September 16, 2004

THE RECOVERER OF SIGHT

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach... recovery of sight to the blind" (Luke 4:18, NKJV).

One of the messianic functions listed by Jesus in His synagogue discourse in Luke 4:18 is the "recovery of sight to the blind." The divine optometrist came to bring recovery of sight to the blind both spiritually and physically.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus performed some twenty recorded miracles of physical healing. Five of these had to do with healing the blind. The most memorable of these is the controversial Sabbath healing of a man who was blind from birth. When questioned by the Pharisees in an attempt to discredit Jesus, the man gave this irrefutable response, "One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25, NKJV).

But Christ's primary target was the spiritually blind. There are two classes of spiritually blind people: those who cannot see because of spiritual ignorance, and those who will not see because of prejudice. Christ, in His campaign to restore spiritual sight, dealt with both classes. In His caricature of those who will not see, Jesus described them as "blind leaders of the blind" (Matthew 15:14, NKJV).

Those who are spiritually blind need only to do as the blind man at Bethsaida. He simply requested that Jesus would touch him. When Jesus did so, the blind man "was restored and saw everyone clearly" (Mark 8:25, NKJV). The divine optometrist has given a prescription with a full guarantee: "Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Revelation 3:18, NKJV). The divine optometrist has given a prescription with a full guarantee: "Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Revelation 3:18, NKJV). "The professed Christian world is indeed in need of eye-salve, that they may see the character of God and his law. Their prayer should be as was David's of old. 'Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.' "--Review and Herald, July 24, 1888.

My Prayer Today: Lord, with the psalmist I pray, "Open my eyes that I might see wondrous things from Your law." Amen.