to answer because they didn’t want to be thrown out of the synagogue.
The blind man had growing perceptions, not just visually but spiritually, of who Jesus was. When he didn’t know who Jesus was, he called Him a prophet. Then he recognized Him as the Son of God and worshipped Him and believed on Him. When he did that, he was thrown out of the synagogue. His parents did not want to be thrown out and were afraid to answer who this Jesus was. There was bias against them. The Pharisees asked a question for which the answer stood right before them in the person of Jesus, but they did not want to hear that answer, so they were spiritually blind.
They didn’t know where he had come from because they did not want to know. So, both assumptions and bias can blind to the truth. One lesson I am learning is I need vigilance with self, and a little bit of space for everyone else because I don’t know their heart and faith. Friend, the more open you are the more light you let in. The more open you are to the truth, to God, to His Word, and His Son, the more light you let in.