Jesus Judged By Faith

What Did Jesus Do?

“For judgment I came into this world,
that those who do not see may see,
and those who see may become blind.”
John 9.39

Illusionists, like David Copperfield, make a fortune by exploiting the fact that our eyes can play tricks on us. Practitioners of slight of hand count on the maxim “seeing is believing” to convince us that the illusions they perform are real. In truth, it is what they don't let us see that makes us believers! The Father is not an illusionist, the Son never practiced slight of hand, and in the kingdom believing is seeing. Jesus came to judge not by sight or appearances, but by faith.

The man who had been blind from birth was not being evasive when he did not point out Jesus to the Pharisees. When Jesus had stood before him he still suffered from the disability that had afflicted him his whole life, so he could not point him out. Nevertheless, his responses to the questions of the leaders of the synagogue convinced them that he was a disciple of the Lord, and so they evicted the man (John 9.34).

Jesus, when he had learned what had happened to the man, sought him out, and asked his own question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9.35) Unlike the Pharisees, who wanted to know the whats, wheres, and hows, the Lord's only interest is the who. As in, “Who do you say I am?” All that Jesus cared about was whether or not the man believed. While the Pharisees judged according whether or not people correctly answered their questions, Jesus judged by faith. The man who had been blind, certainly had faith in the one who had bestowed his sight, he simply couldn't identify him because he had not seen him. Immediately as Jesus declared that he again stood before the man, the man confessed, “Lord, I believe.” (John 9.38) Right answer!

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who walk by faith, and those who do not. The first, though they may be blind, see. The latter, though they may have 20-20 vision, are blind. The only eye chart, if you will, in the kingdom, bears the image of Jesus. The faithful look upon his visage and believe he is their Savior. Everyone else looks and says, “I do not know him.” All who believe are, like the man blind from birth, in darkness until Jesus is revealed to them. All who see, but never recognize Christ, are blind.

To the extent that our flesh still controls much of what we feel and think, we are unduly influenced by appearances. The more we walk by faith, the less we'll judge anyone or anything by what we see. And this is a good thing because the eyes can deceive.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4