Author: Gary Witcher
Company: none

Blind Leaders of the Blind - How Jesus Feels

	For the past couple of studies we have been discussing blind leaders of the blind.  Being spiritually blind means walking in darkness.  This involves not loving one another and not loving God.  Loving one another does not mean that we are willing to stand by and watch others do whatever they want to.  It requires that we do whatever we can to make sure they spend eternity in heaven.  Loving God does not mean simply calling Him our Father.  It requires that we obey His commandments.
	What happens when we have blind leaders of the blind?  Both stumble.  And they eventually fall into a pit.
	What should we do to avoid being blind leaders or blind followers?  We must walk in the light.  To do this, we must first look to the light.  That light is Jesus, and He is revealed through God's word.
	We will be blind if we lack moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love or Christian love.  We will be blind if we depend upon our own power.  We will be blind if we love the approval of men rather than the approval of God.  We will be blind if we adulterate the Word of God.
	How does Jesus feel about blind guides of the blind?  He condemns them and calls them fools.
	But what about the other side of the coin?  We have seen what makes us blind.  We have discussed what can help us keep from being blind.  Let's go one step farther.  How can we see?
	"And they had forgotten to take bread;" we read in Mark 8:14-21, "and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.  And He was giving orders to them, saying, 'Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' And they {began} to discuss with one another {the fact} that they had no bread.  And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, 'Why do you discuss {the fact} that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?  Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?'  They said to Him, 'Twelve.' 'And when {I broke} the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?' And they said to Him, 'Seven.'  And He was saying to them, 'Do you not yet understand?'"
	Even these close followers of Jesus are unable to see because they are focusing on material things.  We will be able to see only if we focus on spiritual matters.
	"We know that God has spoken to Moses;" the Jewish leaders comment of Jesus in John 9:29, "but as for this man, we do not know where He is from."
	"Well, here is an amazing thing," responds a man whose blindness has been healed by Jesus, "that you do not know where He is from, and {yet} He opened my eyes.  We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him.  Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."
	"'You were born entirely in sins,'" the leaders reply beginning in verse 34, "'and are you teaching us?' And they put him out."
	"Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus asks when He encounters the man.
	"And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" the man answers.
	"You have both seen Him," Jesus says, "and He is the one who is talking with you."
	"Lord, I believe," the man reacts as he worships Jesus.
	"For judgment I came into this world," Jesus comments in verse 39, "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," the passage continues, "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.'"
	We will be able to see only if we admit our own weakness, see Jesus as the Christ and rely on His strength.
	According to verse 33 of this passage, this involves knowing where Jesus is from.
	"This man came to Him by night," John 3:2 says of Nicodemus, "and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that You have come from God {as} a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.'"
	Jesus is from God.
	According to verse 36, seeing Jesus as the Christ involves knowing who He really is.
	"Have I been so long with you," Jesus tells His apostles in John 14:9-15, "and {yet} you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater {works} than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do {it.}  If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
	Who is Jesus? He is divinity.
	According to verse 38, to see Jesus is to believe in Him.
	"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven;" Jesus notes in Matthew 7:21-23, "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
	To see we must believe in Jesus.  And there is no acceptable faith without obedience.
	According to verse 38, the proper reaction is to worship Jesus.
	"And behold, a leper came to Him," we find in Matthew 8:2 "and bowed down to Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.'"
	"And when He saw them," Luke 17:14-16 records of a group of lepers, "He said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And it came about that as they were going, they were cleansed.  Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan."
	Could it be that we can see only if we are looking, and that we are looking only if we realize our need?

	Before continuing, we should mention one thing.  Blind followers may not realize what is happening until they find themselves in a pit.  And then it is too late.  Each one of us is responsible for his or her own soul.  We may be innocently following blind guides, but we will still end up in the pit with them if we don't open our eyes.
	Jesus came to earth to open the eyes of the blind.  He came so that we might see.
	"And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things," Luke 7:18-23 states.  "And summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, 'Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?' And when the men had come to Him, they said, 'John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?"'  At that very time He cured many {people} of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He granted sight to many {who were} blind.  And He answered and said to them, 'Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: {the} blind receive sight, {the} lame walk, { the} lepers are cleansed, and {the} deaf hear, {the} dead are raised up, {the} poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.'"
	"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up;" we read in Luke 4:16-21, "and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.'  And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.  And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'"
	According to His own words, Jesus came to give us sight by preaching the Gospel.
	"I solemnly charge {you} in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus," Paul instructs in 2 Timothy 4:1,2, "who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season {and} out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction."
	Jesus came to give us sight.  And He came to proclaim release.
	"And you shall know the truth," we know from John 8:32, "and the truth shall make you free."   
	When Jesus knows that the time is near when He will leave His apostles, He has a special conversation with them.  This conversation is recorded in chapters 13-17 of John's Gospel account.
	"These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling," Jesus expresses in John 16:1-16.  "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.  And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, or Me.  But these things I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.  And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.  I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear {them} now.  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."
	What has Jesus done that we might be able to see?  He has left us the inspired Word, the Truth which will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)