The Paradox of Blindness

There are various logical reasoning and philosophical definitions of the word paradox, which comes from the Greek word paradoxos.  A distilled and simple definition of a paradox is "something that is contrary to expectation".  We often speak in paradoxical statements to show irony.  A common euphemism is "Stevie Wonder could see that..."  We know that Mr. Wonder is a blind man and we use this statement to indicate that something is so obvious that it should not be missed by someone with sight.  Many times, however, things that are readily apparent escape the detection of those with 20/20 vision.

This brings us to the story of the man born blind, recounted in John's gospel in the 9th chapter.  I recommend that you read that story and when reading it, keep in mind that John likes to show contrast.  He especially likes to play up the difference between light and darkness.  In the story of the man born blind, John paints a picture of two types of people.  The blind and those who claim to "see".  The blind man received his sight from Jesus and he worshipped Him.  He stood up to opposition regarding this "man" that performed his healing on the Sabbath and he even taught the Pharisees something.  In verse 30, the man stated something that was quite obvious and no religious leader should have missed it.  He says, in response to the Pharisees' weak dismissal of Jesus as the Christ on the grounds that they "did not know where He was from...", "The man answered and said to them, "Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes."  Here is the paradox of blindness:  This man, who was not schooled in the law or the prophets saw Jesus for who He was.  The Pharisees on the other hand, the leaders who supposedly knew God and could "see" did not recognize that the Christ, the Messiah, the same one that they read about in the synagogues every Sabbath, was among them.  They refused to acknowledge, believe in or accept Him as the Messiah.

Confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior means one thing.  You are saying "I understand that I am a sinner in need of a savior!"  The Pharisees' refusal to accept the Christ indicated that they saw no need for a savior because they did not "see" their sin!  In actuality, the blind man was the one that could actually see whereas the ones that supposedly had sight were blind.  This story not only shows Christ performing a physical healing but also paints a picture of fallen humanity receiving their sight and the forgiveness of their sins through Him!  Of course the fallen must come to a saving knowledge of Him as the Messiah in order to actually finally be able to see.  Christ is the one that can show us our sinfulness and our need to repent and then FORGIVE us for all of our sins! 

According to the text, there are three signs of true blindness.

1. A refusal to be taught: when the man debated the Pharisees on whether or not Jesus was a sinner, they rebuked him and did not accept the truth that came from his mouth.

2. A refusal to accept that you are a sinner: The Pharisees told this man..."you were born ENTIRELY in sin, how can you teach us?"  This statement is consistent with the assumption that they were born only partially submerged in sin, therefore they are better than everyone else.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We are all born into sin and brought forth in a state of iniquity (Psalm 51:5).  We are all fallen and there is only one way to get up, that's Jesus.

3. Those that are truly blind ostracize those that do not think like them: The end result of the discussion/argument between the man that was blind and the Pharisees was his ejection from the synagogue.  He stood up to their opposition whereas his parents were more concerned with their seat in the synagogue.  The truly blind cannot accept the truth and therefore do not want the truth to be around them.

The conclusion is this.  The blind will remain in their sin if they do not acknowledge and ACCEPT the way out of sin.  The paradox of blindness is this: The ones that say “I can see” in a way that is self-affirming, self-sufficient, and independent of God cannot see a thing in reality.  True sight only comes from Christ!  The arrogance and the presumptuousness of those that refuse to confess and repent of sin results in spiritual blindness.

We are all born blind because prior to Christ, none of us really understood our sins nor did we understand the gravity of our sinful condition.  If we had no sin, Jesus would not have had to come.   He came to forgive sin and also to restore the fellowship between sinful humanity and a holy God.  He came to give mankind a way out of sin, but there are many that are still blind.  They cannot see Christ because they want Christ on their terms as opposed to coming on His terms.  Modern day Christianity presents, in many cases, a watered down version of the gospel that depicts Jesus as a big brother or a BFF rather than the Holy God that He is.  Do not remain in blindness.  We must recognize the supremacy of Christ and accept Him as our Savior and our Lord.  He is the only way to actually regain your sight.  He's waiting for you and if you hear the call of God, do not hesitate to respond to it.