Anoint Your Eyes

Alternate Titles

An Anointed Perspective

The Anointed Perspective

A story from the Old Testament comes to mind as an example of this.

2 Kings 6:15–17 “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 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.”

Cultivate the anointed perspective

Take the responsibility

Draft Notes

There is a spiritual vision to be had.

There are irritants to spiritual insight

Like the maladies that called for the "Phrygian powder” of Laodicea, there are conditions that cause irritants to proper site.

2 Peter 1:9 “9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

Hindsight is lost, forgetting that he was purged from his old sins,

Foresight is lost, forfeiting the adding and growth process.

Vision produces results. Vision produces development and growth. Vision produces action.

John 9:6–9 “6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.”

There are at least two layers of consideration in this account:

Spiritual blindness and seeing

The experience of a man and his miracle

Jesus is making a significant point about this miracle; he is using this healing to make a larger spiritual statement explicitly in v.3-5.

He uses spit and clay to make his ointment. He is using things that are gross, despicable, and humiliating to bring about light and sight.

Like the Phrygian powder or any eye ointment, there is a chafing and stinging that may come initially, but the result is worth it.

Seeing came after washing.

V.15 the man’s testimony didn’t reference the spittle; the recounting neutralized the humiliating aspects of the event.

V.37-38 in the final event, he saw Jesus!

He saw Jesus when his questioners couldn’t see him.

He saw Jesus before he recognized even who he was.

Jesus finally punctuates his point in v.39. I have come to judge the world by their seeing. Those who don’t see will see, and those who (think they) have revelation will be made blind.

John 9:39 “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.”

How many instances of healing in Jesus’ ministry were related to blindness? (Prepare a table of Jesus’ miracles, and maybe a table of other miracles as well.)

Mt 9.27-31 two blind men followed Jesus into a house. Jesus touched their eyes and healed them according to their faith.

Mt 20.29-34 outside of Jericho two blind men were healed when Jesus touched their eyes.

(Is it possible that this conflates his earlier Mt 9 account with the Bartimaeus account of Mark and Luke?

Interesting note, both of Matthew’s accounts have two blind men; all others have just one.)

Mk 8.22 outside of Bethsaida, Jesus spat on a blind man’s eyes, after which he saw ‘men as trees walking’. He then touched his eyes, and he saw clearly. The difference was in the touch.

Mk 10.46-52, Lk 18.35-43 Bartimaeus met Jesus outside of Jericho. Jesus simply spoke to him to go on his way and be healed.

Jn 9 discussed at length above.

In both the Pharisees’ and the Laodiceans’ cases, they thought they saw. But their vision was blurred, whether by distraction, carelessness, or deliberate determination not to see.

Notice what corresponds and what stands alone in Jesus’ message to Laodicea:

First, what they say stands apart from everything that Jesus observes; they only see material status from their perspective of complacency.

Wretched

Miserable

Poor —> Gold tried in the fire

Blind —> anoint your eyes with eyesalve to see

Naked —> white raiment to be clothed and shame covered

Our objective in this message:

Determine to embrace a spiritual perspective.

Commit to endure the sting that may come with applying the anointing salve onto our vision.

Be willing for our own paradigm to be challenged and even destroyed.

Commit to persist in growth of knowledge and understanding in the way of God.

Re 3 complacency as a problem

2 Pt 1 growth in spiritual development as imperative - prevents spiritual myopia

Jn 9 Jesus’ purpose as bringing spiritual growth and enlightenment

Jn 9 Jesus as a healer

Jn 9 unpleasant means of healing - spit and dirt

Jn 9 determination to avoid the uncomfortable truth in front of them

Re 3 determination to embrace an anointed vision, even if it challenges our complacency, challenges our paradigm, or challenges our comfort.