Spiritual blindness healed

 

 

READ Mark 9-12

Some years ago a young girl came to a youth meeting at our home. She was a member of a cult that professed salvation. I asked her how that happened. She said, “through doing good works.” I gave her the following verses to read aloud:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Then I asked her what these words said about how a person is saved. She replied, “Through doing good works.” Such is the power of spiritual blindness.

This is not new. When Jesus told the disciples what would happen to Him, they also were oblivious to His words:

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9:30–32)

In that same chapter, Mark tells how the disciples argued about who was the greatest of them. Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” then took a child in His arms and said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but Him who sent me.”

Soon after that, people were bringing children to Jesus and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:14–15) They heard it twice but still didn’t get it.

Later, two of the disciples asked Jesus for positions of prominence in His kingdom. Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10:38) They didn’t get that either, nor realizing His kingdom is not about power but “to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The disciples were not the only ones who misunderstood kingdom realities. Some religious leaders came to Jesus with what they thought was a trick question. Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24)

Knowing the Scriptures is important. Knowing the power of God is important too, but unless the Spirit of God opens eyes, the natural human heart is oblivious to the things of God. Our sin keeps us from welcoming the truth:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools . . . . (Romans 1:18–22)

I can testify to this from my experience. When I was a young teen, I decide to read the Bible every day. My mother did it and I thought that is what a grown-up woman should do. For nearly two decades, I read it every day without understanding anything it said, or anything our godly DVBS teacher said, or what my mother said. It was only when Jesus opened my eyes did His words begin to make sense and to transform my thinking.

It was not for lack of trying, nor was it ignorance (I was an honor student), but this was spiritual blindness, the kind of inability to see without a touch from the Lord Himself. Even the disciples who walked and talked with Him didn’t get it. He rebuked them for it, yet He also prepared them for the day that they were ready to hear and understand. When Jesus died and rose again, these men who once were blind began their task of bringing the Light into darkness. Once they finally got it by the power of the Holy Spirit, they told everyone about Jesus and the world was forever changed.