John 9:35-41
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. [1]
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Today’s passage continues the themes of sight and blindness. Yesterday, I wrote about blindness regarding what God is doing. The Pharisees couldn’t see the activity of God right in front of them, and my prayer is that my eyes would be open to what God is doing in my life.
But there’s another kind of spiritual blindness, blindness regarding ourselves, seeing ourselves rightly. In this passage, the Pharisees are guilty, Jesus says, because they claim they can see. The truth is that they are blind, not just to who Jesus is, but blind to seeing themselves as they truly are, that is, as sinners.
It reminds me of 1 John 1:8-10. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”
Do I see myself rightly? Yes, I know that I am a sinner in a general sense. But am I aware of the specific ways in which God is calling me to repent today, to change direction, to turn around and follow Him more closely? Do I take the time for confessional self-reflection? What do I need to bring before God and place at the cross?
I’ve mentioned before the daily practice of thinking through the previous day, noting the blessings of God and the things for which to be thankful. The other part of that is noting the things I said and did that need to be confessed before God. This time of self-reflection is important. God has revealed things to me during this time that I hadn’t noticed or thought about until I took the time, in His presence, to seek to see myself as He sees me.
So I pray for God to give me sight today to see myself as He does, to show me those areas where I need to turn and change so that I may follow Him more closely today and every day.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 9:35–41). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.