Claiming to See

8.7.2011

John 9:39-41 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. NIV

Some people have it and they know it. Some people don’t have it and they know it. Some people have it and they don’t know it; and some people don’t have it and they don’t know it. The most severe and pitiable are the last – those who don’t and don’t know it; because they usually operate as if they do. “It” means nothing if you operate as if you have it and don’t know you don’t.

Spiritual blindness today is as common as dandelions in the spring. Many think they are spiritual and haven’t a clue to what spirituality really is. The Pharisees thought they really had it and thought God was so impressed with their grasp of it… Jesus said, “Boys, if you had it you would recognize Me; and you don’t so you don’t!” That was an incredibly hard pill for them to swallow because in their own sight they were so right. It’s not what they saw that mattered; what they saw occluded what was true.

Here is my claim: I claim to know Jesus Christ. But my claiming to know Jesus had better be backed up with everything that comes with that claim. In other words, do I live like Jesus if I claim to know Jesus; or do I just claim to know Him casually and acknowledge His existence? That’s where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Jesus says that those who know Him do only what He says.

Claiming to see when I can’t, or when I don’t know even know what I’m looking at, is a dangerous reality. Claiming to see when I don’t, won’t, or can’t submit myself to the total Lordship of Christ, is a folly beyond measure. Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” That calls for some serious consideration on my part because, in fact, I claim to know Him. The Pharisees claimed to see the truth but didn’t live the truth; am I guilty of the same hypocrisy? They didn’t, and couldn’t, understand that the truth they thought they saw wasn’t the real truth.

It’s a serious moment for me to ask some serious questions about the seriousness of my faith and the genuineness of my life. Claiming to see is a matter of life and death…