Eyes that (Don't) See
“I can see perfectly.”
“I’ve got 20/20 vision!”
“Hindsight is 20/20.”
We’ve all heard these phrases before, haven’t we? But have you ever met someone that’s boasted in their vision being 20/200? 20/200 is considered legally blind. Blindness is an unfortunate situation, but it does not diminish a person’s life. Many gifted and talented people dealt with blindness: Helen Keller, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder to name a few.
While it’s not clear what was legally blind in the Bible, there are those who have been affected by blindness, physically and spiritually.
One of the wildest stories from the Bible comes from 2 Kings 6:13-17. To set the scene, Israel is at war with Aram. The king of Aram had been trying to stage ambushes on the Israelite army, but Elisha, the man of God and successor to Elijah, receives a word from the Lord to warn the king of Israel not to send his army on certain routes.
Naturally, this frustrates the king of Aram and he’s wanting to know why this is happening. Someone must have heard a rumor or story and reported it to the king that Elisha had been hearing the king’s words as if he were in his bedroom (v.12)
13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Just when the servant thought they were done for, Elisha asked the Lord to open his eyes. Was he physically blind? There’s no indication that he was. Was he spiritually blind? 100% He failed to see that there is always more on the Lord’s side than on the enemy’s side.
For us on campus, we realize that all of the different organizations and classes that the university offers are not the enemy. On the outside, it might look that way when a fraternity hosts a wild party with students getting drunk. It might look that way when a professor plays down the reality that there is a God.
Instead, it is in the unseen realms that the battle lines are drawn. Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter 6, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
This was a lesson that the servant of Elisha learned that day.
In the Gospel of Mark, there is another story of blindness.
This time, it’s physical blindness. “They (Jesus and his crew) came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.” (Mark 8:22-26)
This is the only healing miracle that is a gradual process for Jesus. For the man, he could have easily settled for the partial blessing. Going from seeing nothing to now seeing colors and figures and movements! That’s a great miracle, and one we could be tempted to settle with. However, Jesus didn’t come to do a partial job - he came to bring complete restoration to this man and to all living things!
Don’t settle for a partial answer - press in and seek God to have the full, complete answer!
