Blinded by Self-Righteousness
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Judging by Sight
Judging by Sight
One of my first sermons was to give thanks for my bad eyesight. Because of an early diagnosis of nearsightedness, I knew that my vision was not as complete as it could have been. I required some outside help to enable me to see well enough so that I could achieve the same learning capabilities as my classmates.
Contrary to what some people had indicated, I did not want to wear glasses or contacts as I found people in my school to be cruel to others who had a lack of perfect vision. I’m sure you can remember times in your lives when those less fortunate than others were bullied or picked on because of some lack of physical characteristic or the way the person did not fit in with the majority of others.
However, the enemy is great about enabling us to forget the times where we were downtrodden. Instead of enabling others to see with the clear eyes that only God enables for us to see with, we cast judgement upon others through our plank filled eyes. We have giant beams of lumber sticking out of our faces when it comes to passing judgment on the world.
I am only most compassionate on others when I am reminded by Jesus Christ Himself of where I stood in relation to God the Father before He rescued me out of darkness.
Jesus constantly reminds me to see the world the way that He does. Not of one where it is completely cast aside but as one where I must see a vision of the chance to rescue some alongside God.
God Knows We are Blind
God Knows We are Blind
When we are self-righteous and filled with the zeal to cast judgment upon others who are trying to reach God, we deny those the path to Jesus Christ. Just as the Pharisees stood in the way of those who would desire to see and witness the testimony of God working in the world, we often stand in the way.
Have you ever heard the term, “You make a better door than a window?”
How does that relate to your Christian witness?
In this sense, we stand in the way as a locked door; prohibiting the entry of another into the kingdom of God.
Unless we submit to allowing God to work through our eyes and change the way we see the world then we will not be convinced that we are as broken as the lame and blind man who were healed by Jesus. We will remain blind.
We will remain stumbling around in the darkness and instead of being invited into the wedding feast, we will be cast outside weeping and wailing to be let in with the King.
Everyone was shocked. Whenever I told people my church had kicked me out, they unanimously expressed outrage.
“How could they be so cruel?”
“What a bunch of hypocrites!”
“Who are they to judge?”
I loved these responses. I would sigh heavily, my eyes welling up with tears, as I recounted the day I received the letter from the “Holier Than Thou Reformed Baptist Church” informing me of my sins against God and their duty to break Christian fellowship with me. Without fail my audience would look at me with pity and affirm how sorely I had been mistreated. And I knew they would spread the news of this “injustice” far and wide. And I was pleased about that, too.
“I stopped praying the day we received the diagnosis, and I didn’t pray again for five years.”
I was excommunicated because I had stopped attending Sunday service about a year and a half earlier. I had also separated from my husband while our son was in hospice care. At the time, our terminally ill son was going downhill fast. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about the church. My son was dying! Anger came like a storm. It was a dark time, and looking back now, I see that “my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped” (Psalm 73:2).
I had been through difficult times before: the tragic loss of my father in childhood, the torturous cancer battle that took my mother’s life in my twenties, and the horrific fight of my firstborn against malignant brain cancer a decade earlier. But nothing hit me as hard as my son’s genetic disorder. It was a rare aging condition called Cockayne Syndrome. There is no treatment for CS. You watch your child slowly deteriorate and suffer horribly. I stopped praying the day we received the diagnosis, and I didn’t pray again for five years.
My Eyes Were Opened
During my rebellion, I experienced the undeniable failure of a church body to minister to a hurting family. Not one single person from our church came to see our son when he was put on hospice care. Not even the pastor. But they did find the time to kick me out of the church. I realized in the process that at some point or another everyone will fail you. When a church fails to meet the needs of a family in crisis, it is sad and disappointing. But that disappointment was coupled with something I didn’t expect.
The more time I spent apart from church, the more I saw the world as it really was. I began to see a culture around me spiraling out of control. No one around me had any clarity. My co-workers at the university based their values on personal whims. I silently dubbed the reasoning of my new friends theologia iohannes lennon (theology of John Lennon). The idea that “All we need is love” was continually tossed out as a panacea for conflict, but it offered no real guidance on how to understand the world or how to make decisions.
“I missed the peace of his forgiveness.”
My frustration grew even more as I found myself listening to conversations in which there was no grounding for any values, not even human life itself. Everywhere I turned, I observed hollow men, as T.S. Eliot described them, saying meaningless things, “As wind in dry grass, or rats’s feet over broken glass.” I missed the truthfulness of God’s word.
Finally, God revealed my own heart in undeniable ways. I would observe repugnant behaviors and say, “I would never do that.” Time and time again, a situation would present itself where I would do just that very thing, and immediately feel the Lord looking directly at me, as he looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). My shame weighed me down as I remembered “all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13).
I missed the peace of his forgiveness.
Scarlett Clay https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/kicked-out-of-church#modal-2744-19bredyi, Accessed November 27, 2021
Judgment Comes From the one who Restores Sight
Judgment Comes From the one who Restores Sight
Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
There are two groups of people in the world
There are two groups of people in the world
Group 1 belongs to a people who hear something, accept it as truth for others, disregard it for themselves and see that others are suffering for being in a predicament they cannot escape from.
They cast pity on others because they are in a position of lameness, blindness, perhaps born into a family that has taught them a bad way to live.
They cast judgment upon others from the perspective of self-righteousness. Their eyes are opened by what they have experienced for themselves in their lives.
You may hear it through the methods of how they achieve their self-help.
Many of their testimonies are filled with I statements about how they lift themselves up.
No credit is given to God for lifting them out of the darkness.
However, the self-righteous did not like the fact that Jesus was doing the work of God on a date that was not helpful to their mission. It did not fit their structure.
When we are put out by others because we do not fit into the mold of what the church has created, do we allow communication to take place?
Or, do we continue to believe that we have all things figured out as we enlarge our beams which prevent us from focusing on the real problems?
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?
Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
Jesus searches out this blind man who was put out by the religious authorities. Just like the lame man, Jesus finds this healed person and asks him a question.
Jesus asks him to identify who the Son of Man is. When the blind man doesn’t fully understand, Jesus explains to him who He is. He does not get frustrated with the man for not knowing.
Remember, Jesus knew this man was blind. He knew there were certain people who may have caused fear to be the motivator for this person’s faith.
Jesus wanted instead to show this man that justice does come but that restoration comes with it.
Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
This man, born blind believes in Jesus. He bows down to Jesus.
And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
The second group of people are those who Jesus comes to rescue. It is those who are blind, know they are blind, know they need a shepherd to guide them who Jesus rescues.
It is those people who continually rely on Jesus to guide them that Jesus remains with.
Too many people cast Jesus aside as soon as they are healed that they believe their salvation remained in the physical healing. That because they walked into a church and said some words and was placed under water that they gained eternal life with God.
However, Jesus warns here that those who profess to see so clearly may be the ones who are blind. They are the ones who are leading others astray as they push people out of the place of teaching.
Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
Earlier there was a different group of people who were mentioned that questioned Jesus. It was said they were the “Jews.” Here the group that is mentioned is the Pharisees. It is important to note the difference as the prior group focused on their own knowledge in Moses. What they needed to know was already taught to them. They were incapable of learning anything different.
Ἰουδαίους = Jewish ; Φαρισαίων = Pharisaion.
Ἰουδαίους = Jewish ; Φαρισαίων = Pharisaion.
Differences in the naming of the groups of people is important for our understanding of what Jesus is conveying here.
The first group who insisted they knew all based on what another man wrote down for them did not have their eyes opened.
Some commentators mention the difference is important in shining a better light on the Pharisees. That perhaps their inquisitive nature prompted them to allow people to understand that all people may continually learn.
Since the Pharisees were known to be the most knowledgeable about God, the law, and all things surrounding theological understanding for the Jewish people, it would be a great feat for them to humble themselves for understanding.
However, this does not happen either.
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Contradictions and riddles confused the people of the first century just as much as someone who would not study the reasons behind what Jesus is speaking.
It can be frustrating when things are not clear, when we cannot see what is directly in front of us.
Remember those 3D magic books that made you focus on a spot until the picture appeared?
Other people around you may be able to see it and you never could see it.
Imagine that for someone who is incapable of allowing themselves to see the different spiritual perspectives of the world.
Go back and study what God has revealed to the world through others.
Do not let your sin remain. How do we do such a thing?
Allow Jesus to heal
Allow Jesus to heal
Allow Jesus to teach
Allow Jesus to teach
Allow Jesus to live with you.
Allow Jesus to live with you.
Allow Jesus to be God
Allow Jesus to be God