Online Bible Study Lesson 8 Jesus Heals the Blind Seeing-eye dogs are a blessing to our physically blind neighbors. These amazing dogs are loyal guides to their owners and trusted friends to their masters. Jesus tells us he is the supreme example of a loyal guide and trusted friend to the blind. The Bible tells us we're all born into a spiritually blind state, unable to grasp the heavenly truths from God. Each of us, in a sense, is blind to God himself. The original sin of mankind, aka The Fall, has made us unable to see God, who is Spirit. Fortunately, because of grace, he sent someone who was seen and who we will see soon again - his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Heals the Blind Blindness was always a big biblical topic because the problem was wide-spread 2,000 years ago. Blindness was a prevalent condition sadly experienced by many people. Another reason blindness is always a hot topic in the Bible is that God uses physical blindness to metaphorically represent a much worse human problem: spiritual blindness. Let me explain the reasons why this is so by taking a deeper look at the two types of blindness. Physical Blindness Have you ever imagined being blind? I d think most of us has imagined being blind before and it isn't an enjoyable experience. Blindly groping in a darkened room is both frustrating and dangerous. A blind person is unable to see objects or hazards in his or her path. Jesus had compassion on those who were physically blind in his day. He felt sorry for their inability to function in the way God originally intended. The fall of mankind brought with it the effects of sin, which includes many corruptions of God's original creation Genesis 1:31; Romans 5:12-18. Some specific effects of The Fall include human blindness, deafness, muteness, etc. These repercussions for human sin break God's heart, while making life extremely difficult for those afflicted. Spiritual Blindness Read Matthew 13:14-15 What is spiritual blindness? Spiritual blindness is a lack of spiritual insight. In other words, it's the inability to understand, interpret, and apply the spiritual principles of God into one's life.
Read Luke 22:22 Judas is a good biblical example of a spiritually blind person. He walked, talked, and ate with Jesus for about three years. He witnessed many of Jesus' miracles, while also listening to his incredible teaching. But, in the end, he couldn't discern truth from lies, holiness from evil, or future heavenly riches from temporary earthly riches. Judas betrayed the Son of Man and he's paying dearly for his blindness and deeds for eternity. A spiritually blind person can indeed learn biblical facts. He or she can learn Christian lingo. They can reason through life's decisions with biblical logic, but only superficially. They're unable to put the Big Picture of God's salvation plan together. Read Luke 9:23-24; I John 2:15-17 Unfortunately, a spiritually blind person cannot properly weigh the differences between this earthly life and the more important heavenly life. He or she cannot "see past" this earthly life. They're blocked from mentally, soulfully, and willfully sacrificing the temporary things of this earth for the much greater eternal things of heaven. What have you willfully denied yourself for God? Do you think it will be worth it? Read Luke 11:33-36 What does this passage say about your eyes? What do your eyes say about where your heart is with the Lord? One's eyes are the windows to the soul. This means that if your eyes are good, your heart is good, as well. If one's eyes are bad, so is the heart. Our eyes have to be on Jesus and if they're not, they are still looking at the world. The person who "buys in" to the deception of the world becomes self-deluded, thinking they understand God and his eternal plan, when in fact, they do not. Millions of people are deceived about their own salvation. They're spiritually blind concerning God's true salvation, which is found only through the Scriptures by revelation of the Holy Spirit. A person is enabled to understand God's word only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Heals the Physically Blind Examples Let s take a moment to list and study these situations where Jesus heals the blind. Here is a biblical list of the physically blind people who Jesus healed:
Read Matthew 9:27-31 Jesus heals two blind men. These two blind men had faith in Jesus' ability to heal blindness. Jesus rewarded their faith with sight. Read Matthew 15:30 Jesus healed all those who were brought to him, including the blind. Read Matthew 20:29-34 Jesus healed two blind men. Jesus felt compassion on the two blind men and therefore healed them instantly and completely. They followed him afterwards. Read Mark 8:22-26 Jesus heals a blind man at Bethsaida. This is a unique healing by Jesus because he had to administer two healing exercises on the blind man. The first action healed him partially, leaving him with fuzzy vision. He saw people but they looked similar to trees. Jesus touched the man's eyes again, perfectly restoring his sight. Read Mark 10:46-52 Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus. We'll discuss this healing miracle further into the study. Read Luke 18:35-43 Jesus heals a blind beggar. This miracle brought great praise from the crowd who witnessed the event. Read John 9:1-41 Jesus heals a man born blind. We'll study this more in a minute. Read Acts 9:8-9; 17-18 Jesus healed Saul from the same blindness with which He smote him. Which of these scriptures can be related to your own life when you were spiritually blind and you received your sight with your salvation? We'll now turn our attention to two instances where Jesus heals the blind, which contain many spiritual principles.
Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind Read John 9:1-41 Why was the man blind? What glory did the Lord receive from this man s affliction? Read John 9:1-5 Jesus was strolling the marketplace one day when he noticed a blind man that had been blind from birth. His disciples wondered if the man was blind because of his sins or even his parent's sins. Jesus informed them that it was neither, and in fact, the man was born blind in order to glorify God. That may seem kind of cruel to you, which is understandable, but listen to the reasons. Jesus then said, "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned to us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the Light of the world. Read 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 2:7 God had you in mind when this blind man was being created. God knew you needed this powerful example of his power in order to stand in awe of him. God arranged this great healing miracle of a blind man so many people would be led to finally believe in him. Jesus and the disciples approached the blind man. Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud, and spread it over the blind man's eyes. He instructed the man, "Go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam." The man did as Jesus commanded and he was perfectly and completely healed! The man was BORN blind, but Jesus healed him. Jesus heals the blind, even if they're born blind. This was an amazing miracle revealing the awesome mercy, love, and power of God. The eyes of this man were blinded in his mother's womb for your lost soul. God demonstrated his love for you through this man's blindness and new eyesight. Jesus Heals the Blind Bartimaeus Read Mark 10:46-48 Who was Blind Bartimaeus? He was a blind beggar who was sitting in his familiar spot along a road in Jericho one day. He heard about a visitor in town named Jesus of Nazareth. Bartimaeus knew in his soul this was his last chance for sight. He began calling out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He shouted the phrase repeatedly. People were telling the annoying Bartimaeus to be quiet. But he kept on yelling for Jesus! Jesus heard Bartimaeus calling for him. He stopped... and said, "Tell him to come here." The people were excited for Bartimaeus. They were anxious to see what this amazing Jesus was going to do with him (Mark 10:49-
50). Jesus asked Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus replied, "My Rabbi, I want to see!" While the crowd waited in great anticipation, Jesus congratulated Bartimaeus, "Go, for your faith has healed you." The miracle happened. Bartimaeus instantly received his eyesight in full! Imagine his great joy! Bartimaeus then followed Jesus as a faith-filled disciple. Jesus rewarded Bartimaeus because of his faith. Do you have spiritual faith? Seek the Lord with all your heart, crying out to him like Bartimaeus, and you'll soon find him. Jesus heals the blind, even the eyes of a blind beggar man. It's not hard to imagine Bartimaeus ever wanting to take his eyes off Jesus, his Healer. Bartimaeus was healed both physically AND spiritually on this day. It was his day to see, but more importantly, it was his day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). Miracles and Belief Jesus healed the physically blind as a living metaphor for his healing of the spiritually blind. He also taught parables to metaphorically explain spiritual truths to the chosen. A person who receives the word of God and begins reading it must understand what he or she is reading. The "light" must come on in one's mind (Luke 24:30-32). Do you "get it?" Do you understand what God is all about? Do you get the reasons for Jesus coming to earth and dying for us? Jesus Heals the Blind - Grasp This! Jesus tells us in, John 12:44-46 "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the One who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark". Jesus heals the blind so all of us blind sinners can have our eyes opened. He shines the light so that we can see through this dark world. Do you realize how fortunate we are? Listen again to Jesus talking to those who love him in, Matthew 13:16-17 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they never heard it".
Read Luke 8:16-18 The Parable of the Lamp: No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them."