Jesus Heals the Blind

Bible Study Lesson 6.12

Jesus Heals the Blind Bible Verses:
Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light that leads to life." John 8:12 NHEB.

Preliminary Bible Study Questions:
1) Why did Jesus heal blindness?
2) Who was Blind Bartimaeus?
3) What is spiritual blindness?

Seeing-eye dogs are a blessing to our physically blind neighbors.

These amazing dogs are loyal guides to their owners and trusted friends to their masters.

Jesus tells us he is the supreme example of a loyal guide and trusted friend to the blind.

We have great news for those of us who are either physically and/or spiritually blind.

The Bible tells us we're all born into a spiritually blind state, unable to grasp the heavenly truths from God.

Each of us, in a sense, is blind to God himself. The original sin of mankind, aka the Fall, has made us unable to see God, who is Spirit (John 1:18). Fortunately, because of grace, he sent someone who was seen and who we will see soon again - his Son, Jesus Christ.

As always, the lesson is jam-packed with incredible biblical facts about Jesus and how we can grow our faith in him. Let's turn to his word and find out the facts about the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Be sure to view the excellent Jesus Heals the Blind Man video at the bottom of the lesson.

Jesus Heals the Blind

Blindness was always a big biblical topic because the problem was wide-spread 2,000 years ago. Blindness was a prevalent condition sadly experienced by many people.

Another reason blindness is always a hot topic in the Bible is that God uses physical blindness to metaphorically represent a much worse human problem: spiritual blindness. Let me explain the reasons why this is so by taking a deeper look at the two types of blindness.

Physical Blindness

We've all imagined being blind before and it isn't an enjoyable experience. Blindly groping in a darkened room is both frustrating and dangerous. A blind person is unable to sense objects or hazards in his or her path.  

Jesus had compassion on those who were physically blind in his day. He felt sorry for their inability to function in the way God originally intended. The fall of mankind brought with it the effects of sin, which includes many corruptions of God's originally "very good" creation (Genesis 1:31).

Some specific effects of the Fall include human blindness, deafness, muteness, etc. These repercussions for human sin break God's heart, while making life extremely difficult for those afflicted.

God desires to restore these abnormalities, either now on earth, but definitely later for all who enter into his heaven (Luke 16:25). That fact alone is yet another reason to make sure heaven becomes our eternal home, where perfection is restored. Is reaching heaven where the Savior resides your ultimate goal?

Jesus healed many physically blind people because of his compassion. There were more reasons, of course, as there always is with his great works. We'll study these healing miracles in a moment, but let's first study another type of blindness - spiritual blindness.

Spiritual Blindness

What is spiritual blindness? Spiritual blindness is a lack of spiritual insight. In other words, it's the inability to understand, interpret, and apply the spiritual principles of the Bible into one's life (Matthew 13:14-15).

Judas is a good biblical example of a spiritually blind person. He walked, talked, and ate with Jesus for over three years. He witnessed many of Jesus' miracles, while also listening to his incredible teaching.

But, in the end, he couldn't discern truth from lies, holiness from evil, or future heavenly riches from temporary earthly riches. Judas betrayed the Son of Man and he's paying dearly for his blindness and deeds for eternity (Luke 22:22).

A spiritually blind person cannot properly and effectively comprehend what the Bible means.

A spiritually blind person can indeed learn biblical facts. He or she can learn Christian lingo. They can reason through life's decisions with biblical logic, but only superficially. They're unable to put the Big Picture of God's salvation plan together.

Unfortunately, a spiritually blind person cannot properly weigh the differences between this earthly life and the more important heavenly life. He or she cannot "see past" this earthly life. They're blocked from mentally, soulfully, and willfully sacrificing the temporary things of this earth for the much greater eternal things of heaven (Luke 9:23-24; 1 John 2:15-17).

Spiritually blind people cannot repent of their sins. Judas was unable to repent as will all who remain loyal to their sinful, spiritually blind hearts. 

One's eyes are the windows to the soul. This means that if your eyes are good, your heart is good, as well (Luke 11:33-36). If one's eyes are bad, so is the heart. Our eyes have to be on Jesus and if they're not they are still looking at the world.

The person who "buys in" to the deception of the world becomes self-deluded, thinking they understand God and his eternal plan, when in fact, they do not.

Billions of people are deceived about their own salvation. They're spiritually blind concerning God's true salvation, which is found only through the Scriptures.

A person is enabled to understand God's word only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What causes the terrible condition of spiritual blindness?

• Original sin (Genesis 2:25; 3:7,21; Romans 5:12,18; 6:23; 7:18).
  
• Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4).
  
• God's wrath (John 12:37-40; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).
  
• Hypocrisy (Luke 6:41-42).
• Self-inflicted love of self (Ephesians 4:18).
• Bad Bible doctrine and false beliefs (Revelation 3:17; Matthew 7:21-23).
  
• Self-delusion (Proverbs 14:12; 30:12).  

Please know and accept the fact that everyone is spiritually blind at birth. No one can understand God and his ways naturally. We're all born spiritually ignorant, unable to "see" the true and real things of God. Original sin destroyed our ability to fully understand God.

Spiritual Blindness Healed

The Bible is unwavering on the point about spiritual blindness, consistent from cover to cover (e.g. John 1:10; Romans 3:9-12, etc). Even Jesus' disciples were spiritually blind when they walked with Jesus (Luke 18:34).

All of us need a spiritual "awakening" (John 1:13; 3:3). Every human of all time MUST BE BORN AGAIN in order to be healed of spiritual blindness - Jesus said as much (John 3:6-8).

Let's take a quick test to see if you're spiritually blind or if you have spiritual insight.

A failure to believe in the miracle accounts of Jesus healing the blind, plus all his other miracles, proves one's spiritual blindness (Luke 10:13-16).

But, simply believing in Jesus' miracles does not necessarily mean you've reached salvation. This test only exposes one's spiritual ability to perceive some of God's truths, in this case, his miracles. 

In the event you're still spiritually blind, it's time you let Jesus cure your potentially eternal predicament. No one or nothing else is able to heal such a dire condition (Psalm 119:18; Ephesians 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:25).

In the case that you're able to spiritually comprehend the depths of God's word, you're free to give up your love for the things of this world and follow Jesus (Romans 5:15).

Jesus Heals the Blind - Examples

Jesus metaphorically uses the physically blind to represent the spiritually blind.

Jesus heals the blind (physical) to show you that he also heals the spiritually blind. Isn't that neat?

Let's take a moment to list and study these situations where Jesus heals the blind.

Here is a biblical list of the physically blind people who Jesus healed.

• Jesus heals two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31). These two blind men had faith in Jesus' ability to heal blindness. Jesus rewarded their faith with sight.
• Jesus healed all those who were brought to him, including the blind (Matthew 15:30).
• Jesus healed two blind men (Matthew 20:29-34). Jesus felt compassion on the two blind men and therefore healed them instantly and completely. They followed him afterwards.
• Jesus heals a blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26). This is a unique healing by Jesus because he had to administer two healing exercises on the blind man. The first action healed him partially, leaving him with fuzzy vision. He saw people but they looked similar to trees. Jesus touched the man's eyes again, perfectly restoring his sight.
• Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). We'll discuss this healing miracle further into the study.
• Jesus heals a blind beggar (Luke 18:35-43). This miracle brought great praise from the crowd who witnessed the event.
• Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9:1-41). We'll study this more in a minute.
• Jesus healed Saul from the same blindness with which He smote him (Acts 9:8-9,17-18).

We'll now turn our attention to two instances where Jesus heals the blind, which contain many spiritual principles.

Jesus Heals the Blind Man at the Pool

Jesus was strolling the marketplace one day when he noticed a blind man. His disciples wondered if the man was blind because of his sins or even his parent's sins. Jesus informed them that it was neither, and in fact, the man was born blind in order to glorify God. That may seem kind of cruel to you, which is understandable, but listen to the reasons.

Jesus then said, "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned to us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the Light of the world" (John 9:4-5).

God the Father lays out our assignments of service (Ephesians 2:10). The same was true for the assignments of Jesus during his earthly ministry (John 4:34; 6:38).

This was the case with the man born blind, he was born blind so Jesus could heal him and glorify the Father.

God had you in mind when this man was being created. God knew you needed this powerful example of his power in order to stand in awe of him. God arranged this great healing miracle of a blind man so many people would be led to finally believe in him (1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 2:7).

Jesus and the disciples approached the blind man. Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud, and spread it over the blind man's eyes. He instructed the man, "Go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam." The man did as Jesus commanded and he was perfectly healed! The man was BORN blind, but Jesus healed him.

Jesus heals the blind, even if they're born blind. This was an amazing miracle revealing the awesome mercy, love, and power of God.

The eyes of this man were blinded in his mother's womb for your lost soul. God demonstrated his love for you through this man's blindness and new eyesight. Do you believe?
 
Jesus "noticed" this man in whom a great miracle would be performed, perceiving exactly where the Father was working (John 5:17). Jesus came as the Light of the world so that the blind could see (John 1:4-5) and he completed the great healing miracle, leaving a man with new eyesight.

Praise must go to the Father for this plan, and also to Jesus for fulfilling God's great works. This is our model, so we must seek and "notice" where God is working and then respond with humble service.

Jesus Heals the Blind - Bartimaeus

A blind beggar named Bartimaeus was sitting in his familiar spot along a road in Jericho one day (Mark 10:46-48). He heard about a visitor in town named Jesus of Nazareth. Bartimaeus knew in his soul this was his last chance for sight. He began calling out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He shouted the phrase repeatedly.

People were telling the annoying Bartimaeus to be quiet. But he kept on yelling for Jesus!

Jesus heard Bartimaeus calling for him. He stopped... and said, "Tell him to come here."

The people were excited for Bartimaeus. They were anxious to see what this amazing Jesus was going to do with him (Mark 10:49-50).

Jesus softly and confidently smiled and asked Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Bartimaeus excitedly replied, "My Rabbi, I want to see!"

While the crowd waited in great anticipation, Jesus congratulated Bartimaeus, "Go, for your faith has healed you."

The miracle happened. Bartimaeus instantly received his eyesight in full! Imagine his great joy!

Bartimaeus then followed Jesus as a faith-filled disciple.

Jesus rewarded Bartimaeus because of his faith. Do you have spiritual faith? Do you want to see ALL of the truths of Jesus? Seek the Lord with all your heart, crying out to him like Bartimaeus, and you'll soon find him.

Jesus heals the blind, even the eyes of a blind beggar man. It's not hard to imagine Bartimaeus ever wanting to take his eyes off Jesus, his Healer. Bartimaeus was healed both physically AND spiritually on this day. It was his day to see, but more importantly, it was his day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

Miracles and Belief

Jesus healed the blind as a living metaphor for his healing of the spiritually blind. He also taught parables to metaphorically explain spiritual truths to the chosen. We have such a profound God, don't we?

A person who receives the word of God and begins reading it must understand what he or she is reading. The "light" must come on in one's mind (Luke 24:30-32).

Do you "get it?" Do you understand what God is all about? Do you get the reasons for Jesus coming to earth and dying for us? Have you even read the Bible? If not, it's time to remove all life's distractions and seek God. It's time to get serious about your faith! You only have one life, one brief opportunity to make your life count for an eternity.

Believing in Jesus' miracles is only a start. Receiving Jesus' miracle of eternal life is the next step.

You can begin in prayer, like this, "God, open the eyes of my heart. Help me to see you. Help me to hear you. Help me to feel you. Heal my eyes, open my ears, free my soul, so I can receive true salvation."

Jesus heals the spiritually blind (John 3:5-7; Luke 24:45, etc). He's the great Physician (Mark 2:17) and the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Get in line, my friend, and let his light shine into your soul.

Jesus Heals the Blind - Grasp This!

Jesus tells us, "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the One who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark" (John 12:44-46).
 
Jesus heals the blind so all of us blind sinners can have our eyes opened. He shines the light so that we can see through this dark world. Do you realize how fortunate we are?! There are but a few who can see the Light.

Listen again to Jesus talking to those who love him, "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they never heard it" (Matthew 13:16-17).

Most people think the darkness of this world has spiritual light, but it doesn't. Jesus is the ONLY LIGHT.

Most people think they're saved, but they aren't. They're in darkness. Ephesians 4:17-19 states, "Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity."

Seek the Lord while he can be found, before it's too late. Cease Christ and never let go.

Please pray that your soul becomes enlightened by Christ and his Word (click): Sinners Prayer. May God's peace find you.

Join our next Bible study lesson: Jesus and Legion Demon #6.13.

Jesus Heals the Blind Bible Study Discussion Questions:
1) Spiritual blindness means a person doesn't fully understand the truths of Scripture. What's your part in leading a person to the Light of the Gospel? (see Romans 10:14-15).
2) Jesus and his Spirit mysteriously open a person's spiritual eyes to the truth, as they did with Lydia (Acts 16:14). What exactly does that entail? (see 1 John 2:27). How is the word of God involved? (see James 1:21).
3) Jesus is the Light. What does that phrase tell you about the world in which we live? (see John chap 1).

Jesus Heals the Blind Bible Verses:
The Parable of the Lamp:
“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them." Luke 8:16-18 NIV.

Jesus Heals the Blind Miracle Prayer:
Lord God, I bow before you in silence, honoring the One who is sovereign over salvation. O Lord, my eyes are covered with darkness, my ears are plugged with worldly noise. Please help me see and understand. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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View the Jesus Heals the Blind Man video: