“Blind unbelief is sure to err,” wrote the poet Cowper. Sceptics say that faith is blind, but it’s unbelief that can’t see a miracle that’s staring it right in the face.
“There’s none so blind as them that won’t see,” wrote Jonathan Swift.
Ever seen those marble busts of Julius Caesar and other famous Romans, and wondered why the sculptors left out their eyeballs? In seeking to give them a timeless look, they ended up giving them a vacant one.
Our eyeballs identify us: they allow others to see who we really are. When Jesus gave eyes to the beggar who had been born blind – an unprecedented miracle – his religious opponents questioned the man’s identity.
His neighbours said, “Is this not he who sat and begged?” They were a bit uncertain, because he didn’t look the same with eyeballs. They’d looked at him often enough, but he’d never looked back. It was his eyeballs that made the difference!
What is it about eyeballs? Well, when we’re excited, they dilate, and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it. (That’s why some businessmen wear dark sunglasses, when negotiating deals.) Our eyeballs reveal our interest or disinterest, our likes and our dislikes.
Until Jesus came, no person born blind had ever received sight. But what may have passed as an excuse for the Pharisees’ unbelief was the sole reason for the beggar’s faith. He could see clearly; they were blinded by their unbelief.
Isaiah had prophesied that Messiah would preach good news to the meek, and bind up the broken-hearted; that he would proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prisons to those who were bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
But when Jesus applied the prophecy to himself, he added – “and recovering of sight to the blind.” (Luke 4:18)
Before performing a miracle that was unprecedented, he expanded his scriptural Mission Statement to include it!
In response to the Pharisees’ claim that Jesus was a sinner, the beggar simply answered: “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know; one thing I do know is that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25)
He held to one firm fact – a fact denied only by those who were blinded by their unbelief.
God still does the unprecedented. Some say, “God can do it again!” Sure, he can and does heal age-old diseases. But he also heals new diseases!
What does this mean to us? It means that when praying in the Name of Jesus, not only should we expect the unexpected – we should also prepare to see the unprecedented! The more amazing the nature of the miracle God does, the more promptly we should praise him for it – not refuse to identify it just because we’ve never seen it!
I’ve seen too many miracles to join the chorus of those who claim that God can’t do this or that. I believe that He can do absolutely anything! “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Jeremiah 32:27)
Unlike the Pharisees, I’m not blinded by unbelief. And, unlike Julius Caesar, I do have eyeballs. I know a miracle when I see one – especially if it’s one that I’m seeing for the first time.
If a 1st Century beggar could see one thing clearly, surely we 21st Century Christians can identify what the Lord is doing in our time. There is nothing that Jesus Christ – “the same, yesterday, and today, and forever” – cannot do! (Hebrews 13:8)
To deny the Lord’s power to do what some people call impossible is blind unbelief. I would rather have 20/20 vision for miracles – wouldn’t you?