From Blindness to Sight: Jesus Opens Our Eyes

But but here's the point. Religious certainty can become a barrier in your life to the truth. And that was what's happening here. And as we talk about a man who was born blind, as we talk about our big obstacle obstacle in in life life being being our our blindness, blindness, are you resistant to that? You know, the the religious certainty made the leaders even more blind. Look at this. Okay? Picking back up. They still did not believe that he had been blind. [00:59:35] (33 seconds)  #ReligiousBlindness

So here's my observation. Okay? And I and I think this is over, you know, a number of years now and and seeing how we think and how people operate. Most of us assume that the greatest problems in life are the hardships that we face. You know, for instance, you know, you might think, well, if if this burden if this burden was lifted, I'd be good. Or you might think, you know, if this if this struggle disappeared, then I would be in another rung of of living. [00:47:45] (33 seconds)  #BlindnessIsObstacle

We think this way. And and then we think, then, if only then, if this thing was removed, then life could really begin. I could really live. I think that's a fallacy. Because our greatest burdens, the greatest obstacles really, are not the burdens that we're talking about. Our our greatest obstacle is our blindness. Want you to wrestle with the fact this morning that there's a degree of blindness that sets into the human heart. [00:48:28] (36 seconds)  #LossBecomesPreparation

To be cast out of the synagogue in these days was devastating as for a Jew. He was losing his worship life. He he was losing his relationships. In a way, because of how the Jewish faith and tradition is tied to the synagogue, he's losing his identity as a person. You know, the same guy who once sat outside begging is on the outs again. Only this time, it's not because he's blind. It's because he told the truth. But but the loss actually prepares him for something greater. Go to verse 35. [01:05:08] (39 seconds)  #SpiritualSight

And the greatest miracle of the story come on now. The greatest miracle of the story is not just physical eyes and the healing and the opening of those. It's the opening of spiritual sight. This guy could see, and it reveals a pattern that still holds true today. And the pattern is this, faith often begins without sight. I say often. I mean, come on. It it's more than that. The man was trusting in the voice of Jesus Christ before he ever saw his face. That's faith. [01:08:24] (36 seconds)  #JesusSeesPeople

What you think you can see at the present time actually may be still some blindness in you. You don't see the whole picture. Faith doesn't begin with perfect understanding. Spiritual sight begins first with with an honest encounter. Tell you what, you know, this is what I consider to be a really powerful way to pray. To simply say to the Lord, Lord, help me see. Lord, help me see. You don't know what you don't know about your sight. Lord, help me see. [01:04:17] (41 seconds)  #ChooseTheLight

When he steps in your darkness, you're gonna move in either one of two directions. The first direction is you you move towards sight. The other thing is this, you can move towards blindness. So the question of this passage, as you reflect on it, ultimately becomes it becomes very deeply personal. And the question is this, what will you do with the light? [01:15:16] (30 seconds)  #FromDarknessToWorship

Later, here's here's what Jesus finds him and asks. He says, do you believe in the son of man? And he says, well, who is he, sir? I wanna believe in him. And Jesus says, you're looking at him. You're looking at him. Imagine that moment. This man who once had lived in total darkness. Have you ever closed your eyes and left them closed and imagined what it's like to be blind? Total darkness. [01:07:28] (26 seconds)  #HumbleReceiveSight