After Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first successful flight of their airplane on December 17, 1930, they excitedly sent a telegram to their sister in Dayton, Ohio. The telegrammed message read: “First sustained flight, 59 seconds. Home for Christmas.”
Their sister, being extremely excited and happy, ran all the way to the newspaper office with the telegram. Laying the telegram on the editor’s desk, she said, “I thought you would want to see this for tomorrow’s paper. Sure enough, the next day it was printed in the paper. Buried on page 16 underneath the obituaries, was this notice: “Local bicycle merchants to spend holidays at home.”
The greatest and most major event of the twentieth century was completely missed by the newspaper editor, even though it happened right before his own eyes. His blindness toward new possibilities in human flight caused him to miss telling the world the “biggest story” of his day, “MAN CAN FLY.”
Unfortunately, similar blindness continues to plague many people today. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a very significant “big story” event in the history of our world, and yet so many, both non-Christians and those who claim to be Christian, do not see nor understand its significance.
Being blinded by either skepticism, fear, religious pride, or stubborn dogmatism, they cannot see Jesus nor his sovereignty, glory and power, as the Son of God. Choosing to remain in their blindness, neither can they see nor experience the reality of Jesus’ presence and power in a world of darkness and despair.
As we examine our lives during this Lenten season, we should be asking about our own blindness. Do we “see” the Jesus of biblical scripture or do we “see” another Jesus of our own making? Do we know what is causing our spiritual blindness and are we ready to acknowledge that we cannot “see” the Jesus as portrayed in the Scriptures?
Biblical Scriptures tell us that we all are blind from birth and need the anointing and infilling of God’s Spirit to rightly “see” Jesus in all his majestic glory, power, and amazing love. And until our blindness is healed, we cannot experience his pursuing presence, power, and love in our life.
Paul instructs the Christian believers in Corinth, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14).
John’s story of Jesus healing the man born blind is both a miracle story as well as a teaching moment. Apparently, John considered this story to be of very great importance to his readers since he records the events and conversations in great detail, making it the longest story in his gospel account. (John 9).
The various characters in the story illustrate how tradition, stubborn dogmatism and fear will cause blindness and keep us from seeing Jesus. Furthermore, the story clearly teaches that spiritual blindness is worse than physical blindness. Physical blindness can be healed, but willful spiritual blindness resists healing. The prophet, Ezekiel, describes such as, “They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” (Ezekiel 12:2).
Sometimes we are so certain we know how things ought to be done that we are oblivious to what God is doing through Jesus right in our midst and around us. We blindly limit God’s activity and power, expecting him to only do things according to the way we think best or desire. And then there are times that we really do not want to see truth-filled spiritual reality, preferring to live by our prejudices and be comfortable in what we think to be safe and familiar.
Maybe the greatest cause of spiritual blindness in those who claim to be Christian is fear. After many years of life experiences and ministry to others, I am convinced that “fear” may be the most destructive weapon in the devil’s arsenal to keep us from “seeing” God’s hand at work in our lives and in our world. Is it not fear that often keeps us from readily acknowledging and affirming our allegiance to Jesus?
How often have we been like the parents in John’s miracle story? We know and say we believe yet are not willing to commit ourselves to the good news of God at work in our midst. Rather, we feel it more safe and comfortable being “fence riders” rather than publicly declaring our belief or publicly giving praise to Jesus for his transforming work in our life.
As we examine our lives during this Lenten season, we should be asking ourselves, do I truly “see” Jesus? Am I willing to allow the Holy Spirit to name the blindness that afflicts me, or am choosing to remain blind to his person, presence, and power in my life? Am I ready to acknowledge my blindness and sincerely say “Lord, I want to see you.”
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 22, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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