B L I N D N E S S What does blindness represent in the Bible? What does it mean to gain sight after having been blind? Blindness is the absence of sight. Some people are born blind; others lose their sight later in life. The loss of sight can be a great tragedy, and being blind results in inconvenience and severe suffering. But God tells Moses that he is the one who gives sight and takes it away (Exodus 4:11). He does not do this arbitrarily, nor does he do it to punish people. Indeed, some people find great blessing and develop exceptional gifts due to their blindness. But in any case, God is in control and can overrule all obstacles in life. The Bible frequently uses the senses of sight and sound to describe relationships with God. These metaphors graphically depict the ability and willingness of humans to acknowledge God’s presence. In this sense, blindness is used in a variety of ways in the Old Testament. For instance, blindness is a quality of the fool rather than a wise person, according to the Teacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes (2:12-14). The wise person has eyes in his head so he can see. But the fool is constantly running into obstacles that he cannot see. Blindness is often associated with unbelief. Isaiah 6:10 reveals a command by God to make the people blind so that they might receive punishment. Some are so spiritually blind that they are not able to see God’s discipline and correction (Isaiah 42:18-19). The healing of blindness is a sign of God’s activity and of God’s chosen one (Isaiah 29:18; 35:4-5; 42:6-7, 16-17). The New Testament writers frequently use imagery of sight and blindness in order to describe the condition of humanity. Matthew 18:9 refers to self-induced blindness as an extreme means to avoid sin. If your eye causes sin, it is better to pluck it out and be blind. This is a metaphorical language, but intends to shock because the truth is so important and so overlooked. Spiritual wholeness is more important than physical wholeness. Opponents of Jesus are referred to as “blind leaders” (Matthew 15:14). They cannot lead others or themselves to God. Both opponents and the ones they lead are bound to fall into a pit due to blindness of spirit. They are blind because they focus on the lesser than on the greatest aspects of the law (Matthew 23:16-22). Healing blindness is a sign that Jesus has the power of God. When asked whether he is the one sent from God, Jesus responds by making the blind see (Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23). Luke 4:18 uses a quotation about healing blindness from Isaiah 61:1, to demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s intentions. When Jesus is accused of having a demon in John 10:20-21, one response is that demons cannot heal blindness as Jesus has done. People wonder whether Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying since Jesus had healed the blind (John 11:37). In the Gospels then, blindness is generally a way of speaking about disbelief. Blindness being healed signals belief. Light and the ability to see are closely related to blindness. The Book of John uses words like light and darkness, sight and blindness as ways to talk about the relationship of Jesus to God the Father and humanity to Jesus (John 1:4-13; 3:19-21; 4:45-50; 6:26, 36; 8:12; 12:35-36, 44-46; 14:9-10; 20:8, 29). Jesus healing the physically blind reflects his ability to open the eyes of the spiritually blind. In John 9, blindness is falsely attributed to sin. Blindness presents an opportunity for God’s power to show through in healing. Jesus proclaims that he is the light of the world, then he gives sight to the blind man. The healing provides the opportunity for the man who has been blind to be questioned about Jesus. His responses represent a person growing faith in Jesus. His first response is that “the man named Jesus” healed him, but he did not know where Jesus was (9:11-12). His second response is again about how he was healed (9:15). His third response is that he thought Jesus was a prophet (9:7). His fourth response restates that, while he did not know about Jesus, he himself was once blind but now can see (9:25). The fifth response suggests that the man has become a follower of Jesus (9:27). The sixth response is that Jesus truly was sent from God (9:33). The longer the man was allowed to reflect on the change from blindness to sight, the more his faith and belief became apparent. The final response is directed to Jesus. He believes that Jesus is the Son of Man and worships him (9:35-38). Gaining sight means believing, worshipping, and following Christ. (Taken from: The Everyday Study Bible by TGLM)
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 05:57:31 +0000
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