Seek The Light

      The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (II Corinthians 4:4-6) 

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:39-41)

 

First, a note. Some manuscripts do not include the words “Jesus said,” in the last paragraph of the second passage. It does not change the understanding of the passage. There is no one else mentioned in the passage who would be likely to say them.

Let me put this bluntly. Every group and every age have Pharisees. It is thought that the term developed from a Hebrew word meaning “separate.” They believed themselves to be good, wise, faithful people who (therefore) deserved the right to guide the unwashed, ignorant, sinful masses toward all that is good, right, and noble. And, had you asked them, they would have assured you that they absolutely, positively, in every sense of the word had the good of the people and the nation in mind. I have no doubt that they did, at least for the good of the people and the nation as they saw it. And they probably weren’t incorrect about some of what they thought would be good for people or the nation.

Some people want to do away with any sense of “us and them.” That puts everyone under the god of this age. It’s not helpful to anyone. But there are always those who believe they know better. And here’s the problem. Those who are blind and believe they can see consider themselves to be the authority on how things should work. And they are quick to declare those who disagree with them to be blind.

As with yesterday’s lesson in logic, both groups cannot be right (that they can see but the other is blind.) They can both be wrong or one can be right. And that’s the problem. The god of this age has blinded unbelievers and will blind believers if given the chance, We must be careful to seek the Light.