Are We Blind Too? (Part 2 of 2)

Devotional

Day 1: When Claimed Sight Leaves Us Guilty

The Pharisees clutched their religious certainty like armor, sneering at Jesus’ implication of blindness. Their fatal error wasn’t ignorance but willful refusal to see the Messiah standing before them. Spiritual blindness becomes irreversible when we insist we already possess full vision. Jesus’ paradox cuts deep: those who deny their need for light choose to remain in darkness. True sight begins with confessing how much we’ve missed. The greater our claims of insight, the heavier our unacknowledged chains. [07:34]

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”
(John 9:41, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been quick to assert spiritual “sight” while avoiding Christ’s specific call to humility? What evidence of dependence on your own understanding needs confessing today?

Day 2: Beating Breasts in a Temple of Boasts

Two men prayed. One listed achievements; the other hid his face. The tax collector’s raw confession—“Have mercy on me, a sinner”—pierced heaven’s throne room. His humility wasn’t self-loathing but honest clarity about his need. Meanwhile, the Pharisee’s prayer echoed the courtroom of his own ego. Justification comes not to those who negotiate their worth but to those who abandon pretense at the foot of the cross. [03:34]

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”
(Luke 18:13-14, ESV)

Reflection: When have you approached God more like a resume-bearer than a mercy-beggar? What masks of self-sufficiency might you remove in prayer today?

Day 3: No Cure for the Self-Cured

Lady Macbeth scrubbed invisible bloodstains, mirroring all who seek cleansing through self-effort. The Pharisees’ real blindness was believing they needed no physician. Jesus offers the only remedy for sin’s stain, yet many prefer the futility of moral laundering. Rejecting the Surgeon’s knife, they cling to band-aids—rituals, comparisons, busyness—while the wound festers. To refuse the cure is to choose the disease eternally. [13:45]

“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
(Proverbs 26:12, ESV)

Reflection: What areas of life still operate under “self-treatment” rather than surrendering to Christ’s radical healing? Where does pride masquerade as strength?

Day 4: The Bell That Divides Eternity

Macbeth heard fate’s knell; Jesus’ words ring a division bell. Neutrality evaporates—we step into light or retreat into shadows. Postponed decisions calcify into rejections. The Pharisees’ scoff—“Are we blind too?”—revealed their chosen side. Every sermon, scripture, or stirring of the Spirit sounds this bell anew. Today’s “maybe” is tomorrow’s “never”; deferred response is defiance dressed in polite delay. [17:26]

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
(Hebrews 3:15, ESV)

Reflection: What specific invitation from Christ have you been answering with “later”? How might procrastination itself be a form of resistance?

Day 5: From Blindness to Birdsong

The healed man’s world exploded with color—not just retinal light, but the radiance of being known and loved. Conversion transforms perception: burdens become blessings, trials turn to testimonies. Where once stood a blind beggar now stood a bold witness, his story silencing religious elites. To receive sight is to gain a new language—one that sings of grace in every hue. [21:28]

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
(John 1:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: When did Christ’s light most dramatically alter your perspective? How could your story of receiving sight silence someone’s doubts today?

Sermon Summary

John 9 brings every listener to a crossroads. The man born blind has received physical sight, but Jesus seeks him out for something greater, asking, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man’s eager question, “Who is he, sir?” stands in sharp contrast to the Pharisees, who have all the religious credentials and none of the spiritual sight.

The Pharisees claim to be guides for the blind, lights to those in darkness, and instructors of the foolish. Their question, “Are we blind too?” drips with smugness and derision. Their blindness is not merely that they cannot see Christ. Their blindness is that they do not know how blind they are. Luke’s Pharisee, praying about himself and thanking God that he is not like other men, gives the same ugly picture of confidence in personal righteousness.

Jesus turns the whole thing on its head. The tax collector, standing at a distance and crying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” goes home justified. Simeon’s word over the infant Christ comes true: this child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel. Humility falls at Christ’s feet and rises to see. Religious pride insists on seeing and remains in the dark.

Jesus’ answer in John 9:41 is a paradox. If the Pharisees had no light, no Scriptures, and no knowledge of God’s promises, their ignorance would not carry the same guilt. But their knowledge makes their rejection culpable. Isaiah had said that Messiah would open blind eyes, release captives, and bring people out of darkness. Jesus has done before their eyes what God alone can do, yet they refuse to recognize God’s Son when he comes.

The warning is plain: there is no hope for those wise in their own eyes. Wisdom, strength, education, money, status, and religious familiarity become dreadful things when they are held up against Christ rather than bowed before him. There is also no cure for people who reject the only cure there is. Lady Macbeth cannot wash away the stain on her hands, and no external washing can cleanse a guilty conscience. More needs the divine than the physician.

Christ breaks the power of canceled sin and sets the prisoner free. The division bell sounds, and no one remains neutral. A yes, a no, a maybe, an abstention, and an “I’ll get back to it” all bring a person to the divide. Today, if Christ’s voice is heard, hardened hearts must not delay. Blind men and blind women who cast themselves on his mercy will see, be saved, and find the whole world changed because they are his and he is theirs.

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Key Takeaways

1. Pride cannot recognize the light The Pharisees possess Scripture, tradition, and public respect, but those gifts become witnesses against them because they refuse Christ. Spiritual blindness often wears religious clothing and speaks with confidence. Humility begins when self-assurance gives way to the honest confession, “I am blind.” [04:45]
2. Knowledge increases spiritual responsibility The Messiah’s works fulfill promises the Pharisees know well, including the opening of blind eyes. Their guilt remains because they see the evidence and will not yield to its meaning. Biblical knowledge is never a safe hiding place when it is used to avoid the Christ to whom Scripture points. [08:13]
3. Self-made cures cannot cleanse guilt Lady Macbeth’s hands cannot be made clean by perfumes, washings, or frantic effort. Sin leaves a burden that human remedies cannot remove from memory or conscience. Christ alone deals with the perilous stuff that weighs upon the heart. [13:45]
4. Christ demands a real decision The division bell does not permit a comfortable middle ground. Indecision is not innocence, and delay is not neutrality. Christ’s exclusive claims and expansive invitations call for trust today, while his voice is heard. [17:26]
5. Mercy gives blind eyes true sight Christ receives those who abandon their claims of personal illumination and ask him to make them see. Salvation does not merely add religious information to life. Christ changes the way heaven, earth, beauty, guilt, and belonging are seen.

## [20:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:32] - The Crossroads of John 9
[01:15] - The Blind Man and the Pharisees
[02:15] - “Are We Blind Too?”
[03:10] - The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
[04:45] - Falling Before Christ to Rise
[06:36] - Jesus’ Puzzling Answer
[08:13] - Messiah Opens Blind Eyes
[10:36] - No Hope for the Wise in Their Own Eyes
[13:01] - No Cure Apart from Christ
[13:45] - Lady Macbeth and a Diseased Mind
[16:16] - The Division Bell Sounds
[17:40] - Today, Do Not Harden Your Hearts
[19:45] - The Choice of Christ
[20:54] - “Make Me See”

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 9:39-41

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” [06:45]

Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” [06:48]

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” [08:13]

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: [03:10]

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’” [03:48]

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” [04:07]

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [04:20]

Hebrews 3:7-8

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,” [17:40]

Isaiah 42:6-7

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,” [08:26]

“to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” [08:31]

Observation questions

What contrasts can be seen between the man born blind’s eagerness to believe in Jesus and the Pharisees’ question, “Are we also blind?” [01:15]
In Luke 18, what does the Pharisee’s prayer focus on, and what does the tax collector’s prayer reveal about his view of himself?
What specific works does Isaiah say the LORD’s servant will do for blind and imprisoned people, and how do those works connect with Jesus’ healing in John 9? [08:26]
According to John 9:41, what do the Pharisees claim, and what does Jesus say remains because of that claim? [07:49]

Interpretation questions

Why does Jesus say that the Pharisees’ guilt remains, even though they possessed the Scriptures and knew the promises about the Messiah? [09:36]
How does the tax collector’s plea, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” show the kind of humility that receives God’s forgiveness?
In what ways can religious knowledge, church involvement, moral effort, or a good reputation become a substitute for actually trusting Christ? [10:36]
Hebrews says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” What might hardening the heart look like in a person who continues to delay responding to Christ? [17:42]

Application questions

Where is the temptation strongest to say, in effect, “I see”—perhaps because of education, experience, morality, church background, success, strength, or financial security? What would it look like to bring that area humbly before Christ? [11:01]
Is there any way of comparing yourself favorably with other people that keeps you from praying honestly, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”? What might repentance from that comparison look like this week? [03:48]
When guilt, regret, or painful memories arise, what “external washings” are you tempted to rely on—keeping busy, self-improvement, hiding, excuses, or trying harder? How can you bring that burden to Christ instead? [15:35]
Is there a specific matter in which you have been treating faith in Christ as a “maybe,” an abstention, or something to revisit later? What is keeping you from responding openly and honestly now? [17:27]
Jesus gives sight to those who admit their blindness and cast themselves on his mercy. What simple words could you use this week to pray, “Lord Jesus, make me see”? [20:54]
For those who trust Christ, how has belonging to him changed the way they see guilt, forgiveness, other people, creation, or the future? Where is there still a need for clearer spiritual sight? [21:20]

Sermon Clips

The question is, will you respond by coming into the light, admitting your blindness, casting yourself on his mercy, and as a result find yourself seeing and saved? Or will you refuse to come to the light, claiming to hang on to your own personal sense of illumination? If you take the latter route, you go out into a darkness in which no light will ever shine. [00:16:30]

And there is no cure for people who reject the only cure there is. There is no cure for people who reject the only cure there is. There's an inherent logic in this, loved ones. If Jesus Christ is Lord, if Jesus is the person he claimed to be, then his exclusive claims with his expansive invitations drive us to the inevitability of a conclusion which is reacted to vociferously in contemporary America and in the West in particular. There is no cure. [00:12:51]

Jesus, in setting the man to see physically, has revealed the fact that he is the only one who can bring spiritual sight. That he has provided, as John says, one of the signs, evidence, so that people might believe that Jesus is the Christ, i.e., that they might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that they might believe that all of the Messianic prophecies have been filled fulfilled in this man, and that by believing they might have life in his name. [00:08:42]

And that for me is one of the great and intriguing things. How it is that people continue to come and listen to the Bible being preached, and actually you've already made your decision concerning Jesus. You've decided that Jesus was either diluted or he was deceitful. Unless you move from one of those two positions to acknowledge that he is who he is, that he is the light of the world, and that those who follow him will not walk in darkness, then you walk out into a darkness that it that that is just completely utter darkness. [00:06:13]

Oh, the circumstance may not be bloody daggers, but it may be a myriad things. And all of your external washings and all of your endeavors and all of your perfumes and everything that you've tried have left you absolutely hopeless. Let me tell you, there is no cure when you reject the only cure there is. [00:15:30]

This man was awakened to the fact of his spiritual blindness. Uh he might have thought that his greatest need in life was in order to have his physical sight restored, which of course Jesus had done. But when all is said and done, Jesus seeks him out in order to ask him a question. The question that is found in verse 35, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" [00:00:54]

And their condemnation lay in the fact that although they knew what they knew and claimed to see as well as they did, they failed to recognize God's Son when he came. Fulfilling what we read in the prologue, he came to his own and his own received him not. [00:09:57]

And he stands in direct contrast to the Pharisees who refused to see what was right before their noses. They were the ones who claimed to have the sight, but they were in fact the ones who were blind to the truth. [00:01:30]

Now, that's why the Bible always says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Why? It is a call of God's mercy because on another day you may not hear his voice. This may be the day you hear his voice. Therefore, do something about it. [00:17:40]

There is absolutely no hope for those of us who are wise in our own eyes. There is no hope for those of us who are wise in our own eyes. Solomon puts it in Proverbs 26:12, "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him." [00:11:01]

That their sin remains because until they admit to their true blindness and come into the light, there is no hope for comfort or forgiveness. And what is true of them is true of each of us this morning. [00:10:36]

Until a man or a woman falls at the feet of Jesus and says, "I am a blind man. I am a blind woman." They will never rise to see. [00:04:56]

You see, our response to Jesus shows what we think of ourselves. And our response to Jesus shows what we think of Jesus. And what they think of Jesus is just actually that he is diluted, that he's a madman, that he's demon-possessed. [00:05:52]

"I tell you that this man, the tax collector, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself, like the Pharisees, who think they can see, will be humbled. And whoever humbles himself will be exalted." [00:04:20]

And let no other rich man boast in his riches. You know, I've done very very well and I can get into most clubs and I travel extensively and I have a home here and a home there. Is your home built on rock or is it built on sand? I don't know. It'd be a good time to find out. [00:12:22]

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