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.”
The prophet Isaiah quotes God as saying:
”As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)
This verse comes to mind as I ponder the meaning of Jesus’ words. It seems to me he is speaking metaphorically about blindness and sight, but he has also just healed a blind man and so he illustrates his point literally.
It is also interesting to me that he says, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin…” This is not the only time he makes a reference to this principle. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, wrestles with this same concept from a different angle:
‘Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!’ (Romans 3: 7-8)
Discuss: Is the innocence of childhood similar to what Jesus is referring to when he says, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin”?
I have always taken this passage to refer to the sin of self righteousness. Something that is particularly offensive to Jesus when it comes from the religious leaders of Israel.
I never had thought of it that way. I guess it could be, although I do think that Jesus was annoyed by the Pharisees and their claims of have a superior knowledge of God.
I agree with the other comments. I do think the Pharisees were guilty of the sin of self-righteousness. But, of course, this would include a loss of innocence and be opposed to a child-like faith.