August 9th, 2020
“The Worst Blindness”
John 9:35-41
Call to Worship: Psa 36
Aux. text: Matthew 6:22-23
Service Orientation: There is none so blind as he who thinks he sees.
Bible Memory Verse for the Week: Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. —Proverbs 26:12
Background Information:
- (v. 35) The word “thou” {you – NIV} here is emphatic. “Others are unbelieving. Dost thou believe?” (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 189)
- (v. 38) This is the only place in this Gospel where anyone is said to worship Jesus. (Leon Morris, The New Int’l Commentary on the NT: John, 440)
- (v. 38) The progress in spiritual understanding of the person of Christ is marked by progressive descriptions: “The man they called Jesus” (v. 11); “he is a prophet” (v. 17); “from God” (v. 33); “Son of Man” (v. 35); and, lastly, “Lord” (v. 38). This progression illustrates the man’s movement from darkness to light, both physically and spiritually. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, 105)
- (v. 39) Were these words spoken on the same occasion? John says nothing to indicate a change of scene, but the conversation with the formerly blind man is unlikely to have been held before hostile witnesses, and it is difficult to think that the Pharisees would have witnessed the man’s act of worship without protest. (Leon Morris, The New Int’l Commentary on the NT: John, 441)
The question to be answered is . . . What important spiritual lesson does John wants us to glean from this passage?
Answer: The most blind are those who think they see. And the ones who see the best are those who know they are blind.
The Word for the Day is . . . See
Throughout Scripture blindness is used metaphorically to represent fallen man’s inability to comprehend divine truth. Isaiah referred to “the people who are blind, even though they have eyes” (Isa 43:8), while Jeremiah described the “foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see” (Jer 5:21). Isaiah also portrayed the corrupt spiritual leaders of Israel as “watchmen [who] are blind, all of [whom] know nothing” (56:10). Centuries later, Jesus would similarly denounce the Pharisees as “blind guides” and “blind men” (Mt 15:14; 23:16-17, 19, 24, 26). Like their leaders, even with the Scriptures the people of Jesus’ day also lacked spiritual understanding. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 409-10)
What spiritual lessons does John want us to see?:
- See: God Seeks Those Who Are Blind and Know It. (Jn 9:35-37; see also: Prov 12:15; 26:12; Isa 6:9-10; 42:7; 61:1-2; Mt 5:1-9; 6:22-23; 9:12; Lk 19:10; Jn 3:16-21; )
If God did not take the initiative in salvation, no one would be saved, since sinners cannot seek Him on their own. Rom 3:10-12 sums up the sinner’s total inability: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” “No one can come to Me,” Jesus said, “unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6:44 cf. V. 65). “You did not choose Me,” Jesus told the disciples, “but I chose you” (15:16). Just as the physically blind are incapable of restoring their own sight, so also the spiritually dead and blind cannot live or see by their own will or power. Salvation depends on God’s initiative, power, and sovereign grace (cf. 1:12-13). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 412)
They stubbornly insist they see, but continue in darkness. Their fierce pride shuts out any hope of healing. This is the judgment: Jesus can only heal those who know they are blind. (Roger L. Fredrikson, The Communicator’s Commentary: John, 178)
It is not our littleness that hinders Christ; but our bigness. It is not our weakness that hinders Christ; it is our strength. It is not our darkness that hinders Christ; it is our supposed light that holds back his hand. (Charles H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 30, 489)
Christ came into this world so that those who think they have spiritual insight will be shown to be blind and so those who do not suppose they have spiritual insight will see. The whole argument centers around the idea of need. Those who know they are blind are the ones to whom Jesus can give sight. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: John, 259)
My brother, only the heart is hard that does not know it is hard. Only he is hardened who does not know he is hardened. When we are concerned for our coldness, it is because of the yearning God has put there. God has not rejected us. (Bernard of Clairvaux as quoted by A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship?, 90)
God isn’t looking for something brilliant; he’s looking for something broken. (Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters, 35)
Pastorally speaking, John is again stressing the point that a certain poverty of spirit (cf. Mt 5:3), an abasement of personal pride (especially over one’s religious opinions), and a candid acknowledgment of spiritual blindness are indispensable characteristics of the person who receives spiritual sight, true revelation, at the hands of the Jesus. (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, 378)
To reject Jesus’ peace is to receive His punishment; to reject His grace is to receive His justice; to reject His mercy is to receive His wrath; to reject His love is to receive His anger; to reject His forgiveness is to receive His judgment. While Jesus came to save, not to condemn (cf. 12:47; Lk 19:10), those who reject His gospel condemn themselves, and subject themselves to judgment (Jn 3:18, 36). Spiritual sight comes only to those who acknowledge that they do not see, who confess their spiritual blindness and their need for the Light of the World. On the other hand, those who think they see on their own apart from Christ delude themselves, and will remain blind. They will not come to the Light, because they love the darkness and do not want their evil deeds to be exposed (3:19). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 416)
Most high, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me, Lord, a correct faith, a certain hope, a perfect charity, sense, and knowledge, so that I may carry out your holy and true command. –Francis of Assisi
But again it may be asked, Since all are universally accused of blindness, who are they that see? I reply, this is spoken ironically by way of concession, because unbelievers, though they are blind, think that their sight is uncommonly acute and powerful; and elated by this confidence, they do not deign to listen to God. (Calvin’s Commentary on the Gospel of John, 390)
Their reaction was an incredulous question: “Are we blind too?” They are the embodiment of the condemnation of which Jesus has been speaking. It never occurs to them that they of all people can possibly be blind. (Leon Morris, The New Int’l Commentary on the NT: John, 441-2)
You’ve heard it said, “God helps those who help themselves”. But God is telling you that, “God helps those who CANNOT help themselves and know it.” — Steve Brown
We who were lost in spiritual blindness have received spiritual sight through faith in Jesus. All believers were born blind but see because of Christ. In contrast, those who claim to see on their own will remain spiritually blind. (Gary P. Baumler, The People’s Bible: John, 146)
Had the Pharisees permitted themselves to see Him for Who He was, or Who He might be, they could have arrived at the same conclusion as did the blind beggar. But they refused to see Him as anything other than a Sabbath-breaking sinner. Their refusal was willful. Therefore their blindness was a matter of choice, not incapacity. Were it impossible for them to recognize Him, it would have been different. Then they would have an excuse. But now their guilt must remain. In selecting a blind, uneducated beggar, Jesus shows how easily people can SEE their Messiah if they want to. (C.S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on John, 174)
I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9
I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8
I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15
Humility and a passion for praise are a pair of characteristics which together indicate growth in grace. The Bible is full of self-humbling (man bowing down before God) and doxology (man giving praise to God). The healthy heart is one that bows down in humility and rises in praise and adoration. The Psalms strike both these notes again and again. So too, Paul in his letters both articulates humility and breaks into doxology. Look at his three descriptions of himself quoted above, dating respectively from around A.D. 59, 63, and 64. As the years pass he goes lower; he grows downward! And as his self-esteem sinks, so his rapture of praise and adoration for the God who so wonderfully saved him rises.
Undoubtedly, learning to praise God at all times for all that is good is a mark that we are growing in grace. One of my predecessors in my first parochial appointment died exceedingly painfully of cancer. But between fearful bouts of agony, in which he had to stuff his mouth with bedclothes to avoid biting his tongue, he would say aloud over and over again: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1). That was a passion for praise asserting itself in the most poignant extremity imaginable.
Cultivate humility and a passion for praise if you want to grow in grace. (James Packer, Your Father Loves You)
He says: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief,’ as if to say there are big sinners and lesser sinners and little sinners. He did not mean that, however; he cannot possibly mean that, for that would be to contradict his essential doctrine. What he does mean is that the nearer a man gets to God the greater he says: ‘I am the chief of sinners;’ and it is only a Christian who can say that. The man of the world will never make such a statement. He is always proving what a good man he is. But Paul seems to be saying more than that, as I have just been saying. (D. Martyn Lloyd- Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, 70)
No patients are so hardly managed as those in a frenzy who say that they are well, and nothing ails them. The sin of those who are self-conceited and self-confident remains, for they reject the gospel of grace, and therefore the guilt of their sin remains unpardoned; and they forfeit the Spirit of grace, and therefore the power of their sin remains unbroken. Seest thou a wise man in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool, of a publican and a harlot, than of such. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary: Vol. V, 1027)
- See: Jesus Exalts the Humble and Humbles the Exalted. (Jn 9:39; see also: Prv 3:34; Isa 56:10; Jer 5:21; Mt 11:25; ch 23; Lk 14:11; 18:9-14; Rom 1:18-32; Jam, 4:6; 1 Pt 5:5; ev 3:17)
The listening Pharisees heard what Jesus said, and it disturbed them. “Are we blind also?” they asked, expecting a negative answer. Jesus had already called them “blind leaders of the blind” (Mt 15:14), so they had their answer. They were blinded by their pride, their self-righteousness, their tradition, and their false interpretation of the Word of God. (Warren W. Wiersby, Be Alive, 148)
Humility rests on self-knowledge; pride reflects self-ignorance. Humility expresses itself in self-distrust and conscious dependence on God; pride is self-confident and, though it may go through the motions of humility with some skill (for pride is a great actor), it is self-important, opinionated, tyrannical, pushy, and self-willed. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prv 16:18). (J. I. Packer; Rediscovering Holiness, 149-150)
Self-reliance is not the way to holiness, but the negation of it. Self-confidence in the face of temptation and conflicting pressures is a sure guarantee that some sort of moral failure will follow. (J. I. Packer; Rediscovering Holiness, 92)
Jones of Nayland makes the pious remark, “Give us, O Lord, the sight of this man who had been blind from birth, and deliver us from the blindness of his judges, who had been learning all their lives, and yet knew nothing. And if the world should cast us out, let us be found of Thee, whom the world crucified.” (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 193)
Burkitt observes, “O happy man! Having lost the synagogue, he finds heaven.” (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 189)
III. See: God Judges According to How Much Light You Think You Need. (Jn 9:40-41; see also: Lk 12:48; Jn 15:22, 24; 1 Tm 1:13)
The more light a man has, the more sin, if he does not believe. (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 194)
His meaning is that they have enough spiritual knowledge to be responsible. Had they acted on the best knowledge they had they would have welcomed the Son of God. But they did not act on their best knowledge. They claimed to have sight and acted like the blind. Therefore their sin is not taken away. It remains with them. (Leon Morris, The New Int’l Commentary on the NT: John, 442)
Humble-minded ignorant people had light revealed to them. Proud self-righteous people were given over to judicial blindness (see Mt 11:25). (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 191)
But those who see (which is Jesus’ cryptic and ironic way of saying “those who think they see”), like the Pharisees in this chapter who make so many confident pronouncements but who are profoundly wrong (vv. 16, 22, 24, 29, 34), inevitably reject the true light when it comes. So certain are they that they can see, they utterly reject any suggestion to the contrary, and thereby confirm their own darkness. (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, 378)
Jesus’ remark, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind,” makes him the pivot on which human destiny turns. The Pharisees, assuming that they could “see” without his intervention, asked in resentment, “Are we blind too?” Jesus’ reply indicated that if they had acknowledged blindness, they could be freed from sin; but if they asserted that they could see when they were really blind, there would be no remedy for them. If they acted in ignorance of the light, they could not be held responsible for not knowing it; but if they claimed to understand it and still rejected it, they would be liable for judgment. Deliberate rejection of light means that “the light within. . . is darkness” (Mt 6:23). (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, 105)
Our Lord’s answer to the Pharisees is a very remarkable and elliptical one. If may be thus paraphrased: “Well would it be for you, if you were really blind and ignorant. If you were really ignorant, you would be far less blameworthy than you are now. If you were really blind, you would not be guilty of the sin of the willful unbelief, as you are now. But unhappily, you say that you know the truth, and see the light, and are not ignorant, even while you are rejecting Me. This self-satisfied state of mind is the very thing which is ruining you. It makes your sin abide heavily on you.” (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 193)
The more knowledge a man has the more he is to be condemned if he does not recognize the good when he sees it. If the Pharisees had been brought up in ignorance, they could not have been condemned. Their condemnation lay in the fact that they knew so much and claimed to see so well, and yet failed to recognize God’s Son when he came. The law that responsibility is the other side of privilege is written into life. (William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: John, Vol. 2, 50)
In this way the meaning will be, “If you would acknowledge your disease, it would not be altogether incurable; but now because you think that you are in perfect health, you continue in a desperate state.” When he says that they who are blind have no sin, this does not excuse ignorance, as if it were harmless, and were placed beyond the reach of condemnation. He only means that the disease may easily be cured, when it is truly felt; because, when a blind man is desirous to obtain deliverance, God is ready to assist him; but they who, insensible to their diseases, despise the grace of God, are incurable. (Calvin’s Commentary on the Gospel of John, 393)
Minds previously quite dead receive sight. Minds previously self-satisfied are left behind. Those who once saw not, see. Those who fancied themselves clear-sighted are found blind. The same fire which melts wax hardens the clay. (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 191)
There is a prima facie discrepancy between this passage and those in which Jesus says that he did not come to judge the world (Jn 3:17; 12:47). But there is no real discrepancy. Jesus is not saying here that he has come to execute judgment; rather, his presence and activity in the world themselves constitute a judgment as they compel men and women to declare themselves for or against him, as they range themselves on the one side or the other. Those who range themselves against him are “judged already” (Jn 3:18), not because he has passed judgment on them but because they have passed it on themselves. (F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, 220)
Worship Point: Like the blind man, when you see the Real Jesus, you are compelled to worship. (Jn 9:38; see also: Mt 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Lk 24:52; Heb 1:1-6)
The ultimate reason for the decline of Christian worship is, and must always be, a failure to recognize or experience the redeeming work of Jesus; for it is not as a social reformer, nor as an ethical teacher, but as Savior that He claims and receives the adoration of the faithful. (R.V. G. Tasker, Tyndale NT Commentaries: John, 125)
It is a mark of spiritual barrenness in the church when people come to worship to fulfill a duty or keep a habit rather than satisfy an appetite. (Eric Alexander, Truth for Life tape 65562 Side A)
If this experience has served to humble me and make me little and vile in my own eyes it is of God; but if it has given me a feeling of self-satisfaction it is false and should be dismissed as emanating from self or the devil. (A.W. Tozer, Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 128-29)
If we’re arrogant because we use big theological terms or have memorized more verses than our friends, we’ve lost sight of the God we claim to know. As Paul reminds us, that kind of knowledge “puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:1-2). Good theologians are increasingly humbled and amazed by the God they study. (Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters, 32)
Gospel Application: Unless you are humble, broken, contrite and in a position to accept rebuke, correction, and confess your sins; you can never see the Light of the Gospel and be saved. The love of Jesus enriches and empowers you to have this kind of humility. (Jn 8:12; 12:35-40, 46; Acts 26:17-18; Rom 12:1-2)
He continues: But now that you say, We see, your sin remains. In other words, “If you do not see the greatness of your sins and miseries, you cannot enjoy true comfort.” Your sin remains, for you have rejected God’s salvation. (William Hendriksen, NT Commentary: John 7-21, 94)
If you cannot bear to really look at all the stupidity of your life, if you cannot bear to see what is wrong with you, if you cannot bear to really see your flaws, if you can’t just take criticism, you just go to pieces, cause you know it is true; it is because you really do not have the strength from knowing the grace of God. It is the grace of God that helps me not feel, “Oh I must be OK”; but gives me the freedom to admit what is wrong with me without being devastated. And therefore, Jesus Christ is saying, “Do you know that unless you know the depth of your sin and the height of God’s grace: When things go well you are going to be smug instead of happy and grateful or when things go poorly your are going to be devastated instead of hopeful and enduring.” Unless you see both of those you are going to move back and forth from being a proud Pharisee or being a cynical sceptic and you’re going to not be able to handle the suffering and troubles of life. (Tim Keller; The Falling Tower , from Luke 13:1-9)
If you don’t see the absolute holiness of God, the magnitude of your debt, the categorical necessity of God’s just punishment of your sin, and therefore the utter hopelessness of your condition, then the knowledge of your pardon and deliverance will not be amazing and electrifying! — Tim Keller
They are all right by their own standards, and since they do all right by their own standards they imagine that they will do all right by God’s. This is the point of the question that the religious leaders asked Jesus. He had just stated that one purpose of his coming into the world was to cause those who see to become blind. He did not mean by this that those who rejected him could actually see spiritually, but rather that they thought they could see (though actually blind) and therefore would not come to Jesus. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 3, 731-2)
Men must be brought down by law work to see their guilt and misery, or all our preaching is beating the air. A broken heart alone can receive a crucified Christ. (Andrew Bonar, Memoirs and Remains of R.M. Mcheyne)
The simple meaning then of these words of Christ to the Pharisees is this: “If you were sensible of your blindness and really desired light, if you would take this place before Me, salvation would be yours and no condemnation would rest upon you. But because of your pride and self-sufficiency, because you refuse to acknowledge your undone condition, your guilt remaineth.” (Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, 507)
There are some people who not only do the wrong thing but adjust their vision of the moral universe so that they can label evil as “good” and good as “evil.” Once that has happened, such people have effectively struck a deal not only with evil but with death itself. They have turned away from the life-giving God and locked themselves into a way of thinking and living which systematically excludes him–and, with him, the prospect and possibility of rescue. (N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part One, 146)
Spiritual Challenge: Beware of pride, arrogance, and self-confidence before God. God exalts the humble, broken and contrite of heart. Whereas God humbles the proud, arrogant and self-assured. (Isa 5:20-21; 44:18; Mt 13:13-15; Lk 14:11; 18:9-14; Acts 28:26-27; Rom 1:18-32; Eph 4:17-18; 5:8; Rv 3:17)
The ground of seeing and spiritual growth is the awareness of how dark our hearts are and how desperately we need Christ! When our Lord in his opening words in the Sermon on the Mount said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”–those who realize they have nothing within themselves to commend them to God–he revealed not only what is required to see the kingdom of God, but to keep growing and seeing! It is blind beggars who keep on seeing. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: John, 260)
No man’s case is so hopeless as that of the self-confident man, who says that he knows everything, and wants no light. Such a man’s sin abides on him, and, unless repented of, will sink him into the pit. (J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John, Vol. 2, 193-4)
The man who is conscious of his own blindness, and who longs to see better and to know more, is the man whose eyes can be opened and who can be led more and more deeply into the truth. The man who thinks he knows it all, the man who does not realize that he cannot see, is the man who is truly blind and beyond hope and help. Only the man who realizes his own weakness can become strong. Only the man who realizes his own blindness can learn to see. Only the man who realizes his own sin can be forgiven. (William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: John, Vol. 2, 50)
Those who go blind are the ones who do not realize their need. Those who receive sight are the ones who sense their darkness. The Pharisees thought they had it all together, that they had arrived. Through their acquaintance with the Law they knew they were not perfect, but they did not understand how deeply infected they were with sin. So they adopted the external appearance of having dealt with sin though actually they had never faced the darkness of their hearts. They were self-satisfied. They said, “We see” when in reality they were blind.” (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: John, 259)
The self-satisfied attitude of “we see” is deadly. We comfort ourselves in our ability to “see” the sin of the world. “We see” that Jesus Christ is the answer. “We see” moral problems. “We see” the ethical answers. We focus on what we think we see but never really see into our hearts. It is so easy to focus on our piety or the changes in our habits and speech, but while we congratulate ourselves, we allow evil to spread unrestricted in our souls. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: John, 260)
This is foundational to everything. Being a Christian means being broken and contrite. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you get beyond that in this life. Brokenness marks the life of God’s happy children until they die. We are broken and contrite all the way home–unless sin gets the proud upper hand. Being broken and contrite is not against joy and praise and witness. It is the flavor of Christian joy and praise and witness. Jonathan Edwards says it best:
All gracious affections [feelings, emotions] that are a sweet [aroma] to Christ…are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble brokenhearted joy. (John Piper, Shaped By God, 38-9)
“In this book you will find more than a dozen of these fast day messages described by Evan along with calls to corporate repentance issued by government bodies and church leaders. Early Americans, despite their faults, knew that God hated sin and punished it in the unrepentant, including unrepentant believers and churches. Because they feared God and His ability to punish, they sought to lead their people in quick and thorough repentance.
They were alert to signs of God’s manifest displeasure among them. Natural calamities, which some of us treat with a shrug of a shoulder, were dutifully examined, prayed over and improved by godly men of old. Even the unexpected death of a pastor, a youth, a government official, a farmer or a housewife had power to provoke them to inquire if God had a grievance against His people.
Their attitude of brokenness and contrition before God made them sensitive to what He was saying to them, just as the arrogancy and self-sufficiency of today’s church make it virtually immune to the voice of God and the promptings of the His Spirit. If they passed into dry seasons spiritually, they took this as a message from God and sought His face in renewed repentance and dedication.” (Owen Roberts; Sanctify the Congregation; page xii)
Now, if any man, elated by proud confidence in his own opinion, refuses to submit to God, he will seem–apart from Christ–to be wise, but the brightness of Christ will strike him with dismay; for never does the vanity of the human mind begin to be discovered, until heavenly wisdom is brought into view. (Calvin’s Commentary on the Gospel of John, 391)
Observe the sequence. First, we recognize we are in need (we’re poor in spirit). Next, we repent of our self-sufficiency (we mourn). We quit calling the shots and surrender control to God (we’re meek). So grateful are we for his presence that we yearn for more of him (we hunger and thirst). As we grow closer to him, we become more like him. We forgive others (we’re merciful). We change our outlook (we’re pure in heart). We love others (we’re peacemakers). We endure injustice (we’re persecuted). (Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven, 10)
In what sense did the Pharisees “see”? They saw the change in the blind beggar and could not deny that he had been healed. They saw the mighty works that Jesus performed. Even Nicodemus, one of their number, was impressed with the Lord’s miracles (Jn 3:2). If they had examined the evidence with honesty, they would have seen the truth clearly. (Warren W. Wiersby, Be Alive, 148-9)
It becomes increasingly clear, as the narrative proceeds, that the Pharisees for all their claims to be spiritual leaders are in fact spiritually blind. Unable to explain this unprecedented phenomenon of a man born blind being enabled to see, they will not admit that it has really happened. Much less will they acknowledge that He who has achieved this miracle, so far from being a sinner, must be, as the man himself admits, One to whose prayers God has listened, who is obedient to His will, and who is Himself from God. (R.V. G. Tasker, Tyndale NT Commentaries: John, 125)
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts. -John Wooden
Self, in all its forms–self-will, self-pleasing, self-confidence–renders life in the power of the Spirit impossible. (Andrew Murray, Receiving Power from God, 27)
Thoughts from Matthew 6:22-23:
(Mt 6:23) Ponēros (bad) usually means evil, as it is translated here in the KJV. In the Septuagint (Greek OT) it is often used in translating the Hebrew expression “evil eye,” a Jewish colloquialism that means grudging, or stingy (see Dt 15:9, “hostile;” Prv 23:6, “selfish”). “A man with an evil eye,” for example, is one who “hastens after wealth” (Prv 28:22).
The eye that is bad is the heart that is selfishly indulgent. The person who is materialistic and greedy is spiritually blind. Because he has no way of recognizing true light, he thinks he has light when he does not. What is thought to be light is therefore really darkness, and because of the self-deception, how great is the darkness! (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: Matthew 1-7, 414)
So Jesus is saying, “There is nothing like generosity for giving you a clear and undistorted view of life and of people; and there is nothing like the grudging and ungenerous spirit for distorting your view of life and of people.” (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series: Gospel of Matthew, 246)
The meaning is, we ought not to wonder, if men wallow so disgracefully, like beasts, in the filth of vices, for they have no reason which might restrain the blind and dark lusts of the flesh. The light is said to be turned into darkness, not only when men permit the wicked lusts of the flesh to overwhelm the judgment of their reason, but also when they give up their minds to wicked thoughts, and thus degenerate into beasts. (John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 336)
You notice how perfectly logical this is. What we do is the result of what we think; so what is going to determine our lives and the exercise of our wills is what we think, and that in turn is determined by where our treasure is–our heart. So we can sum it up like this. These earthly treasures are so powerful that they grip the entire personality. They grip a man’s heart, his mind and his will; they tend to affect his spirit, his soul and his whole being. Whatever realm of life we may be looking at, or thinking about, we shall find these things are there. Everyone is affected by them; they are a terrible danger. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 365)
The implication in the present verse is that if our heart, represented by the eye, is generous (clear), our whole spiritual life will be flooded with spiritual understanding, or light. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: Matthew 1-7, 414)
In this case Jesus is saying that a generous spirit brings moral health and wholeness, whereas a mean spirit prevents a person from seeing what is really important. This interpretation follows naturally after the words on laying up treasure in heaven and leads on to the mention of money as a master that cannot be served at the same time as God (v. 24). (Robert H. Mounce, New International Biblical Commentary: Matthew, 60)
In the OT the “eye” denoted the direction of a person’s life. “Good” eyes focus on God. They are generous to others and convey the single focus of a true disciple. They receive and fill the body with God’s light so that it can serve him wholeheartedly. “Bad” eyes represent materialism, greed, and covetousness. Those with “bad” eyes may see the light, but they have allowed self-serving desires, interests, and goals to block their vision. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 122)
It is not only evil doing that dulls the mind and makes us incapable of thinking clearly. The cares of this world, settling down in life, enjoying our life and our family, any one of these things, our worldly position or our comforts–these are equally as dangerous as surfeiting and drunkenness. There is no doubt but that much of the so-called wisdom which men claim in this world is nothing, in the last analysis, but this concern about earthly treasures. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 365)
I believe that “clear” here means “generous,” and “bad” means “ungenerous.” The Greek word translated “clear” was often used to mean generous in the Greek translation of the OT (for example, Prv 11:25: “A generous man will prosper”). The word carries the same meaning in the NT. For example, in Jam 1:5 God is described as one “who gives generously to all.” The same idea is seen in Rom 12:8, 2 Cor 8:2, 9:11, 13. Here in our text the specific meaning is “the generous eye.”
Likewise, the phrase “bad” eye or “evil” eye (KJV) regularly refers to an ungenerous spirit. The rabbis said that an evil eye indicated a grudging, cheap, ungenerous heart. Prv 28:22 says, “A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth” (NASB). Prv 23:6 says, “Do not eat the food of a stingy man” (literally, “a man who has an evil eye”). (R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, 212-3)
The believer who has a generous spirit, who is not tightly grasping the things of this world, maximizes the reception of light (divine truth) in his life. The Scriptures are open before such a heart, for he is seeking the things above. Then not only does the eye of such a person receive light, but it radiates light to those around. (R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, 216)
Spiritual Challenge Questions:
- Think about the radical difference between the social, political, financial, and religious positions of the man born blind and the Pharisees. Who is in a position to more readily accept Jesus? Why?
- How can we better prepare the soil of our hearts to better accept Jesus and His teaching? (Mt 13:10-23; Mk 4:10-25; Lk 8:9-18)
- Most Christians do not consider living in a state of constant repentance. And yet, this is what Jesus sees to be promoting in the opening segment of His Sermon on the Mount and what Martin Luther saw as a fundamental position of every true believer in Jesus. How important do you think this is? Why?
- There are a lot of professional people who, when confronted with the Gospel, say they cannot become a Christian as that kind of humility, distrust in self and lack of pride would destroy their ability to do their job with excellence. How would you answer them?
So What?: See: There is none so blind as he who thinks he sees. Your eternal destiny is dependent upon your seeing Jesus and yourself. Don’t let pride, arrogance, self-assuredness and self-confidence keep you from seeing Jesus and yourself as they truly are. (Mt 5:1-9; 6:22-23)
Christian living, therefore, must be founded upon self-abhorrence and self-distrust because of indwelling sin’s presence and power. Self-confidence and self-satisfaction argue self-ignorance. The only healthy Christian is the humble, broken-hearted Christian. (J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness, 196)
Those who, like the blind beggar, acknowledge their spiritual blindness and turn to the Light “will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (Jn 8:12). But those who, like the Pharisees, persist in loving the darkness rather than the Light (3:19) will continue to wander aimlessly in the gloom (12:34; 1 Jn 2:11), bereft of any spiritual vision (Mt 6:23). The first group is destined to spend eternity in the glorious light of heaven (Rv 22:5); the latter will be condemned to the horrifying darkness of eternal hell (Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 418-9)
As the recognized religious leaders of Israel, they were confident that they did not lack spiritual perception. But the reality was that they were blind to spiritual truth, even though they did not know it. And by refusing to admit their blindness, they confirmed the darkened condition of their hearts and increased their hatred for the only One who could save them from Satan and their damning sin. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 417)
The position of the man’s accusers–the hardline Pharisees who are sticking to their principles at the cost of the evidence–is then all the more devastatingly exposed. Not only are they wrong, but they have constructed a system within which they will never see that they are wrong. (N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part One, 146)
The sobering truth is that those who willfully reject the light of salvation in Christ may find themselves fixed in their condition by God (cf. 12:39-40; Isa 6:10; Mt 13:13-15; Acts 28:26-27; Rom 11:8-10). Scripture records not only that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God (Ex 8:15, 32; 9:34; 1 Sm 6:6), but also that, as a result, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). Some of the Pharisees reached that same point when they rejected the full light of God’s revelation in Christ and attributed His divine power to Satan (Mt 12:24-32). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 416)
Show a man his failures without Jesus, and the result will be found in the roadside gutter. Give a man religion without reminding him of his filth, and the result will be arrogance in a three-piece suit. But get the two in the same heart–get sin to meet Savior and Savior to meet sin–and the result just might be another Pharisee turned preacher who sets the world on fire. (Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven, 40-41)
It may be that at this point He permanently confirmed them in their willful spiritual blindness, as He did with some other Pharisees in Mt 15:13-14. On that occasion, when He was told by His disciples that some Pharisees were offended by His words, Jesus had replied, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Those three shocking words, “Let them alone,” reveal that God will sometimes judge directly unrepentant sinners by abandoning them (and even hardening them) in their unbelief (cf. Hos 4:17; Rom 1:18, 24, 26, 28). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: John, 418)
Unless you know you are in the dark, you can never be in the Light. The more you are in the Light, the more you discover you have been in the dark. — PK
JESUS:
LIGHT
