“Are We Blind Too?” (Part 2 of 2)

Music Playing Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg uses a similar illustration to explain what happens when we reject the only remedy that offers us eternal life. This man was awakened to the fact of his spiritual blindness.

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? And the response of the man is eager. He is genuinely interested. Who is he, sir?

the man asks. Tell me, so that I may believe in him. 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. They regard themselves as the guides of the blind.

You can read that in Romans 2. They regard themselves as a light that shines to those in the darkness. They regard themselves as instructors of the foolish.

Paul mentions all of that when he is arguing to the point in Romans 3 where he says, And so the whole world is accountable before God, whether you are a Gentile coming from that background or whether you are a Jew, feeling yourself to be the custodians of all of this truth. And so it makes their question all the more striking, doesn't it? One can almost see the sneer on their faces. What, are we blind too?

Sense the smugness of their tone? Catch a flavor of the derision directed at Jesus? But blind they were.

So blind they didn't know how blind they were. They're like the man in Luke 18. Remember the wonderful parable Jesus tells of the Pharisee and the tax collector? And the Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself. God, I thank you, I'm not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, like this tax collector here. After all, I fiest twice a week, I give a tenth of all I get.

People will be going, That's pretty good. Pretty good. Giving him marks out of ten. Jesus said, But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me, a sinner.

And then the sting in the tail. Jesus says, 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. 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. As long as we sit in the supercilious perspective of the religious formalists declaring, You know, I have been around church for a long time. My Uncle Jim gave me a Bible when we were married. I know that, because I saw it just the other day.

I hadn't seen it for years, but I know it's somewhere—you know, all that kind of thing. And I appreciate coming here to Parkside, and I know that there must be some real bums and ne'er-do-wells coming around here, because you keep banging on the importance of people coming to trust in Jesus. But I'm so glad that I don't need to trust in Jesus. I'm so glad that I'm like the Pharisee in this story. I'm not like other men.

And actually, I've really upped my contribution since I came here as well, although I don't expect you to know much about that. Jesus turns the whole thing on its head. Oh, you're not suggesting that we're blind, are you, Jesus? 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 deluded, that he's a madman, that he's demon-possessed. We saw that before.

It comes again in chapter 10. Why listen to him, they said. He's demon-possessed and raving mad. 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 deluded 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 is just completely utter darkness. Now, look at how Jesus answers. Verse 39, there's a division. Yes, 40, there's a question. And verse 41, there's an answer.

The answer that he gives is a puzzling answer. It's certainly not an easy little verse, is it? They were probably expecting Jesus to say, Yes, you are a blind bunch. Or, No, of course you're not blind. You're the Pharisees.

You have all the news strapped around your wrists and fastened on your forehead. And they probably expected either a yes or a no. But instead of doing that, he does what he does so often. That is, he just reaches in and twists their noses a little bit by responding in what is a paradoxical fashion. Now, let me just quote to you a Phillips paraphrase of this verse, because I think it will help us get the sense of it. Phillips paraphrases verse 41, which here reads, If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see your guilt remains… It's like a really bad riddle, isn't it? You can say it to yourself, fifteen times in a row, and still not get it.

But listen to how Phillips does it. If you were blind, returned Jesus, nobody could blame you. But as you insist, we can see your guilt remains. If you were blind, you couldn't be held accountable for your ignorance. That's what he's saying.

But since you insist you can see, your guilt remains. Now, if you think about it, these folks, of all folks, knew the characteristics of the Messiah who was to come. They were the ones who searched the Scriptures. They were the ones who paid attention to the prophetic passages. They knew Isaiah 42. They knew that one of the characteristics of the Messiah when he came was that he would open the eyes of the blind, he would release captives, he would set people free from dungeons. And this has happened right in front of them.

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 fulfilled in this man and that by believing they might have life in his name. And this has happened in front of them. The man has said to them, Your unbelief is more remarkable than my cure, because we know that only God can do this.

There is no record of anybody doing this, he says. God does this. And before their very eyes, Jesus has done what God alone can do. If they'd been without any understanding of spiritual things, then, of course, they wouldn't have been blameworthy. But because they have a knowledge of this stuff, they're culpable because they are unwilling to see beyond the horizon, as it were, of the Old Testament. 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.

But to as many as received him who believed in his name, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God. Now, what makes this so staggeringly telling, loved ones, is this—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.

Let me say two things as we move to a close on this. 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. That's why the prophet says, Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom.

Well, I'm a PhD, I did nuclear physics as an undergraduate, and da-da-da-da-da. Good! Bring that gargantuan brain and all that gray matter and bow it down before the Lord of the universe. No, I refuse to. Okay. Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast in his strength.

You know, I'm x years old, and I can still do x number of push-ups and sit-ups and run 47 times around the block and everything else. Well, that's terrific. Bring your body as a living sacrifice to the God who made you and offer yourself in service to him. No, I don't want to do that. Okay. Let not a strong man boast in his strength, and let not a 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.

This would be a good time to find out. There is no hope for those of us who are wise in our own eyes. 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. I was reading Macbeth again this week looking for something, and for two reasons, actually.

The first was this. When I thought about the nature of a cure, my mind went immediately to Lady Macbeth in the sleepwalking scene, when she is convinced of the fact that the blood that was on the daggers is still on her hands. And if you remember, she moves in the darkness of the night, talking to herself, longing for the spots to be out of her hands, recognizing that despite all of her physical washings, she cannot get it out.

All the perfumes of Arabia could not get rid of this stuff, she says, and she's driving herself almost insane, and she's driving her king husband completely nuts along with her, and so he does exactly what you would expect him to do. He takes her to the doctor, and he says to the doctor, quote, Cure her of that! Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raise out the written troubles of the brain, and with some sweet oblivious antidote cleave the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon her heart? The doctor says, Therein the patient must minister to himself. Sorry.

No can do. And then he says, More need she the divine than the physician. More need she the divine than the physician. I would not be at all surprised if there are not those who today sitting, listening to me on one side of this great divide, as the bell is about to ring for us in the conclusion of this sermon, are not exactly as in Lady Macbeth's position.

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. He breaks the power of canceled sin, and he sets the prisoner free. He is Jesus, Sovereign Lord of the universe. He has demonstrated it in the transformation of this blind man. He has confronted him with his need of spiritual sight. He has opened up a door of opportunity to the religious formalists, and they've sneered in their response. You're not saying, We're blind, are you?

And so here we are, and the division bell sounds again. 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. Who would be foolish enough to say such things to an intelligent group like this? Well, of course, if I couldn't turn you to the Bible and point you to Jesus, you should just chase me completely out of town. And you are sensible people, and you need to figure this out. But here's the deal. The division bell sounds, go to your appropriate lobby.

Where are you going? With a yes vote for Jesus or a no vote for Jesus? There's no abstentions. An abstention is a no. A maybe is a no.

I'll get back to it is a no. Now! That's why the Bible often 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. I was in Carmel earlier last week. I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains speaking, and I went to Carmel. In Carmel, I bought myself a knife. In a knife store. More knives than I've ever seen. Tiny little knife. Don't be alarmed by it. My wife was desperately concerned. I said, I want to buy a knife.

She said, What do you have in mind? I said, Don't worry. But it's a tiny little knife. I wanted to whittle sticks with it, as it turns out.

It's the Tom Sawyer coming out on me again. And in this store there were so many knives that I said to the lady, The problem in here is the American problem. I said, It is the American problem, and it is the American wonder. She said, Choice? I said, Choice. And so we got them out, one at a time, two at a time. At one point, I had five out. And then I went away, and I had lunch, and then I came back and got them all out again. And I said, You know, choice is such a difficult thing, isn't it?

Just finally making a choice. Do you know what she said? Kierkegaard has a very interesting essay on that. Wow! I said, This is taking it up a notch. Kierkegaard, the existentialist from the nineteenth century.

Yes! Well, what did he say? She says, Kierkegaard said that even good choices had negative consequences. So hurry up and buy a knife!

So I bought a knife. And then I said to my family, You know, Kierkegaard said that it's a very good choice. And then one of the bright ones in the group said, I don't think Kierkegaard was absolutely right on that.

What possible negative dimension could there be in choosing Christ as your Savior? I said, Yeah, I think that's right. So hurry up and make a choice, would you? Do you remember when Macbeth is getting ready to kill the king, King Duncan? And he's on his way, and parenthetically, the stage directions in the play say, A bell sounds. A bell sounds. And Macbeth says, I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.

See, Shakespeare understood the divide. There is no cure for those who reject the only cure there is. Will you not come to Christ and say, Lord Jesus, I am a blind girl, I am a blind man, wise to my own destruction, foolish in my arrogance? Make me see. Make me see.

And he will. And when you begin to see, you will see everything differently. Heaven above is softer blue, and earth around is sweeter green, and something lives in every hue that Christless eyes have never seen, and birds with gladder songs o'erflow, and earth with deeper beauty shine. Since I know, as now I know, I am his, and he is mine. Some of you could stand and testify, couldn't you, and say, You know, I'm so glad that I heard that message, and—'cause I used to be just completely lost.

I used to be completely blind, and even when I was blind, I thought I could see everything. Well, you may want to mention to the person next to you before you leave today. Just check.

Make sure. Just say, What side are you on of the divide here? What side are you on? Father, come now and write your Word in our hearts. Anything that is foolish or unkind or unwise or untrue may be banished from our recollection.

And what is of yourself, make it our own. I pray for many who sit as unconverted believers, that today they might hear your voice, not harden their hearts, and embrace Christ who is the light of life. For it is in his name we pray. Amen. Alistair left us with a question all of us have to think about.

Which side of the divide are you on? If you're not sure, I want to invite you to visit truthforlife.org slash thestory. We have a video that explains how Jesus' sacrifice on the cross addresses our sin and offers to us the gift of salvation.

This offer isn't extended based on anything we can achieve on our own. It is a gift that God gives freely out of his goodness and grace. Again, find out more at truthforlife.org slash thestory. You may also want to request a book we're featuring today. It's a book called Gentle and Lowly, the Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. As the title suggests, this book explores just how much Jesus longs to forgive our sins. It's easy for us to be discouraged by our sinful behavior and by our repeated failures, but Jesus does not grow weary of our stumbling. In fact, he provides unending mercy and grace to all who ask. That's what you'll discover in Gentle and Lowly. Jesus actually is drawn to sinners and sufferers in the same way a doctor gravitates toward the sick. This is a tremendously comforting book.

Not only will you find peace in knowing that there's no limit in coming to Jesus time and time again with your failures, but you'll grow in your love for Christ even more. Request your copy of the book Gentle and Lowly today when you give a one-time donation by going to truthforlife.org slash donate or call 888-588-7884. We carefully select books like Gentle and Lowly as a way of saying thanks to all who partner with Truth for Life. It's a privilege to bring clear, relevant Bible teaching to a worldwide listening audience every day of the year. And your gift is what makes all of this possible. So on behalf of all of us at Truth for Life, thank you.

I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening today. Tomorrow's message focuses on something all of us want more of, happiness. Be sure to listen as we begin a new series called The Missing Peace. Turn to Psalm 32 to learn about King David's search for true happiness, forgiveness, and peace. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.