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Wilful Blindness

John 9:39-41
Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (NIVUK)

An old English expression says, ‘There is none so blind as those who will not see.’  It means that although there is nothing wrong with their eyesight, they ignore the truth they already know; therefore, they cannot see or understand what is in front of them.  The Pharisees did that.  They had already made up their minds that Jesus was a sinner who could not have come from God (John 9:24), preferring to believe lies in order to avoid what was obviously true about Jesus.
 
But Jesus knows the truth about everybody.  His miraculous signs and wonders revealed what people thought about Him.  Some believed that He was God's Man and others refused to believe, bringing judgement on themselves.  If they had been truly blind, they could have claimed to be ignorant.  But they knew the Old Testament Scriptures and everything about Jesus fitted the prophetic passages about Him.  They were not blindly ignorant; they were wilfully blind, rebellious against their Maker and therefore sinful, guilty before God.
 
Many today suffer from wilful blindness. They know the truth but refuse to do it, and then wonder why they feel confused and muddled, and know they are out of step with God. The more they disobey the truth, the angrier they become. And God is angry too! Romans 1:18-21 says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."

So when people reject you because you follow Jesus, pray for them that the Lord will turn their hearts before it is too late. People’s judgement of Jesus does not in any way affect who Jesus is, but His judgement of them will affect their whole eternity.  Pray too for believers all over the world who are suffering persecution, and pray for their 'blind' persecutors, that they may see the truth of Jesus and repent while there is time.

Prayer 
All-seeing God. Thank You for being the Truth, always revealing the truth and inviting the world to trust Your Word of truth. I am sorry when I have known the truth but chosen to ignore it and disobey You. Please forgive me. Please help me to pray for other people when they get angry with me because I follow Jesus. And strengthen all Your children when they are being persecuted by people who do not want to submit to Jesus. In His Name. Amen.
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© Dr Paul Adams