There is no doubt that all the suffering that we have both in this world and our lives is the direct result of living in a world that has moved away from God. That the entire history of a sin driven humanity under the direct influence of Satan yields nothing but generational suffering and bad effects. It is nothing new. Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees while teaching in the temple, said that they could not understand His teachings because they could not hear His word (John 8:43-59). He explained it was because they were of their father the devil who has been a man-slayer from the beginning, not living in truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies he is only being consistent with his character for he is a liar and the father of lies. They did not believe His words of truth because of who their father was and only those who are of God can hear the truth.
They were living in a world of chaos and meaningless suffering, where the people were oppressed and tyrannized under the control of the Romans. As they were walking, Jesus and His disciples passed by a man who was born blind (John chapter 9). His disciples asked their Master who caused the blindness; the man or his parents? Jesus answered that neither was the cause, but he was born blind so that God could shine His light into the darkness of the world. His blindness had a purpose! Then Jesus proceeded to heal the man.
Now the Pharisees were in conflict with Jesus at every opportunity, and after hearing of the miracle demanded an explanation from the formerly blind man. He gave an account and when he ended his story with the declaration that Jesus was of God, they cast him out. Jesus heard of this and found the man whom He had healed. He asked if he believed on the Son of God who had healed him, and who was now speaking with him – in other words, the prophesied Messiah. The man said, “Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Him.” Then Jesus explained that He entered the world to render judgment – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they really are the blind ones.
It is important to understand that now Jesus was not talking about the physical healing of the blind man, but about the willful spiritual blindness which is a refusal to accept Jesus as the Son of God – as the Messiah. The Pharisees standing nearby had actually picked up on that! Because their response was to ask Him, are we blind also? They obviously would not be asking that if they thought He was talking about physical blindness... Here is the most important lesson: Jesus replied that if they were were blind, they would not be guilty, but since they claim to see – understand all spiritual truth – but refuse to believe the truth of His word, they remain guilty.
Jesus is judging their hypocrisy. He is making clear that there are those who respond to Him and see the spiritual light of God...and there are those who reject that light. And when you reject the light of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you become spiritually blind. Do you realize that God's judgment on sin is fundamental to the good news of the forgiveness of sins? When you explore what Jesus actually taught you discover that His gospel is about two things, God's grace and love and God's judgment on evil. And you can't separate them any more than you can separate two sides of a coin. Without sin there is no need for His grace, and in John 12:48 He tells us that all who reject Him and His message will be judged on the day of judgment by the words that He has spoken. Jesus Christ came to bring life and salvation, but the rejection of that salvation will be judged by His words. In the last day.
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