Recovery of Sight to the Blind
When Jesus brought a recovery of sight to the blind, he was referring to the spiritually blind – those without clear spiritual vision and those without spiritual insight. The Jewish religion as established by Moses was the highest concept of God in its day. The Law was designed to prepare the Jewish mind for the coming Messiah. It was a guardian or guide (Galatians 3:24-25) such that, if followed, it would have led the Jewish nation to the Christ. Instead, they allowed their scribes to alter the ‘tutor’ by adding their own traditions and interpretations of Moses’ words, and then teaching those interpretations as if they were also law:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
– Matthew 15:8-9
The Jews had become blinded by pride, by their traditions and by their expectations. Their religion had become fixed, permanent and unyielding. Because they saw their religion as the absolute truth, there was no room for enlightenment or enhanced spiritual meaning. If it was not written by Moses or their scribes, to them it was of no value, and it was instantly rejected. Thus, when Jesus came adding new meaning to the old wine, and asserting the spirit of the law over the letter of the law, they could not yield.
In particular, their traditions led them to believe that the Messiah would come as a warrior king who would vanquish the surrounding nations and rule the world from the throne of David. Thus, when the Messiah arrived in the mild and lowly person of Jesus of Nazareth, they could not ‘see’ him. They were blinded by their attempt to make their visions of grandeur come true. It was to these blind souls that Jesus initially preached his message of liberty. And many who heard him regained sight, abandoned the tutor, and took hold of the real life as sons of God.
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
– John 1:12
Yes, the appointed time had arrived and their eyes were opened to their true selves, as sons of God, not slaves, and they enthusiastically cried out “Abba! Father!”
“What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
- Galatians 4:1-7
The spiritual vision afforded by Jesus remains. It was not just for one generation; it was for all time. To this day, all who hear the liberating message of Jesus are ‘no longer slaves, but sons!’ So why is it that many today fail to either realize their sonship or to fully appreciate it? Paul explained:
“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:12-17
Now is not the time to continue under the tutelage of the old covenant with its weak, beggarly and elementary ideas. (Galatians 4:9) It is time to enter the new covenant where the law of God is written, not on tablets, but in our hearts.
“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
– Hebrews 8:10
We must open our spiritual eyes, grow up in our faith and learn to apply the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law, for it is the letter of the law that blinds us. Jesus gave us just two commandments – love the Father with our whole heart and love our brothers as ourselves. (Matthew 22:35-40) These two spiritual commandments give freedom and insight.
We must also learn who the Father is – his true character as revealed by Jesus. And learn who Jesus is – his true character as manifest by his conduct and ministry. Always keep our eyes open to these realities as we grow in understanding, knowing that any ideas that characterize our Father or Christ Jesus as anything less than benevolent, merciful, loving, patient, and just, is either a misunderstanding or simply wrong.
Do not allow such error to cause you to miss out on the real blessings as the Israelites did. Do not allow the traditions and expectations of men to color your understanding of our future destiny. And do not be misled into ‘reading the old covenant’ and assuming it applies in our day. We are followers of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, not any other man or prophet. Jesus’ words and ministry trump all those who came before him and all those who came after him. We respect wise teachers and contemplate their wise sayings, but we live only by Jesus’ teachings. That is the meaning of being ‘Christians.’
Remember these words:
“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
– Matthew 16:6
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
– Colossians 3:2
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
To those experiencing spiritual blindness, allow the veil to fall from your eyes. Turn away from the mundane, elementary things and prepare yourself to follow the Christ into the heavenly abodes that have been prepared for you. It is no lie.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
– John 14:1-2
Spiritual seeing IS believing. In other words, by belief you will see. Physical things must be seen to be loved, but spiritual things must be loved to be seen. Have faith in the plain and open teachings of Jesus and you will recover your spiritual vision and be freed from the errors of men. This is your Jubilee!
