Spiritual Blindness and Spiritual Sight: How Jesus Opens Our Eyes (Mark 8:22-26 and John 9:11-41)

Spiritual blindness and spiritual sight are at the heart of Mark 8 and John 9. In these passages, Jesus shows that people can have functioning physical eyes yet remain blind to spiritual truth. One blind man sees dimly before seeing clearly, while another grows step by step in his understanding of Christ until he finally worships Him. At the same time, the Pharisees reveal the danger of self-righteousness, because though they claim to see, they remain blind to the truth standing right in front of them. https://youtu.be/qw532eOfigA Table of contentsBlindness Often Pictures Spiritual IgnoranceSpiritual Sight Grows Clearer Over TimeJohn 9 Shows a Man Growing in Spiritual SightSome People Choose to Remain Spiritually BlindSpiritually Blind People Are Blind to Their Own BlindnessThese Passages Give Both Encouragement and WarningHow This Prepares Us for Luke 24Conclusion When I was in high school, Magic Eye pictures became very popular. Maybe you remember them. At first, they looked like meaningless patterns, but if you stared at them long enough, a hidden three-dimensional image would suddenly appear. And once you saw it, you could not unsee it. You even wondered why you could not see it earlier. That provides a helpful picture of what we are considering in this sermon. Spiritually, people can look at something and not really see it at first. They can hear the truth and not really understand it at first. That is what we see in two passages. In Mark 8, a blind man sees dimly and then clearly. In John 9, a blind man’s spiritual understanding of Jesus progressively improves until he finally worships Him as Lord. These passages also prepare us for Luke 24, where two disciples on the road to Emmaus will walk with the risen Christ without recognizing Him until their eyes are opened. One of the Lord’s recurring works is to move people from partial sight to fuller sight. He brings us from seeing dimly to seeing clearly. Blindness Often Pictures Spiritual Ignorance Throughout Scripture, blindness is not only a physical problem but also a fitting metaphor for spiritual ignorance. A person can have healthy eyes and still be blind to what matters most. He can see the world around him, yet fails to see the truth about God, himself, and Christ. The Old Testament makes this point repeatedly. Isaiah 44:18 says, “They do not know nor understand; for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see.” Jeremiah 5:21 says, “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not.” Ezekiel 12:2 says the people had eyes to see physically, but could not see spiritually. Isaiah 6:9 says, “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.” That final verse sets up the passages we are considering. Jesus quoted Isaiah 6 when He was asked why He spoke in parables. Parables were physical stories that illustrated spiritual truths. In that sense, they acted like tests of spiritual sight. People’s inability to understand parables revealed their blindness, while people’s ability to understand them revealed that God had opened their eyes. In Matthew 13, Jesus explained that some people see physically but not spiritually, and hear physically but not spiritually. Their problem is not a lack of ears or eyes. Their problem is a lack of spiritual understanding. That is why blindness becomes such a powerful biblical metaphor for the human condition apart from God’s grace. Spiritual Sight Grows Clearer Over Time One encouraging truth in these passages is that spiritual sight often grows clearer over time. We do not always go from complete blindness to complete clarity all at once. Sometimes the Lord opens our eyes progressively. That is exactly what we see in Mark 8. This is one of the most unique miracles in Scripture because Jesus heals a blind man in two stages. After the first touch, the man can see, but not clearly. He says that people look like trees walking. Then Jesus touches him again, and his sight is fully restored. He sees everything clearly. Of course, Jesus could have healed him instantly. He had the power to do that. But the two-stage healing appears to portray an important spiritual reality. There is such a thing as partial sight. There is such a thing as beginning to see, but not yet seeing clearly. That is true in the Christian life. Sometimes people genuinely begin to understand the truth, but their understanding is still blurred. They know something of Christ, but not yet as much as they will come to know. They have light, but not yet full clarity. Many believers can testify to this. They believed the gospel, but their spiritual understanding matured over time as they continued in God’s Word. This should encourage us. The Lord is patient with His people. He does not abandon us because our sight is still developing. He continues opening our eyes. He continues bringing us from dim sight to clear sight. John 9 Shows a Man Growing in Spiritual Sight If Mark 8 gives us a picture of gradual sight, John 9 gives us a full narrative of progressive spiritual understanding. This chapter is one of the clearest in Scripture on both spiritual blindness and spiritual sight. The formerly blind man grows in his understanding of Jesus, while the religious leaders remain blind. At first, the man knows very little about Jesus. In John 9:11, he refers to Him simply as “the man called Jesus.” That is where his understanding begins. But as the chapter unfolds, his sight deepens, and his faith strengthens. Later, he calls Jesus a prophet. Then he says that if Jesus were not from God, He could do nothing. Finally, after Jesus seeks him out and reveals Himself, the man says, “Lord, I believe,” and worships Him. That progression is beautiful. He does not begin with full clarity, but he does not remain where he started. He moves from limited understanding to faith and worship. That is what spiritual sight does. It leads us to Christ. It leads us to confession. It leads us to worship. His testimony is also wonderfully simple. Pressed by the Pharisees, he says, “Though I was blind, now I see.” We often think testimony must be long and elaborate, but this man shows otherwise. His testimony was short, clear, and powerful. In many ways, it is the testimony of every Christian. We were blind, and Christ gave us sight. Some People Choose to Remain Spiritually Blind As the formerly blind man grows in understanding, the Pharisees reveal the ugliness of deliberate spiritual blindness. They do not want to see the truth because the truth would make them accountable. If they admit that Jesus healed a man born blind, they would have to reckon with what that says about Jesus. And they do not want to do that. So instead of humbly responding to the miracle, they resist. They question the man repeatedly. They question his parents. They try to explain away what happened. They pressure witnesses and cling to their conclusions. Their problem is not a lack of evidence. Their problem is an unwillingness to believe. This still happens today. Some people prefer darkness because light exposes them. Knowledge means accountability, and some people do not want that accountability. They would rather remain in the dark than come into the light and bow before Christ. The Pharisees show us that spiritual blindness is not always passive. Sometimes it is stubborn. Sometimes it is chosen. Sometimes people work very hard not to see what is right in front of them. Spiritually Blind People Are Blind to Their Own Blindness The climax of John 9 comes when Jesus exposes the deepest problem of all. Spiritually blind people are often blind to their own blindness. The Pharisees ask, “Are we blind also?” The tragic answer is yes. They are so blind that they cannot even recognize their blindness. Jesus says in John 9:41, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore, your sin remains.” His point is not that some people are actually spiritually healthy. His point is that some imagine themselves to be healthy. Some imagine themselves to see clearly. Because they think they are fine, they feel no need for Christ. This is similar to Jesus’ earlier words in Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, and Luke 5:31: those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Christ did not mean that some people are spiritually well. He meant that some think they are. Because they think they are healthy, they never come to the Great Physician. That is the tragedy of self-righteousness. It convinces sinners that they do not need saving. It convinces the blind that they can already see. Proverbs 30:12 captures this perfectly: “There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness.” The only people shut out from healing are those who refuse to admit they need it. The only people who remain in darkness are those who insist they are already in the light. These Passages Give Both Encouragement and Warning Mark 8 and John 9 leave us with both encouragement and warning. The encouragement is that the Lord is patient with people whose sight is still developing. In Mark 8, the blind man does not see clearly at first, but Jesus is not finished with him. In John 9, the blind man does not begin with full understanding, but his spiritual sight grows until he confesses Christ and worships Him. That is good news for every believer. If your understanding feels incomplete, if there are truths you are still learning, if there are areas where your vision still feels dim, do not lose heart. Keep coming to Christ. Keep opening God’s Word. Keep asking the Lord to help you see. He is gracious, patient, and faithful to continue His work in you. But there is also a warning. It is possible to hear the truth, discuss the truth, and be surrounded by the truth, yet remain blind. The Pharisees are the perfect example.