I.—THE BLINDNESS OF THE JEWS.
No scripture can be divorced from its context without losing somewhat of its force and beauty. And the well-known passage in the Gospel of John dealing with the Good Shepherd is, like all other inspired writings, only a single link in the chain wrought by the Spirit of God for His own ends and purposes. It may therefore be profitable to meditate upon it with this thought before the mind.
The eighth and ninth chapters of John show in considerable detail both the inability of the Jews to appreciate in any measure the testimony of God which was being given them by the Lord from heaven, and also the enmity of their hearts against the One Who by His words of truth disturbed the serenity of their hypocritical ways. He was among them as the “Light of the world” (John 8:1212Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)); but this did not aid their moral perception; for to them noonday was no better than night. The light shone; but alas! they were blind. Had they confessed their true state then, as they will do in a later day, they would have said “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night” (Isa. 59:1010We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. (Isaiah 59:10)).
Neither would such blindness then, any more than now or ever, have been a bar to blessing. For the prophets had testified beforehand that it wad a characteristic work of the Messiah to open the eyes of the blind (Psa. 146:88The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous: (Psalm 146:8); Isa. 29:18; 35:5; 42:718And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. (Isaiah 29:18)
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. (Isaiah 35:5)
7To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isaiah 42:7)). And this the Lord did, both in the temple (Matt. 21:1414And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. (Matthew 21:14)) and by the wayside (Luke 18:3535And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: (Luke 18:35)). And what He did for the natural sight was but an earnest of what He would do for the spiritual eyes. Those that saw not should see and their sin be put away; but, in their pride of heart, the nation, by the mouths of their responsible religious leaders, said “We see” and thus their sin remained (John 9:4141Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. (John 9:41)).
PROOF OF BLINDNESS.
It is important to observe that at the close of chap. 9., according to the teaching of this Gospel, the complete rejection of the Lord by the Jews is definitely marked. This is indeed indicated in a. general way in the first four chapters, but from thence it is shown to increase in intensity. In chap. 5:16 they persecute Him and seek to slay Him because He healed the impotent man on the Sabbath. day. In chap. 6:66 many of His disciples go back and walk no more with Him because of what He was teaching. In chap. 7:32 The Pharisees and chief priests send officers to take Him because many of the people believed on Him. In chap. 8. He argues with the Jews as only that One could Whose words were truth as well as spirit and life. But they do not understand His speech, because they cannot hear His word (ver. 43). Being full of all contumaciousness, they interrupt Him and oppose; failing in argument, as error must in presence of truth, they resort to abuse and say He is a Samaritan and has a demon (ver. 48). When His words still pursue them, piercing and cutting more keenly than a two-edged sword, laying them naked and bare before His very eyes (Heb. 4:1212For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)), they take up stones to cast at Him, and thus drive Him from their midst (ver. 59). They could not endure Him because of what He says, because He tells them the truth (ver. 40).
Their blindness is thus proved. Would they but own this, they need not despair; for in chap. 9. the Lord shows that He can open the eyes even of one born blind. This act however provokes the Jews to further hostility. They, first of all, strive to make it appear that there was no miracle at all. Defeated in this, because the man is simple and honest enough to abide by the fact that his eyes had been opened by Jesus, they spitefully cast the poor fellow out of the synagogue as a disciple of Christ.
Thus the Spirit testifies in chaps. 8. and 9. that the Jews would not believe in what He said nor in what He did. His words and His works were alike offensive to them. They want neither Him nor His followers. This miracle would not have created such a stir if any but Jesus had done it.
Herein was the true condition of their hearts made manifest. As the Lord Himself said “For judgment I am come into the world” (chap. 9:39). Not of course to pronounce the sentence of final condemnation as He will do by-and-by (John 5:22, 27, 2922For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22)
27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:27)
29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29)); for He was here as a Savior not as a Judge (John 3:17; 12:4717For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)
47And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. (John 12:47).) Nevertheless His presence afforded a very conclusive proof whether they could see or not. He was in their midst as the Light of the world, as the Dayspring from on high to give light to them that sat in darkness and the shadow of death (Luke 1:7S, 79). The Light verily shone in darkness; but instead of being enlightened (Isa. 60:11Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1) margin), the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:55And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:5)). Indeed this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)).
Willful BLINDNESS.
And this perversity made their state so much the more solemn. They were not only in darkness, but they loved it; they were not only blind but angry with the One Who would have healed them. The Lord had come that they which see not might see. But the Jews declined to own such a thing and gloried in themselves; in fact the dispensation was in its Laodicean stage. They said, like Christendom to-day, We are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and they knew not they were wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev. 3:1717Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17)). Oh! if they had but come down from their loftiness, and cried like the beggars of Jericho “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, Thou Son of David” (Matt. 20:3030And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. (Matthew 20:30)), their eyes might have been opened and they would have seen beauty in their King that they should desire Him. But no! so infatuated were they, so under the power of the enemy who blinds the minds of the unbelieving (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)), that they not only took the ground of being able to see for themselves, but assumed to be guides to the blind and lights to those in darkness (Rom. 2:1919And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, (Romans 2:19)).
Inflated assumption! what could they be but blind guides at the best, as the Lord said to them (Matt. 23:16, 17, 2616Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? (Matthew 23:16‑17)
26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:26))? And if the blind led the blind, what could they do, but both fall into the ditch (Matt. 15:1414Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Matthew 15:14))? And this was surely the unhappy result, when the chief priests persuaded the people to ask Barabbas and crucify Jesus, Whose blood rests on them and their children unto this day.
JUDICIAL BLINDNESS.
And this climax of iniquity was reached by the Jewish nation as the inevitable outcome of their persistent refusal to acknowledge the Lord and to own their real state before Him. And in John 9:3939And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. (John 9:39) we have His solemn warning of such a thing. Whilst He had come that those which saw not might see, the effect of His presence would also be that those who saw not would be made blind. It was dangerous for them to dally with God's offers of mercy. Grace and truth had come in His Person: to reject Him was to bring down upon them that judicial blindness spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. “Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed” (Isa. 6:1010Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:10)). The Lord was the Great Physician come to heal them. And of His power and readiness so to do, He had given repeated proofs. But they “would not” (Matt. 23:3737O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)), and accordingly their blind eyes were more blinded.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY.
It is instructive to note that in Matthew as also in John we have the above named prophecy from Isaiah quoted. Matt. 13:1414And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: (Matthew 13:14). And there, as in John 12:4040He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. (John 12:40), it is made to follow the rejection of the Messiah, not being quoted till they had ascribed His power of casting out demons to Beelzebub the prince of demons (Matt. 12:2424But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. (Matthew 12:24)).
And it may also be helpful in this connection to mark that this order is invariably observed in scripture. It is not till man's will actively opposes God's that He manifests His sovereignty. It is when man will not that he cannot. This is shown clearly enough in this Gospel (John); and, in direct sequence to the scripture before us, we read “But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled which he spice, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed”? (John 12:37, 3837But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 38That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? (John 12:37‑38)). Plainly they would not believe (John 5:4040And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:40)), though ample proofs were afforded. Then the passage proceeds, “Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them.
Thus the Lord's words (John 9:3939And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. (John 9:39)), may be taken as describing the twofold result of His mission here— “that they which see not might see and that those which see might be made blind.” He filled the hungry with good things, but the rich. He sent empty away. And, remembering the glory and worth of His Person, who shall measure the blessedness of the blind who received Him? Or, on the other hand, who shall measure the condemnation of those who rejected Him?
“Jesus said unto them If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say we see, therefore your sin remaineth” (chap. 9:41.) Here the Lord states that they were responsible for the profession they were making concerning themselves. If they confessed their blindness, they would have no sin. For penitent sinners there was mercy and forgiveness. But if they said, We see, they were responsible to walk in the light and would be judged accordingly. If they could see as they said they should have recognized the Good Shepherd when He came. This the Lord develops in the parable of the sheepfold at which we may look on another occasion (D.V).
W. J. H.