The Blind Receive Sight
Introduction: For this study I wanted to consider the topic of blindness and further explore the range of literal to symbolic sense used in Scripture. There are some very interesting forms of apparent physical blindness recorded in the Bible, and there are times when the Lord opened someone’s eyes to see his provision. The distinction between literal and metaphoric sense is sometimes blurred in scriptural references, and comparison with other passages is necessary to move one closer to the correct understanding. The physical blindness healed by Jesus was always secondary to the healing of the blindness of the heart and mind, because physical healing is temporal and spiritual healing is eternal.
NOTE: All scripture references are from the 1769 KJV Bible known as the Authorized Version.
A — Some Unusual Incidents Related to Sight
2 Kings 6 “16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.”
Luke 24 “30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”
Comments: These verses present a mixture of types of perception by sight, some with a very selective nature to what is perceived or not perceived; but all directed under God’s control. In the garden, Adam and Eve associated the nakedness they saw physically with thoughts not formerly in them prior to their disobedience. The men in Sodom did not display panic that might be expected from abrupt blindness when the angels struck them blind. At the precise time chosen by the Lord, Balaam’s eyes were opened to allow him to see the angel opposing him. Elisha’s servant saw spiritual beings apparently visible to Elisha before he requested of God that his servant be able to see them. The two on the road to Emmaus were first prevented from recognizing the risen Christ, then at the right time their eyes were opened.
B — The LORD Is in Physical and Spiritual Blindness, and He Opens Eyes
Psalm 119 “18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”
Isaiah 42 “7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.”
Comments: The Lord God is the creator of all in existence, and he alone fully understands why he has made some to be physically blind, and he alone holds the answer to why some have their eyes opened spiritually. In the sense of our tendency toward obscured reasoning, the Lord warns us not to be perverted in our judgments by bribes or undue influence. The psalmist turns in his heart to the Lord to request that his eyes of understanding be opened to the glory of the Lord as revealed in the word of God. Some of Isaiah’s prophecy gives the double message of opening the eyes of the physically blind, coupled with the ministry of the Lord opening the heartfelt understanding that has been blinded by sin.
C — Lack of Faith in the LORD Is the Reason the Lost Remain Blind to the Truth
Matthew 15 “14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
Matthew 23 “26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”
Comments: Jesus made reference to the prophecy of Isaiah when he spoke of the religious leaders and their followers as representing the condition of closing their hearts and understanding to the truth of God’s word. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Religious practice should not elevate the practitioner, but rather it should elevate the Lord God and humble the practitioner. Judgment, mercy, and faith are the elements Jesus emphasized. If we have not allowed God to cleanse the inside of our vessel, then all outward acts of self-cleansing or of apparent generous giving are as dead as the contents of a tomb.
D — Jesus Brings Sight to the Blind
Matthew 9 “29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 30 And their eyes were opened.”
Luke 4 “18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
John 9 “39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”
Comments: Jesus was very clear that the blind men’s faith in his ability to perform what they requested was the essential element of their healing. When he answered the men sent by John the Baptist, he linked his acts of healing with the message of salvation that he came to deliver. In Luke 4, Jesus directly told the people that the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled before them. The leaders in John 9 were so full of pride about their religious position that they would not accept their need to have their understanding opened to see truth through eyes of faith.
E — Until the Fullness of the Gentiles Be Come In
Romans 11 “25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
2 Corinthians 4 “4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Comments: When the resurrected Christ spoke to Paul in Acts 26, he declared that he was sending Paul to the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. The forgiveness of sin is possible only through faith in Christ Jesus. In Romans 11 Paul explains to the Gentiles how the unbelief of the Jews, and their faith in their own practice of religion, has caused the gospel to spread to the Gentiles. In 2 Corinthians, Paul states “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” and reminds us to look not only with the physical eye in the material world, but to see with our heart that which is eternal.
F — Walk in the Light to Avoid Stumbling Along the Way
1 Corinthians 13 “12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
1 John 1 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Revelation 21 “23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
Comments: God has revealed enough to us to expect us to believe by faith those things that cannot be fully seen. For all believers, the Lord requires that we continue walking in the light so our way will remain clear, because there is danger that we will return to the vanity of our minds and allow our understanding to once again be darkened to blindness of heart. Peter cautions us not to be barren of spiritual fruit lest we be blind to seeing that which is to come and forget that we were purged from our sin. When all things are made new in perfection, the Lamb of God will be our continual light and darkness will no longer be around us.
Reflections in Prayer
Lord, there are events in scripture that speak of things seen or of things concealed from sight, that I cannot fully understand because of elements not of an ordinary nature; but they all bear testimony to your involvement in actual events. I thank you Lord that I can trust you completely to make no error in dealing with any who are blind physically, and likewise for any who refuse to see by the spiritual light that you have provided. True sight comes to us when our faith connects our mind and our heart to see and understand truth in whatever form you convey to each one of us. Draw me back to your word often Lord so my eyes of understanding will be open to avoid my tendency to sin, and to guide me to follow closely after you. May I strive to view others as you would view them as you transform me to become more like Christ. And now Lord may I stay with you as you stay with me so I will be able to walk in the light for the rest of my life’s path. Amen.
Published 28 June 2005; format revisions 31 January 2017