“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” John 9:39-41, KJV.
Last Sunday this verse was used in a sermon and I like to look at the Pharisees and compare t to my own life to make sure that there are no similar circumstances in our lives that we are living today.
This one struck especially close as I think often we have had times where we say “We see!!” when in fact, because we are proud of the fact that we know what we are doing. I found it a good reminder to be humble in our talk.
We cannot look at another family and understand all the why’s behind why they do the things they do. We may have different life circumstances than they do.
The Pharisees rejected the wisdom of the formally blind man, because as they said “You were completely born in sin, and do you teach us?”
I have had this happen, where older people, reject the wisdom of a younger person, simply because of their age.
I was listening to an older song by Michael Card earlier this week, called “God’s own fool” God's Own Fool
It makes me realize that sometimes in our church factions, group factions online now, and other conflicts, nothing is new! Jesus did not look like we think He probably did! The groups of people who judge others harshly for different beliefs, follow the list of rules that they believe are biblical to the point they forget that He did call us to love one another in our judgement.
“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5, KJV.
Humbleness is hard….but Jesus was humble in even His “foolishness”, his judgement was righteous, his anger was just. Yet, who do we see His grace and mercy to? The blind, the sick, the sinners, the ones rejected by society and turned away from the religious leaders of the day. Where was his anger focused?
It was not on the sin among the tax collectors, the catamites who walked the streets, or even the Roman officials….it was on the religious leaders who believed they were right.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23, KJV.
I think that humbleness is the key to this. We need to make sure we watch our hearts, making sure we search to see if there is something we can learn when someone comes into our lives.
I think when we think we are right, we have to search our hearts, because when we say “We see.” our sin can remain, but when we are humble, He can open our eyes and our hearts to be cleansed from sin.