Blind

Recognizing someone assumes having seen the person before. Therefore, the better you know an individual, the higher the chances of recognition will be. Even if a person is blind, identification is possible if they hear a familiar voice. However, without physical sight, there can be no visual identification.

There are different kinds of blindness. The obvious one is the lack of vision, the inability of the eyes to process light in such a way as to make out images and send information to the brain. That is considered a disability. But other kinds of blindness disable people in ways not recognized by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Nonetheless, in many ways, these people are just as hindered as the physically sightless.

Author Paul David Tripp shares a story describing what could be considered a form of blindness his son exhibited on an outing they took together.

I remember taking my youngest son to one of the national art galleries in Washington, D.C. As we made our approach, I was so excited about what we were going to see. He was decidedly unexcited. But I just knew that, once inside, he would have his mind blown and would thank me for what I had done for him that day. As it turned out, his mind wasn’t blown; it wasn’t even activated. I saw things of such stunning beauty that brought me to the edge of tears. He yawned, moaned, and complained his way through gallery after gallery. With every new gallery, I was enthralled, but each time we walked into a new art space, he begged me to leave. He was surrounded by glory but saw none of it. He stood in the middle of wonders but was bored out of his mind. His eyes worked well, but his heart was stone blind. He saw everything, but he saw nothing.

“He saw everything, but he saw nothing.” That is an unfortunate commentary, not that surprising assuming Mr. Tripp’s son was relatively young, but still pitiful in light of what the young man missed. In some ways, it’s an apt description of many today who ignore the obvious and undeniable beauty and design of creation that points to a powerful, intelligent, loving God due to their immaturity or selfishness. As a result, they lack an appreciation for what God has done and live lives of thanklessness rather than gratitude and praise. Though they can see, they only perceive what suits them. If they acknowledge God’s hand at work, they blame Him for the bad things. What a depressing way to live! 

It is blindness more tragic than that which robs one of physical sight. The willful refusal to see the obvious is a denial of truth due to pride, the deadliest of all sins. The Irish clergyman and author Jonathan Swift of the late 17th and early 18th centuries penned the famous phrase: “There is none so blind as he who will not see.” Denial of the obvious, regardless of the evidence, is a blindness of the heart. Being spiritually visionless as a choice is the worst kind of blindness because of its consequences. If this condition is left untreated and unchanged, the effects are eternal.

The Pharisees had this kind of blindness. No matter what Jesus did, regardless of how He substantiated His credentials as Messiah, they denied the truth of His identity. They wanted signs or miracles. He performed many. Then they didn’t accept these as proof of His claims. Instead, they either attributed His efforts to Satan or demanded another sign. Nothing would be enough, up to and including the miracle of miracles—rising from the dead.

We must realize that today some suffer from “pharisaical blindness.” They will not see. You can juggle, backflip and spin on your head before their very eyes for the sake of the Kingdom. They then stare through you with the absolute blankness of unseeing spiritual eyes. It’s not your fault. You believe you’ve overcome your lost friend’s spiritual argument with the apologetic genius of a C.S. Lewis. But they immediately offer the same objection to faith again. Now you know how Jesus felt.

Take heart; not all the spiritually blind are hopeless. Not all choose not to see forever.          

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” –1 John 3:2-3