Two Types Of Blindness
Or
Two Different Reactions
Sunday April 12, 2020
Scripture To Consider:
“When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!’ And when Jesus had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ‘See that no one knows it.’”
“But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all the country. As they went out, behold they brought to Jesus a man, mute and demon-possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, ‘It was never seen like this in Israel!’ But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.’” Matthew 9.27-34
Something To Consider:
As news spread of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising from the dead of Jairus’ daughter, two blind men made their way toward Jesus. Following close enough to be heard they cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Son of David was a title used by many which linked Jesus to the lineage of King David.
Many believed Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah come to deliver the nation of Israel from Roman rule. But Jesus, as mentioned before, in His first coming was to bring spiritual deliverance and not political deliverance. Jesus Himself, in Luke 4.18 declared; “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance [proclaim liberty] to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.”
In our Scripture to consider, Jesus was restoring physical sight to the blind. Up to this point in the life and ministry of Jesus, He had preached the gospel, He had healed the broken hearted, and had proclaimed liberty to those who were captive to their sin nature. Jesus, therefore, remained always in a position of being about His heavenly Father’s business. Can the same be said of us?
Something Else To Consider:
As Jesus entered another house, the two blind men came to Him. Jesus asked them one all-encompassing question; “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Their reply was a resounding, “Yes, Lord.” Believing that Jesus is able makes all the difference to our receiving His divinely offered help. As Jesus touched their eyes, He spoke the Word that released these two unnamed blind men from their physical blindness.
We have His written Word, but do we believe that He is willing and able to touch us and release any spiritual blindness that has clouded our better judgment or distorted our spiritual vision? Jesus strongly warned them to keep this to themselves. “But when they departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.” What would we have done in their place having been healed of physical blindness?
Why is it that on some occasions Jesus told those of who He healed to go tell what great things God had done, and on other occasions He firmly requested their silence? It may have been that some areas simply could not accommodate extremely large crowds of people. It could have also been a matter of timing. Jesus had a short period of approx. three years to minister and to accomplish the will of God on earth. What about us?
Have we ever truly considered how short an average life span really is? What is it that we have been anointed to do in order to help advance the kingdom of God? What are we doing that would be considered the Father’s business? What is it that we are doing that might be helping others to accomplish the will of God on earth? At some point in our short-lived lives we will wish we had considered these eternally motivated questions!
What about the reported over 100,000 people around the globe who have died as of Friday, April 10, 2020 due to the coronavirus? How many of them were concerned about the will of God or concerned about their accomplishing the will of God? This life on earth is fragile and can at any moment be cut short. We cannot afford to be afflicted by spiritual blindness. And if that is the Great Physicians diagnosis, we too should cry out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Something More To Consider:
Physical blindness was rather common in that day and age that Jesus lived. Some of the reasons were the intensity of the sun without eye protection, and the lack of good hygiene practices, combined with swarms of infectious flies. Demon-possession was very prevalent as well. But Jesus never hesitated in casting out demons, even doing so as in today’s lesson of a lifetime and without being asked to do so. And after Jesus cast out the demon, the mute man spoke and the multitude marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel.”
As then, there are two types of blindness, physical and spiritual, and two different reactions to the release of the evil influence over people’s lives. God is still able to deliver; therefore, do we believe? And if we believe, have we been delivered from our demons of sin? Have we been miraculously delivered from our personally practicing iniquity? Have our blinded eyes been opened by a true God ordained born-again spiritual rebirth? And if not, why not?
If Jesus asked us today, “Do you believe that I am able to do this”; whatever our need is, what would our response be? Would it be as the two blind men, “Yes, Lord”? Or would we allow our disbelief and human skepticism to hold us captive to our physical and or spiritual blindness? What would be our personal reaction to our being delivered of whatever?
Can we be delivered from the fear of our contracting the coronavirus? Can we be delivered from the anxiety of not living to experience another birthday, wedding anniversary, graduation, or the loss of employment due to the closing of so many businesses in order to slow the death rate due to this pandemic?
Jesus, while touching these two men’s blind eyes, proclaimed, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened! Romans 10.17 affirms, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God [Jesus].” Are we in a place where we are hearing the Words of Jesus? It is critical and crucial to both the establishing and exercising of our true biblical faith!
A Few Final Words:
The apostle Paul writing to the Roman believers in Romans 1.17, quoted the prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2.4, by stating; “The just [righteous] shall live by his [or her] faith.” And again, in Galatians 3.11, Paul reiterated that Old Testament truth by again reporting; “The just [righteous] shall live by faith.” Therefore, Jesus professed, “According to your faith [our faith] let it be to you.”
This Easter Sunday, if we lack faith, we only need to ask of God who gives liberally and who is willing to grant our prayer for faith. The writer of Hebrews 11.6 acknowledged; “He [or she] who comes to God [in prayer, not in a church building] must believe that He is [that He, God is God], and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Are we diligently seeking God and His righteousness on this most significant day in and through Jesus Christ?
God forbid we remain blinded by the rampant ravings of deceptive end time false prophets and false teachers. Jesus asked, “Do you believe I am able to do this?” Well, do we believe Jesus is able to open our blinded eyes and to deliver us of any and all demonic influences in and over our lives? Yes, Jesus rose from the grave and is now at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding on our behalf. Praise God!
Living by faith in Jesus Christ, is not a guarantee that we will not contract, or suffer, or even die from the coronavirus. Please do not misunderstand me! Living by faith opens our spiritually blinded eyes so that we can realize what is truly important in this life and in the eternal life to come. As mentioned in a previous lesson, dying and departing this earth while living by faith and believing in Jesus gains us access into eternity in the presence of God. Living and or dying without faith and without believing in Jesus guarantees us an eternity of judgment and torment!
The two unnamed desperate for vision blind men declared, “Yes, Lord.” Why then do so many still reject the spiritual healing that Jesus offers the world? The truth is that spiritual blindness impairs our ability to believe and restricts God’s ability to give good clear spiritual vision! “And when Jesus had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.” That is our first step towards our receiving from Jesus whatever it is we are diligently seeking. Have we truly come to Jesus this Easter Sunday?
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, open our eyes to the spiritual blindness in the earth today. Deliver us and those dear to us from the more deadly than coronavirus spiritual disease of unbelief. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 