Blinded

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God."

If you had seen and heard all Jesus had done as He walked the earth, perhaps you might be looking into His claim He was the Son of God rather than simply dismissing Him as a blasphemer. But this has always been the mode of those who object to Christ. (It still is.) Rather than examining His claims, people reject Him out of hand - and often very vociferously.

Of course, the High Priest was blinded by jealousy, and Judas had been blinded by pride and lust for power, and now the Jews were seeking to blind Pilate with fear for his future position as governor of the region of Judea. “Crucify Him, or we will report you to Caesar!”

Blindness is a very strange thing in a “seeing” people. Especially in the presence of The Light of the World, Who has come to give sight to all men.

Physical sight is so precious, so fragile. There are so many ways physical sight can be blinded. In reality, it is a kind of wonder more people are not physically blind – especially with all the harmful ingredients to sight we are constantly exposed to in our daily lives.

But we will do anything and everything we can to preserve our physical sight. I cannot think of a single example in my entire life where someone intentionally blinded themselves. It is unheard of.

Yet, people go to such great lengths to blind themselves spiritually, and much of that blindness is self-inflicted. Is ignorance bliss?

Do some ignore the brevity of life? Do some ignore statistics on death? Do some ignore the sense of constant nagging emptiness?

At this point, the challenge is to examine the claims of Christ. (What the Sanhedrin was in no mind or temper to do.)

Can you sit down and read through the Gospels with an open mind? I am completely at rest with allowing anyone to examine the scriptures for themselves. In an hour or so, with an open mind, anyone can examine the claims of Jesus. There is no cajoling necessary for those who are willing to see for themselves.

“He makes Himself out to be the Son of God!” What say you? What do you see?

- Pastor Bill