RECOVERING SIGHT

HOLY SPIRIT- RECOVERY OF SIGHT FOR THE BLIND
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 4:18 18"TheSpirit of the LORD is on me,
because he has anointedme to proclaimgood news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaimfreedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the
oppressedfree,
DR. RALPH F. WILSON
Recoveryof Sight to the Blind (4:18e)
The next element of Jesus'commissionwas to bring "recoveryofsight to the
blind." Are these the literal blind whose eyes and optic nerves no longer
function? Or the figurative blind, who fail to see the truth? This decisionisn't
so easy. Jesus DID literally heal blinded eyes. I think of Blind Bartimaeus
sitting by the roadside begging (Mark 10:46). Or the man who was born blind
and was healedafter he washedoff the mud and spittle Jesus put on his eyes
(John 9:1-8). Some disciples of John the Baptist, who was now in prison, came
to Jesus with the question, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we
expectsomeone else?"Luke records:
"At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknessesand evil
spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the
messengers, 'Go back and report to John what you have seenand heard: The
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf

hear, the dead are raised, and the goodnews is preachedto the poor.' " (Luke
7:20-22)
The messengers were to take back to John the Baptist the word that Jesus did
the works that Messiahwas supposedto do when he came. Blind literally
seeing. Lame literally walking. Lepers literally having whole, cleanskin. Deaf
literally hearing. Dead literally rising. And good news being proclaimed to the
literal poor. Jesus is referring to this very passage in Isaiah61!
Having said that, Jesus himself healed the literally blind (John 9:1-7), and
then used this miracle to point out the irony of spiritual blindness (9:39-41). In
the GospelofJohn especially, we see him moving from physical bread to
spiritual bread (John 6), from physical waterto spiritual water (John 4), etc. I
think it entirely comprehensible that Jesus intended the Scripture from Isaiah
he was reading in the Nazarethsynagogue to include both healing of physical
blindness AND spiritual blindness.
So what is the commissionwe disciples have? Certainly to help people see
Christ and his truth clearly, to interpret him anew to our owngenerationin
terms they can understand. But also to seek to heal the physically blind. Some
do this through medicine. Wonderful! Some do this through supernatural gifts
of healing. Wonderful! Howeverwe are gifted, let us not be satisfiedto see
people remain in their blindness, but seek for them the gift of sight."
“recovering ofsight to the blind” (v. 18d). In this Gospel, Jesus will restore the
sight of blind people (7:21-22;18:35-43), and will also tell prideful people to
“ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind” to come their banquet table
(14:13).
Jesus’interestis not limited to physical sight, but encompassesspiritual vision
as well (6:41-42;7:44; 8:16; 9:27; 10:23;11:33; 12:54-56;17:22;21:27-31).
Later, Jesus will give Saul/Paulhis mission—“to opentheir eyes, that they
may turn from darkness to light and from the powerof Satanto God, that
they may receive remissionof sins and an inheritance among those who are

sanctifiedby faith in me” (Acts 26:18—alsowritten by Luke). The emphasis in
that verse clearly has to do with spiritual vision."
https://www.sermonwriter.com
III. ProclaimRecoveryof Sight to the Blind
1. The Blind
Jesus is concernedabout blind people. The primary reference no doubt was to
people who were physically blind. However, we cannot overlook the
spiritually blind. When you sit and listen to the commentators of the world,
the talk shows, you know that millions are spiritually blind. They have not
idea of spiritual truth. The eyes of their souls cannot see. Theylive in
darkness.
2. Jesus
The mission of Christ was to proclaim to all who were blind that their sight
could be recovered. Once again, this proclamationis made in the power of the
Spirit. The powerof the Spirit brings the power of the Kingdom of God into
our lives now.
Christ openedthe eyes of the spiritually blind. Many came to faith in Him and
followedHim. In addition He healedpeople who were physically blind. Thus,
both literally and spiritually, this proclamationwas fulfilled during the days
of Christ on earth.
John the Baptistwas in prison wanting reassurancethat Jesus was the Son of
God. He sent a messengerto Jesus asking (Mt. 11:3), "Are you the expected
One, or shall we look for someone else?" Jesus reassuredJohnby sending his
messengerback with this report (Mt. 11:5): "the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansedand the deaf hear, the dead are
raisedup, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPELPREACHED TO THEM."
NASU the evidence was both powerful and plentiful!

3. Your Life
Today, Christ is present to heal. The recoveryof sight simply meant that the
person who was blind could now see. While we seldomsee people healed of
physical blindness now, it does happen. Moreover, we know that in the long
run, all physically blind people will see!Moreover, tens of thousands of people
who have been spiritually blind are being setfree. Jesus opens their eyes.
What is your condition today? Have you come with skepticism? Have you
closedyour eyes to the truth? Do you feela need for someone outside of you to
help you see? Cryout to Jesus. He is here to minister to you!
https://globalchristiancenter.com/
When cross-referencing Luke 4:18 to Isaiah 61:1-2, where it says, "recovering
of sight to the blind," in Isaiah61, there is no mention of restoring sight to the
blind. How are these two verses correlated?
Luke 4:18
ESV - 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
proclaim goodnews to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to setat liberty those who are
oppressed.
Clarify (2) • Share • Report • AskedMarch 16 2015 • Daniel Cansler
Answers (1)
Discuss
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JD Abshire
Much prophecy has a near and far application i.e. two-fold. I believe Isaiah 61
is just one of those passageswhich speaksofChrist's two advents in one view.
If we back up and look at a few keyverses in chapter 60 it is obvious what is
spokenof here has not occurredand will not take place until Christ comes
back and establishes his kingdom on earth. I believe the passagesbelow speak
of Israel's blessings in that age.
Isaiah60:3 " And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of thy rising."
v.10-13 "And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings
shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I
had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shallbe open continually; they shall
not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the
Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. Forthe nation and kingdom
that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
"
v.14 "The sons also ofthem that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee;
and all they that despisedthee shall bow themselves down at the soles ofthy
feet; and they shall callthee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One
of Israel."
v.19-21 "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness
shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an
everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down;

neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also
shall be all righteous:they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my
planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified."
Especiallynotice v. 19, it compares very favorably with Revelation21:23
"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
See also (Revelation22:5).
Revelation21:4 "And God shall wipe awayall tears from their eyes;and there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passedaway."
In fulfillment of Isaiah 61:2 (Christ's SECOND advent)there is no one to heal,
no blindness, no sicknessin the Millennial Kingdom.
Luke 4:18 is dealing with Christ's FIRST advent and his earthly ministry. As
scripture bears recordthere was a lot of sicknessanddisease.
Isn't the accuracyofscripture amazing? Praise His name! https://ebible.com/
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
goodnews to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to setat liberty those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4.18–19).

The only New Testamentclass thatI have the opportunity to teachat Florida
College is the freshman course “New TestamentHistory and Geography,”
which focuses on the narratives in Luke-Acts. As I teachthrough Luke, I
emphasize how important scripture citation is to Luke: he does it (compared
to Mark and Matthew) rarely, and eachtime he does is notable. One of the
most important for Luke’s Jesus comes from his first sermon (Luke 4.16–30).
There is a lot we can talk about, here, but what I want to focus on is Jesus’
citation. As many of you probably already know (or can check with a quick
glimpse down at your cross references!) this passagecomes from Isa 61 and is
used by Luke to highlight Jesus’earthly ministry. Jesus was anointedto do a
few things: to proclaim goodnews to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, recovering of sight to the blind, set at liberty those who are
oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Eachof these items
are seenin Jesus ministry and form a sort of “thesis statement” for what Jesus
sets out to do here on earth.
One of the things a lot of folks learn to do when they see a quotation from the
Hebrew Bible is to flip back and check it. So, if we flip in our English Bible
back to Isaiah we find:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me because the LORD has anointed me to
bring goodnews to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who
are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor (Isa 61.1–2)
But that citation… doesn’t match! Among the differences, where is the
“recovering the sight of the blind!?” This is one of the key aspects ofJesus’
identity: it’s what he convinces John with (Luke 7.21–22), it’s who is supposed
to be invited to the Messianic feast(Luke 14.13, 21), andit’s who he heals as
he is on his way to Jerusalem(Luke18.35). This miracle is just as important

outside of Luke (cf. John 9–11!). But where did it come from, for Jesus to cite
it? Did he just get it wrong? Make it up? The answerto both is “no.”
This phrase actually comes not from the Masoretic Textwhich underlies our
modern, EnglishBibles, but rather the Old Greek. Notice whatis present in
the Greek versionof Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
goodnews to the poor, he has sentme to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor (Isa 61.1–2 OG).
In fact, if you’re careful about checking your referenceswhile reading
through your New Testaments you will find frequent examples of where the
text you look at in your Old Testamentdoesn’tmatch what you’re reading in
your New Testament? You may have asked“Why is that?” before quickly
dismissing it as a mere translation difference or something weird with your
version and—sometimes—thatis right! But, far more often, it’s because the
New Testamentwriters were using a different textual tradition than what our
modern English Bible’s use for their Old Testaments.
Oddly enough, over the past two weeks I’ve receivedseveral, independent
questions asking me about these issues, so overthe next few posts I’m going to
dive a little more into that: what is the Septuagint? What is the Masoretic
Text? Why does it matter? And What does it change? In the meantime, keep
an eye out for those quotations that don’t match. Which ones have you
noticed, lately?

Posted21stDecember2018by Jared W. Saltz
When I began serving as a pastorin Atlanta, I got to know Richard. He didn’t
have a permanent place to stay, but he wasn’thomeless. We might say he was
on the couch-surfing side of the line betweenpoverty and lower-middle class.
I was telling a friend of mine from seminary about the situation. Bill listened
closelyas I said, “I’m just not sure what I cantell Richard to encourage him!
I just want to open his eyes to all that God has done for him, but I’m not sure
what I should say!He has so many needs and I just don’t know where to
start.”
And Bill said, “Why not ask Richard to tell you about what he does to
strengthen his faith when he’s bouncing from place to place. Or when he’s
trying to figure out where his next meal is coming from. You’ve never had to
do any of that.”
I was like, “Whoa!” It was so eye-opening!I had wantedso badly to open
Richard’s eyes up to what God was doing for him, but Bill helped me realize
that my eyes also need to be openedreally badly. And as unexpected as it felt
to me, Richard could be the one to open them for me. Looking back on it, I
know Jesus usedBill and Richard to teachme that I wasn’tsome genius with
my eyes wide open alreadyto all of the answers—Iwas someone who needed
my eyes openedjust as badly as Richard needed his opened…and probably
worse. I had something to offer, sure, but I also had a big need, too. I don’t
think I ever would have imagined that before my conversationwith Bill.

Jesus’missionblows open our imaginations in all sorts of ways—his mission
that goes back to our passagefrom Luke, when he stood up in the synagogue
and read the scroll of Isaiah. Now you should know that any male in the
Synagogue back in those days could be askedto stand up and read or preach
at any synagogue service. Now youshould also know that we are not planning
to implement that practice here. We’re planning to ask anyone at all, not just
men, to read or preach at a moment’s notice.
Anyway, Jesus is invited to read, and he reads a mash-up of Isaiah 61 (our
Old Testamentpassage)andIsaiah 58—andthese passages focus on what we
understand as his mission to humankind:
To bring goodnews to the poor To proclaim release to the captive To
recoversight to the blind To let the oppressedgo free All to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor
Jesus reads all of these, and then when everyone is looking at him, says,
“Todaythis scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus’ministry workedto fulfill that scripture during his life on earth, and
Jesus is still at work fulfilling this scripture even now…in two distinct ways.
The first is that Jesus is calling us to connectwith our neighbors by joining
him in bringing goodnews to the poor, release to the captives, and sight to the
blind. This happens in all sorts of ways, but I want to focus now on just one
experience I’ve had with this. When I was at that same church in Atlanta, we

developed a relationship with a church in a village in Honduras which had
been devastatedby Hurricane Mitch.
One year an optometrist spent months collecting old eyeglassesfrom members
of the congregation, and measuring them and marking what strength they
were. Then on the trip, she testedresidents’ eyes, to see whether there were
any pairs of glasseswhichcould help them to see better. The looks on their
faces as they saw againclearly, as for the first time, was amazing. These old
frames—hopelesslyout of style in some cases—placedonthose who hadn’t
seenwell for ages—wasa modern-day example of Jesus’mission to return
sight to the blind coming through us.
So that’s the first way that Jesus continues to fulfill that scripture from
Isaiah—whenhis mission comes through us. But the secondway happens
when we realize that Jesus’missioncomes to us—that we receive his mission,
too, from unexpected neighbors. Because sometimeswe’re the blind ones too.
We realized that in Honduras, too. Mostof us who went on the trip were
pretty sure that we had the skills and knowledge to improve the Hondurans’
lives. There were architects certainthey knew best how to build the cinder
block houses we were constructing. Doctors who knew best about what to do
with the patients they were seeing. Teacherswho knew best about teaching the
children and their mothers in VacationBible School.
But really, most of us were blind. Blind to what we were going to learn when
we started interacting with these new friends, day after day after day. 
Watching pregnant women pass cinder blocks without gloves, in flip
flops…nevertiring, healing our blindness to show what it means to take pride
in constructing your ownhouse rather than letting someone else come anddo
it all for you.  Seeing pastors who made next to nothing, living in shacks,

working all day and all night to make sure that their flock felt cared for and
loved…healing our blindness so we could see what it means to live sacrificially
and love generously  Getting a glimpse of pure joy among children, who
lackedwhat we thought were so many basic necessities…healing our blindness
so we could see what it means to focus on relationships rather than material
goods to bring happiness.
Thank God, Jesus’mission to recoversight to the blind was a mission that
came to us as well as came through us to someone else. My sense is that our
kind of people—the kind of people who make up this church—our kind of
people have an easiertime imagining that Jesus chargesus to have his mission
come through us to other people. It helps us feelgood about ourselves to know
we have something to offer and that we have an important role to play. In a
lot of ways, that’s the purpose of the auction we had last night, and the
mission of the rummage sale that’s coming up, and the role of the officers that
we’re ordaining today.
So my challenge for you this week as you connectwith your neighbors is to
considerhow they might be bringing Jesus’missionto you. In what ways
might Jesus be using your unexpected neighbors to free you from some
oppression? to bring you goodnews? To help open your eyes?
What do you see? https://firstchurchlf.org/
The Authority To Give Sight (Matthew 9:27-31)
The next passagein the chapter records the healing of the blind men. While
this is a relatively short narrative and seemingly not as significant as some of

the longerones, it is worth taking some time with it because ofthe importance
in the Bible of the theme of blindness, both physical blindness and spiritual
blindness.
In this chapter in Matthew the miracle of causing the blind to see shows yet
another realm of the authority of Jesus the Messiah--the authority to give
sight.
Reading the Text
27 As Jesus wenton from there, two blind men followedhim, calling out,
“Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
28 When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him, and He asked
them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. 29
Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done
to you.” 30 And their sight was restored.
Jesus warnedthem sternly: “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they
went out and spread the news about Him all over the region.
Synoptic Parallels
This little accountis really too short to suggestthat it parallels other accounts
in the gospels, ofwhich there are severaldealing with the healing of the blind.
Some commentaries suggestthat this accountin Matthew 9 is another telling
of the story of the healing of the blind man Barthimaeus, recorded in Matthew
20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52,and Luke 18:35-43. Matthew then would have been
using the event twice in his gospel, if that were the case.
But there is very little to support this extreme position. The two stories are
similar in that the blind are healed, although in our passage there are two
blind men. But no doubt Jesus healedmany blind people in His ministry, as
the closure to Matthew 9 suggests(v. 35;see also 4:23 and 8:16-17). The fact
that the blind sayessentiallythe same thing in both passagesdoes not mean
they are the same event; the same thing is saidelsewhere, suchas in Matthew
15:22, which has nothing to do with blindness. And, in Matthew 20 the healing
of Barthimaeus takes place as Jesus the King is beginning to make His way to

Jerusalem;in Matthew 9 the incident is part of the demonstration of the
authority of Jesus and occurs earlier. So the obvious conclusionis that
Matthew 9:27-31 is a separate eventin which Jesus healedtwo blind men. The
event took place as Jesus leftthe home of Jairus after raising the little girl and
returned to the place He was staying, perhaps in Peter’s house.
The Structure of the Passage
This narrative is really straightforward. Verse 27 records their cry to Jesus
for help. Verses 28-30a records Jesus’healing of them. And then verses 30b,
31 record the aftermath when Jesus instructed the men. The central core of
the story, the healing itself, is the significant part, because there we have the
words of Jesus abouttheir faith. This points to the message thatJesus clearly
has the power and the authority to give sight to the blind, but He requires that
they believe He can do it. So while the point of the story is that Jesus has this
authority to give sight, the sub-theme of the story is the requirement of faith
to be able to see.
Blindness
It is probably worth studying this topic at the start since it is what the passage
is all about. Apparently, for some reason, blindness was fairly common in the
days of Jesus. We do not know if the caseswere allthe same, whether they
were blind from birth, or were blinded in some way. But to be blind then, as
at any time, was a terrible handicap. The self-righteous leaders in the days of
Jesus would have added to the problem by accusing such handicapped people
of being sinners whom God had punished. And, it is true, that there are cases
in the Bible where blindness was a punishment from God; but it is also true
that that was not the automatic explanation for Christ (see John 9:1-5).
Blindness also was symbolic of spiritual ignorance, just as sight was symbolic
of understanding. When God announced judgment on the nation of Israel
through the prophet Isaiah, part of the judgment was that they would not
understand the truth and not believe the message.In a word, they would be
frozen in their ignorance and unbelief. God said, “Be ever hearing, but never
understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this
people calloused;make their ears dull and close their eyes, otherwise they

might see with their eyes, hearwith their hearts, and turn and be healed”
(6:9-10).
Jesus usedthis same symbolism in some of His teachings. In John 9 Jesus
healed the blind man, and found a gooddeal of opposition for it from the
spiritual leadership. So Jesus said, “Forjudgment I have come into this world,
so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (9:39). The
Pharisees knew He was speaking aboutthem, and so they said, “What?--are
we blind too?”(v. 40). And He said, “If you were blind, you would not be
guilty of sin; but now that you claim that you see, your guilt remains” (v. 41).
In other words, some who have their physical sight are blind to the truth--they
are spiritually blind. If they continue to refuse to believe, then like ancient
Israelthey would remain in their blindness. He has the authority to sealup
their spiritual blindness as a judgment if they persist in it--let the blind
remain blind still.
But there were those who were physically blind, and they wanted to see, and
so they were healed by Jesus who gave them sight. Because faith was required
of those who were blind and wanted to see, those blind people were
interpreted by the evangelists to be symbolic or at leastrepresentative of those
in the nation of Israel, spiritually blind and ignorant of the truth, who through
faith receivedtheir “sight.” In other words, these men might have been blind,
but because oftheir faith they could see better than others.
Analysis of the Passage
I. The blind may receive their sight from Jesus the Messiah(9:27). The first
section(verse actually) of the narrative is the cry for mercy from the blind
men. They followedJesus, probably aware of His presence in the crowd
because ofthe news that spreadfrom the healing of Jairus’ daughter. They
cried, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
The cry for mercy is understandable, for it is one of the most basic cries for
divine help in Scripture. “Mercy” in the Bible, sometimes translatedwith the
idea of “grace”or“favor,” describes some actof compassionthat is
undeserved--a free gift, a kind act. It is usually reservedfor prayers to God,

such as in seeking forgiveness forsin, protection from enemies, healing from
disease, orany other number of needs. In the human arena it canbe used
from an inferior or subordinate personto a superior or a master to request
for pardon, favor, or generalbenefit. They clearly knew that this Jesus had
supernatural power and authority, and so they persistedin following Him and
seeking His mercy.
But they calledHim the “Son of David.” Why? Well, the title itself should
indicate to the readerthat kingship is being stressed. Afterall, David was the
king, and a son of David is the heir to the throne. It is another, and more
direct reference to the Messiahshipof Jesus. But why should the blind men
call Him “Sonof David”? The answerto that will call for some study on the
prevailing understanding of what the King, the promised Messiah, wouldbe
doing. Here you will need to go back into the Old Testamentto look us some
Messianic prophecies;to find them you may need to look in your dictionaries
or theologybooks under “Messiah”orthe like to see this. A goodcommentary
on the Bible would also direct you to the appropriate passages.
Two Old Testamentpassagescome to the fore. In Isaiah 35 we have a song of
the joy of the redeemedwhen the LORD finally redeems Israel and brings in
the reign of the Messiah:
1 The desertand the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
2 Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatlyand shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leaplike a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Waterwill gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
The passagegoesonto declare that there will be a highway in the land, on
which the redeemedmay walk. The ransomedof the LORD will return to
Zion with singing, and everlasting joy will crown their heads. The song is
clearly for the Messianic agethat the nation was anticipating.
It is interesting to note that in Matthew 9:32 immediately after the healing of
the blind man Jesus healeda man who was mute. He who had been mute,
spoke.
The connectionof these miraculous events of the so-calledMessianic or golden
age to come with the personalMessiahwas prophesiedin Isaiah61:
1 The Spirit of the SovereignLORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach goodnews to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release fromdarkness for the prisoners,
2 To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

and the day of vengeance ofour God.
In this listing of the things that the Messiahwill do, we have the phrase
“release(oropening) from the darkness for the prisoners.” The poetic
expressionis somewhatambiguous, although in the context it probably has
the primary meaning of setting prisoners free from the bondage. But the
expression“opening from darkness” was translatedby the Greek Old
Testamentthis way: “opening from darkness for the blind.” This would have
the sense, perhaps, ofprisoners kept in darkness being set free were in fact
like the blind given their sight.
When Jesus read the Scripture lessonfrom the prophets in the synagogue,
Luke tells us He read this passage (Luke 4); and Luke simply records the
Greek translationof what He read: “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for
the prisoners and recoveryof sight for the blind.”
Regardlessofthe deliberate ambiguity in the originalHebrew oracle, by the
first century this passage andothers were takento mean that the Messiah
would restore sight when He setthem free from bondage--and no doubt in
Jesus’mind there was a double meaning here. Jesus desiredto give them
spiritual sight when He setthem free from the bondage of sin before He would
bring in the greatMessianic age.This sequence troubled John the Baptist a
little, for in Matthew 11 we read how he sentand askedJesus if He was the
Messiahornot. Jesus’answer was:“Go back and report to John what you
hear and see:The bind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy
are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the goodnews is preachedto
the poor” (Matt. 11:4,5). These are the works that the Messiahwas expected
to do, and Jesus was doing them. Therefore, Jesus was the long-awaited
MessiahofIsrael--and in the land in the days of Jesus there was an intense
Messianic expectation.
The two blind men were not simply interestedin Jesus’lineage from David
and His right to be a king. They used “sonof David” in the sense of“the Son
of David,” par excellence. Everylegitimate king was a son of David; but one
Son of David would be the greatOne whom they longed for with great
longing. Since Jesus had been doing the miracles, these blind men believed

that He was the one, and they pleaded for mercy from Him. If Jesus was
Messiah, He would heal them.
II. Faith in Jesus the Messiahis the requirement for receiving sight (9:28-30a).
It does not matter whether we are talking about receiving physical sight or
spiritual understanding, faith is the prerequisite.
The faith of these two men is stressedin the story. First, they cried out to
Jesus for help. They had to have formed an opinion about Jesus in order to do
that; they had to have believed that He was able to heal them. Then, second,
they followedHim indoors. This is an indication of their perseverence.It is
rather bold, to be sure. We probably should not think, though, of modern
housing when reading this account. The houses of the first century would have
a number of add-on rooms to the central building, and often an inner
courtyard for them. We do not know exactlywhere the blind men were, but
the text makes the note that they followedJesus awayfrom the crowds and
the public streets into the private area. And Jesus probably waitedtil they
followedHim indoors to test their faith further (and to let the crowds calm
down).
Third, their answerto Jesus’question affirms their strong faith. Jesus asked
them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Jesus was not trying to make
it difficult for them; rather, He often gave people the opportunity to pour out
their whole heart, to express their full faith and show their earnestness, before
He answered. When He questioned them here indoors, they responded
convincingly, “Yes, Lord.” Then Jesus touchedtheir eyes and said,
“According to your faith will it be done to you.” This does not mean that the
amount of healing depends on the amount of faith; rather, it simply means
that because they had faith they would receive their sight. And so because of
their steadfastfaith their sight was restored.
What is so impressive to the reader is the ease of His might in doing these
things. We simply see His quiet majesty in response to those who come to Him
by faith. It should also be noted that His question focusedtheir faith in Him,
and not just to God in general.

The Lord was fully able to give them sight, but He waiteduntil He was able to
draw from them a statement of their faith. They had come to the point of faith
basedon what they knew the Scripture predicted and what they had heard
Jesus was doing. And that is usually the way faith develops. People have the
clearword from God of how the Messiahwill release us from the dark prison
of sin and grant us spiritual understanding, and they can see how Jesus
fulfilled Scripture again and again in meeting the needs of people in the gospel
records, and down through history in the life of the church, and so they can
cry with confidence to Him for mercy. It is the way for the blind men to be
healed. It is the way for anyone to be healed, physically. But most importantly,
it is the way to be healed spiritually, to have the spiritual blindness removed
and spiritual sight given. Christ Jesus has the authority to give sight.
III. Jesus warns those He healed about publicizing the event (9:30b,31). Here
is a goodexample of a part of the passagethat was given for that specific time
alone and that is not now applicable. We learn this by probing why Jesus gave
the instruction. When Jesus healedthe men, He sternly warnedthem not to let
anyone know about this. Why would He do this? Jesus here was doing a
“Messianic” work,anotherone on the same day, but He did not want the
word to get out. In fact, He waited to do this indoors, out of the sight of the
public eye.
The answerprobably concerns the timing and the circumstance. Jesus
certainly was revealing Himself as the Messiah, but in the proper way the
Messiahshould be understood. The crowds were enthusiasticallyfollowing
Him for healing and for food; but His mission was first to deal with the
problem of sin, and that would not come through enthronement but through
His sacrificialdeath. He had to controlthe crowd’s response and
understanding of His mission. So in these severalincidents where He warned
people not to publish the news, or where He retreatedfrom the crowds into
the hills or out in the boat, or where He beganto explain His death when the
people were eagerto make Him king, Jesus was trying to avoid a premature
king movement that was falsely basedand ill-conceived.
Today we do not have a binding word like this not to publish what the Lord
has done--because the purpose of the binding word to the blind men was

temporary in view of the circumstances.Instead, we are to go throughout all
the world telling of Jesus’Messiahship, and of His miraculous power.
If there is an application from this part of the story for today, it would be a
warning againsttelling about Jesus in a falsely basedor ill-conceivedway. For
example, publishing the news about the power of Jesus to heal without the
primary focus on the spiritual healing through His death on the cross would
be close to what Jesus was trying to prevent. People love to throng to one who
has the power to heal; but they are not eagerto come to one whose death
reveals their sin and their need of salvation. Spiritual sight is more important
than physical sight.
Scriptural Correlations
I have already discussedthe themes of blindness and Messianic healing ofthe
blind from the Old Testamentand so do not need to repeatthose here.
In the New Testamentthe theme of spiritual blindness is used by the apostle
Paul--as one might expect since he when able to see was spiritually blind and
persecuting Christians with a vengeance,but when confronted by Christ was
made blind temporarily so that he could see. So he wrote to the Corinthians to
say, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospelof the glory of Christ. . . . God, who said, ‘Let
light shine out of darkness,’made His light shine in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4-6).
In other words, unbelief is blindness; and salvationis illumination. Salvation
begins with God’s causing light to shine in the darkness. Like Paul, people
may be well versed in the knowledge oftheologyand Scripture, but until God
shines in their hearts, they cannotsee. It is the task of believers to present
clearly to the unbeliever the truth of God’s word, to sow the seedas Jesus put
it; but unless and until God causes them to see, it will not be understood and
received. This should remind us that salvationis a miraculous work of God
from the beginning to the end.
Conclusionand Application

I think enough has been saidalready on the main point of the passage andthe
significance ofit that I do not need to belabor that here. But in brief I can
restate the points.
The passageteachesthatJesus has the authority to give sight. He can
certainly restore physical sight to people who are blind, and did that
frequently enoughto show He has that power. This is why people today can
pray for healing, although they must allow that the answerto their prayer
may come now, or in the resurrection, for God has His timetable and His
purposes.
But behind the healing of the blind men is the deeper meaning of the healing
of their souls. Jesus was more concernedwith the spiritual blindness in Israel
that the physical blindness, which was often a symbol of the former. And the
fact that these men came by faith to be healedphysically shows that Jesus had
already begun to revealHimself to their souls, that they alreadyhad been
enabled to see spiritually.
The secondmain point, then, of the passageis that faith is required to gain
sight, both physically and spiritually. Whoever comes to Christ must believe
that He is the promised Messiahand that He has the powerand the authority
to give sight.
The task of the church is therefore to take this message to a world that is
blinded by the god of this world, the evil one, the deceiver. The people the
church reaches outto may be educated, brilliant, clever, and even concerned
with moral and ethical matters--much like Paul was!But if they do not believe
in Christ Jesus as the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the Savioror the world,
they are spiritually blind. We who have receivedour sight, who have come to
faith, should then be characterized by (1) praise and thanksgiving, (2)
devotion to Christ, (3) a growing spiritual discernment in all things, and (4)
public witness of the glories of the Lord. https://bible.org/
Jesus…sentby God…to Restore Sight

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Published: Wednesday, November7th, 2012
Jesus, God’s Anointed One, was intentionally sentto open the eyes of the
blind.
(See Isaiah 42:7).
Jesus quoted Isaiah in the synagogue in His hometown ofNazareth. Jesus
was sent by God to give blind eyes the ability to see:
(NIV) Luke 4:18 “…and recoveryof sight for the blind…”
During Jesus’ministry He healedthe blind…one instance of a man born
blind. When the man was healed, he was accusedof lying by the Pharisees
and his parents were questioned. Theyfeared being excommunicated by the
Pharisees so they said, ‘yes, he was blind at birth but we don’t know how he
now sees. Ask him, he’s an adult.’ So the Pharisees calledthe man and said
“Give glory to God; we know that this man (Jesus)is a sinner.” And how did
the man answer? “WhetherHe is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do
know that though I was blind, now I see.” (See John9:1-34)
What is your testimony to Jesus opening your eyes to His truths? Do you also
say, ‘I know I was blind, but now I see’?
Jesus was sentby God to open eyes, to restore sight to the blind.
Another instance in Scripture of Jesus healing the blind:
As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind beggarwas sitting on the side of
the road. He heard the crowd coming and askedwhat was going on. He was
told that Jesus ofNazarethwas passing by. Immediately Bartimaeus called
out: “Jesus,Sonof David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stoppedand told the
crowdto bring the man to Him. He askedBartimaeus “Whatdo you want Me
to do?” And Bartimaeus knew what he wanted. He wanted his eyesightback!
Jesus said:“Receive yoursight; your faith has made you well.”

(See Luke 18:35-43)
What is your response to Jesus whenHe asks you…“Whatdo you want Me to
do?”
Perhaps spiritual sight is your need. Have you told Him? Trust Him to give
you sight.
Jesus…sentby God…to Restore Sight
Has your sight been restoredby the Living Lord Jesus Christ?
What is your response?
Bartimaeus immediately began following Jesus and glorifying God!
https://lifedailydevotional.com/
Sight for the Blind :: Epiphany
January 3, 2018
/
John Tillman
Scripture: Luke 4.18
…recoveryof sight for the blind…
Luke 7.22
So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have
seenand heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the goodnews is
proclaimed to the poor.

Reflection:Sight for the Blind :: Epiphany
By John Tillman
Jesus oftenanalogizedhis healing of people’s physical diseasesto his mission
of healing all of us of our spiritual disease ofsin. In his sermon at Nazareth,
the only specific healing mentioned is that of blindness but other diseases
often serve as teaching moments in Christ’s ministry.
Healing is a marker of Jesus’identity as the Christ. When the imprisoned
John the Baptistdoubts who Jesus is, he sends disciples to ask Jesus directly,
“are you the one?” Jesus answersfirst with action—performing a large
number of healings of many kinds. Then he tells John’s messengers to report
what they saw and uses language that echoeshis declaration at Nazareth.
“The blind see…goodnews is preachedto the poor…”
It is hard to appreciate the Epiphany of Christ—literally the manifestationor
appearing—if you are blind. Before we can share in and become part of
Christ’s Epiphany to the world, we must be healed of our blindness so that we
can saywith the blind man from John chapter nine, “I was blind but now I
see!”
But too often we are like the Phariseeswho investigatedthe healing of the
blind man. The Phariseesare easyfor us to dislike when we read about their
opposition to Jesus in the New Testament, but modern Christians share much
more in common with the Pharisees thanwith Christ’s disciples.
We are so full of confidence in our scholarship, in our knowledge ofhistory, of
our faithfulness to religious traditions, of our moral uprightness, that we
cannot imagine or acceptthat it is us who needs to be healed of blindness.
Christ’s words to the Pharisees afterthey kickedthe blind man out of the
synagogue shouldbe convicting to the Pharisees inside eachof us.
“Forjudgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those
who see will become blind…If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin;
but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” — John 9.39, 41

It is not until we recognize that we are blind and experience Christ’s healing
touch, that we can see. It is not until we acknowledgethat we live in a land of
darkness that the light of Christ can dawn in our lives. Only then can we
guide others to see the manifestation, the Epiphany, of Christ.
https://theparkforum.org/
Sight to the blind (Luke 18.31 – 19.10)[sermon4-2-2017]
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March 31, 2017 by jmar198013
Manuscript of my sermon for April 2, 2017. Froman ongoing series, “Luke
and Acts: The GoodNews ofGod’s Salvation.”
The text for this sermon is Luke 18.31 – 19.10.
The resources consultedfor this sermon include:
Brendan Byrne. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke’s Gospel. rev. ed.
(Collegeville, MN:Liturgical Press, 2015), 164-67.
Justo L. Gonzalez. Luke. Belief:A TheologicalCommentaryon the Bible.
(Louisville: WestminsterJohn Knox, 2010), 220-22.
JoelB. Green. The GospelofLuke. The New International Commentary on
the New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 661-73.
Beth Kreitzer, ed. New TestamentIII: Luke. ReformationCommentary on
Scripture, ed. Timothy George and ScottM. Manetsch(Downers Grove:IVP,
2015), 361-65.
An audio link is embedded below for those who’d like to listen.

Seeing the GoodNews of God’s Salvation
The GoodNews ofGod’s salvationpulses throughout Luke’s Gospel. Giving
life. Giving hope. Healing. Restoring. Making everything new.
You see the GoodNews of God’s salvationwhen Mary sings how God has
lifted up the lowly and filled the hungry with goodthings (1.52-53). Whenold
Zechariah says Godhas come to help and has delivered his people (1.68).
You see it when Jesus stands up in synagogue reads from the scrollof Isaiah:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me
to tell the poor the goodnews.
He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners
and sight to the blind,
to set the wounded victims free,
to announce the year of God’s specialfavour.
And then he tells the congregation:Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your
own hearing (4.18-21).
You see it in the disciples’ fishing nets, breaking with the ridiculous catch
after Jesus told them: Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your
nets (5.4ff). When Jesus raises a widow’s only son from the dead (7.11ff).
When a forgiven woman breaks through a wall of shame to come washJesus’
feet with her tears and dry them with her hair (7.36ff).
The GoodNews ofGod’s salvationis God is shattering the status quo of sin,
suffering, shame, and death to rescue people and all creation. It’s what we
hear God announce near the end of the scriptures: Look, I am making all
things new (Rev. 21.5).

This is what you see Jesus doing in Luke’s Gospel. Bringing the GoodNews of
God’s salvation that makes everything new.
In today’s readings, we heard two stories that bring the GoodNews ofGod’s
salvationto life.
In the first story, Jesus meets a blind beggarwho says:Master, I want to see
again.
In the secondstory—the more famous of the two—a tiny tax collectorclimbed
up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus.
Well, we just heard that one of the promises of the GoodNews ofGod’s
salvationis sight to the blind.
And there’s more than one kind of blindness.
The word was hidden from them
At the beginning of our Gospellessontoday, Luke tells us Jesus took the
Twelve aside—his trusted inner circle, his chosenapostles.And he explained
to them:
Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything that’s written in the prophets
about the son of man will be fulfilled. Yes: he will be handed over to the
pagans;he’ll be mocked, abused and spat upon. They will beat him and kill
him; and on the third day he’ll be raised.
Luke tells us: They didn’t understand any of this. The word was hidden from
them, and they didn’t know what he meant.
Jesus had started this journey toward Jerusalemnearly ten chapters ago,
beginning in Luke 9.22ff. And he had told them this exactsame thing then: he
was going to be rejected, to suffer, and die there. But on the third day, be
raisedto life. So none of this was news to them. But Luke says their insight
now is no better than it was back then. Because whenJesus first told them
what was going to happen: They had no idea what he was talking about. It
was hidden from them (9.45).

Nearly ten chapters they’ve been walking with Jesus towardJerusalem.
Towardeverything he’s told them would happen. It’s been a long journey, full
of dark signs and conflict. Fears within and foes without, as the old hymn
goes. All this time, walking this journey with Jesus and they still don’t see it.
Yet.
Why not? Why was the meaning of his word hidden from them?
It was their own thoughts, their own expectations, desires,and ambitions that
blinded them to the truth. The verse right after our readings today ended—
Luke 19.11—tells us:They were getting close to Jerusalem, and they thought
that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. In other words, they
believed once Jesus crossedthrough Jerusalem’s gate, as Israel’s Messiah—
the anointed king—Jesuswouldexercise his rightful authority. They thought
he was a king coming to conquer, and they were his army who would dispense
the justice of God.
They thought he was going to Jerusalemto reign. Not to suffer and die. So
they were blind to the truth.
All the stories in our Gospellessontodaywere about people who can’t see for
some reason.
Sometimes we’re like the disciples on the road to Jerusalem. Our thoughts,
our expectations, ourambitions, and our opinions make us blind to the word
of God in Christ. Commenting on this passage, a sixteenth century German
preacher, Johannes Brenz, observed that the disciples “were blinded by the
idea of the carnal kingdom of Christ.” So they
were made so afraid by the preaching about afflictions that they went out of
their minds and understood nothing for a little while. This shows us how weak
human nature is. The Lord is never absent; he reaches outhis hand to us, but
we will not acceptit … Even if at first [Jesus’words]did not benefit them,
later they beganto remember what Jesus had said, so it was not entirely
unprofitable. Therefore, we should not be discouragedif at first we do not
receive any benefit from the Word of God, for in time it will have its effecton
us.

I pray we will considerwhat Johannes Brenz said, because he surely got this
right. As we listen to the scriptures, and we see God’s story unfold, there are
many things we may not understand—just as the disciples didn’t yet
understand. We may not see the benefit right now of the scriptures we’re
considering. If that’s the case, the obstaclesto seeing may very wellcome from
our own thoughts, fears, opinions, or lack of experience.
But God in Christ is faithful. And if we continue to walk faithfully with Jesus,
God will open our eyes and let us see the truth. Just as the eyes of the blind
beggarwere opened; and just as Zacchaeus finally saw Jesus whenhe
changedhis perspective by climbing that sycamore tree.
Just as the disciples’eyes were opened after Jesus did, in fact, rise againon
the third day.
A blind beggaron the road to Jericho
But now, Jesus is leading his blind disciples on the road from Jericho to
Jerusalem. Only Jesus canclearly see the way.
And Luke tells us, there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging. When
he heard a crowdpassing through the town he askedwhatwas going on. And
the people told him: Jesus ofNazareth is coming by.
At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus had announced his agenda right out of
the scrollof Isaiahthe prophet: telling the goodnews to the poor, and giving
the blind their sight back. This blind beggaron the road to Jericho is all of the
above.
And this blind man is the only one who sees clearlywho Jesus really is.
And so he cries out: Jesus – David’s son! Have pity on me! He calls out to
Jesus as the Messiah. David’s Son. God’s anointed King. The King who comes
not to kill and conquer; but to give life and setpeople free.
Luke says the people who were at the front of the group—the people who
thought they were important and in the know—triedto shut him up. They
must have thought, How embarrassing!This blind beggaris harassing Jesus!
Doesn’the know this is supposed to be a dignified occasion!

The blind man was warned, but he persisted. He beggedagain, evenlouder:
David’s son! Have pity on me!
Luke says:Jesus stopped, and told them to bring the man to him. When he
came up, he askedhim, “What d’you want me to do for you?”
It wasn’t food or money the blind beggaraskedfor that day. Something in
him saw what Jesus’mother Mary had sang while he was growing in her
womb: Jesus had come to lift up the lowly (Luke 1.52). He knew that Jesus
was God’s anointed to tell the poor the goodnews and give sight to the blind.
Who God had sent to setthe wounded victims free. And he wantedto be set
free from his blindness that made him a beggar.
And so he told Jesus:Master, I want to see again.
And Jesus replied: Then see again. Your faith has savedyou. In Greek, the
same word means both to heal and to save. Jesus has not only given him his
sight back. This blind man experiences God’s salvation—he’s beenhealedand
restored. He has a new life with hope.
The faith that savedthis blind man was his insight into who Jesus really is.
Jesus’owndisciples and the leading folks in town—the people who were at the
front of the group—couldn’t see it. But the blind beggar—the one everyone
wrote off and tried to silence—sawwhatthe others didn’t.
And when he saw Jesus with his own eyes, the GoodNews of God’s salvation
came to life in him. Luke says the blind man began to follow Jesus, glorifying
God. Forthe blind beggar, salvationwasn’tthe promise of a heavenly reward
later on. He was setfree, his life was transformed, right then and there.
For Luke, salvationis never merely a personalexperience of individuals. It
moves out to embrace everyone around. And so it is here. Not only does the
blind man glorify God for his salvation;Luke tells us: when all the people saw
it, they gave praise to God.
What did they see? Theysaw the prophecy old Zechariah had spokenatthe
beginning of Luke’s Gospelcoming true: God’s daylight has dawned from on

high, bringing light to the dark, as we sat in death’s shadow, guiding our feet
in the path of peace (1.78-79).
They saw a blind beggar, sitting in the darkness ofdeath’s shadow, seeing
God’s daylight dawning in Jesus. And as he followedJesus, his feet were
guided in the path of peace.
They saw the Good News ofGod’s salvation.
Jesus seesZacchaeus
As Jesus and company enter Jericho proper, Luke introduces us to a man
named Zacchaeus,a chief tax-collector, who was very rich.
Zacchaeus may have been a very rich and successfulentrepreneur, but he was
also very short. Luke says Zacchaeus wastrying to see who Jesus was, but,
being a small man, he couldn’t, because ofthe crowd. Readbetweenthe lines
a bit. Zacchaeus was probably one of the leastpopular guys in town. Everyone
hated tax collectors.Zacchaeus is trying to catch a glimpse of the Jesus
parade, but none of his neighbors will let him him through to see.
So Luke says Zacchaeus ranon ahead, along the route Jesus was going to
take, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. And when Jesus gotto
where Zacchaeus was, he lookedup. Becausewho wouldn’t notice a sort-of
grown man perched in a tree?
And Jesus tells him: Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down. I have to stay at
your house today. I love that Jesus says, I have to stay at your house. It’s like
he’s saying, Dude, you are so awesome!We have to hang out!
And Zacchaeus comesdown, lickety-split. Luke says Zacchaeus welcomedhim
with joy. I always imagine Zacchaeus sliding down the tree like a fireman’s
pole, and running to give Jesus a bearhug.
After all, I’m sure it had been a very long time since anyone had wanted to
hang out with Zacchaeus.
On anotherlevel, Jesus has to stay with Zacchaeus becausehis mission is to
seek and save the lost sheepof Israel. Sometimes that means people who’ve

gottenlost in sin and destructive behaviors. But there’s more than one kind of
lost. Some people get lostbecause they’ve been excluded. Pushed out of polite
society. Toldthey’re not welcome. And it seems more like Zacchaeus wasthat
kind of lost.
Every time Jesus is kind to a tax collector, people freak out. This time is no
different: Everybody began to murmur when they saw it. “He’s gone in to
spend time with a proper old sinner!” The same people who pushed
Zacchaeus away, so he had to climb that tree. Who had kept Zacchaeus away
from Jesus, are outragedthat, despite their best efforts, he and Jesus have
found eachother anyway. And Jesus seems to prefer his company.
But Zacchaeus tells Jesus:Look, Master, I’m giving half my property to the
poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I’m giving it back to them
four times over. Traditional readings of this story suggestZacchaeus is
promising to give half his stuff to the poor and repay fourfold any money he’s
gottendishonestly. As an actof repentance. But this story doesn’tsay
anything about Zacchaeus repenting or needing to repent. In fact, the verbs
he uses are present tense. I’m already doing these things!
It would seemthat Zacchaeus alreadyrepented, before he ever met Jesus.
Probably he was one of the tax collectors we heard about in Luke 3 who
listened to the preaching of John the Baptist. John had taught: Anyone who
has two cloaks shouldgive one to someone who hasn’t gotone. The same
applies to anyone who has plenty of food. If Zacchaeus is alreadygiving half
his property to the poor, he’s obeying John’s preaching.
He’s telling Jesus:These people who callme a sinner have misjudged me.
They don’t know my story. We have a lot to learn from Zacchaeus.If you
bother to look, people show you who they are.
So Jesus said: Today, salvationhas come to this house, because he too is a son
of Abraham. Back in Luke 3, John had said children of Abraham share with
the poor and make right their wrongs. Justlike Zacchaeus was alreadydoing.
The GoodNews ofGod’s salvationfor Zacchaeus is that when he climbed a
tree to see Jesus, Jesus saw him. And Jesus gave him an opportunity to show

himself to his neighbors as he really was. Maybe now his neighbors will see
him, too—no longer blinded by prejudice.
Seeing Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus’storyconnects directly to some other material in Luke’s Gospel
that wasn’tin our readings today. But these things were in the immediate
context—earlierin Luke 18, just before our Gospellessontodaybegan. So I’m
sure Luke meant for us to see the story of Zacchaeus in their light, and I’d be
an irresponsible preacherif I didn’t point them out.
In Luke 18.17,Jesusrather famously said: anyone who doesn’treceive God’s
kingdom like a child will never get into it. In the story of Zacchaeus, Luke said
that because he was short and couldn’t see Jesus through the crowd, he ran
aheadand climbed a tree. Isn’t that exactly like something a kid would do?
When we see Zacchaeusclimb the tree, we’re seeing anexample of someone
who receivedGod’s kingdom like a child.
Earlier, in Luke 18.10ff, Jesustold a story about a Pharisee—oneofthe “good
guys” in Jewishsocietyatthe time; and a tax collector, like Zacchaeus.
Considereda “bad guy.” They both went to the Temple to pray. The
Pharisee’s prayerconsistedmostly of patting himself on the back for being
such a goodboy, while putting everybody else down: God, I thank you that I
am not like the other people – greedy, unjust, immoral, or even like this tax-
collector. I fasttwice in the week;I give tithes of all that I get. Meanwhile, the
tax collectorstands ata distance; doesn’teven dare to look up to heaven;
beats his chestand prays: God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am. Jesus
finished his story about the Pharisee andthe tax collectorby warning: People
who exalt themselves will be humbled, and people who humble themselves will
be exalted. What happened with Zacchaeus and his neighbors proved Jesus’
parable. They tried to exalt themselves by pushing him awayand calling him
a proper old sinner, but they were humbled when Jesus let Zacchaeus tellthe
truth about himself. Zacchaeus humbled himself, not only by climbing a tree
like a child; but also by giving half his possessions to the poor and restoring
any wealthhe’d gotten dishonestly fourfold. And he is exalted—his name and
his story live on in Luke’s Gospel.

Finally, in Luke 18.15ff—justbefore our story today began, Jesus met another
very rich man. His neighbors probably all thought he was a very goodguy.
After all, unlike Zacchaeus,this man probably came by his wealth “honestly.”
This man probably thought he was very goodas well, because whenJesus
listed the commandments of God, he bragged:I’ve kept them all since I was a
boy.
But then Jesus told him: There’s just one thing you’re short of. Sell
everything you own, and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven. Then come and follow me.
Luke says when the rich man heard that he turned very sad; he was extremely
wealthy. And Jesus, seeing that he’d upset the rich man, replied: How hard it
is for those with possessions to enter God’s kingdom! Yes: it’s easierfor a
camelto go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God’s
kingdom.
When we see Zacchaeus, we see a rich man entering God’s kingdom. The
“good,” law-abiding, church-going rich man couldn’t do it. But Zacchaeus,
the “bad” rich “sinner,” did. He did it by giving awayhalf of his property to
the poor. And by restoring four times anything he’d takenunjustly. At that
rate, I figure it wasn’ttoo long before he wasn’tvery rich anymore.
But after the rich ruler went awaysad, Jesus promisedthat whatever you give
up for God’s kingdom, you will receive far more in return in the presenttime
– and in the age to come [you] will receive the life that belongs to that age. I’m
sure Zacchaeus found that to be true.
I mention all those because theyhelp us see Zacchaeus’storymore clearly.
And because there are still so many Zacchaeusesin the world we need to see
through Jesus’eyes. https://neoprimitive.wordpress.com/

RecoveryOf Sight To The Blind Series
Contributed by Raymond Perkins on Jun 13, 2001
Scripture: Luke 18:18-23
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
Summary: This is the fifth in this series basedon Luke 4:16-21 and using
Luke 18:18-23 as the main text.
THE UNEXPECTED JESUS
"Recoveryof Sight to the Blind"
Luke 18:18-23
INTRODUCTION:In my opinion, the best part of the newspaperis the comic
section. I often find
the truth about our societyin the humor meant for children and then I can
understand it. In one
such comic strip, Andy Capp, I found this series of events. Andy and a friend
are hard at work
shooting a game of pool, when his friend leaves in the middle of the game.
Andy can’t believe
it, and as the friend drives off in his new car Andy hollers at him to gethis
priorities
straight. (Seems that snookeris high priority to Andy Capp.) In the last
frame, Andy makes a

very insightful comment. He says, "Some people work day and night so they
drive betweenjobs in
a nicer car." That’s a goodpoint! Sometimes people work so hard trying to
get aheadthat they
are behind when they arrive. They spent a lot of time climbing the ladder of
success;only to
spend enormous amounts of energy just to hang on once they get there. And
the worstpart is that
they cannot let go. Their possessionsare too grand. Their socialpositiontoo
gratifying and
their pride too great. Jesus met a man who fit this description to a tee;a man
who was truly
blinded by his life. READ TEXT Our Lord had the gift of restoring sight to
the blind, and not
just those who were blind of sight, but also those who were blind of heart.
With the Rich Young
Ruler, Jesus faceda unique challenge of opening the eyes of one who could not
see pasthis own
greatness.
I. BLINDED BY SUCCESS
A. At first glance this guy seems to have everything going his way. He is
wealthy - no worries
financially. He is young - life is still full of vigor. He is in a position of
authority - a
mover and a shaker. What else could a man want?
1. Even in religious matters he was on the straight and narrow. In response to
his first question

Jesus listedsome of the commandments and they had been kept. This wealthy
young magistrate
checkedthem off one by one as they had been obeyed in his life. But
something was missing.
2. Yes, he had come to Jesus onhis own - at leastas far as we can tell. He was
not seeking to
lay a trap or ridicule the Savior, but I believe he was seeking something Jesus
would not give
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him. He was looking for an official sealof approval on his life.
3. He was a 1stCentury yuppie with wealth, health and power, and the right
amount of religion
mixed in. He thought he had attained. He had all the right answers, allthe
right moves, all
the right connections. The only thing he lackedas a nod from Jesus and he
would be set.
4. No longer would he be the Rich Young Ruler, rather he would be the Right
Rich Young Ruler. God
approved, Divinely sealedand headed for destiny. He would have everything
he needed and no one
could ever question his importance or his authority again.

B. Boy, oh, boy, that sounds all to familiar doesn’t it? How many times do we
go to Godwith our
little list of gooddeeds and our program of obedience looking for His sealof
approval. We have
all the right answers, allthe right connections, the right position in societyand
belong to
the right circle in religious matters. But in reality, we like him, lack one vital
piece of the
big picture.
C. In Matthew 13:14,15 Jesus said, "Ispeak to them in parables, because
seeing they do not see
and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the
prophecy of Isaiahis
fulfilled which says:’Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and
seeing you will see
and not perceive.’" Fits our Rich Young Ruler like a glove doesn’t it.
II. RESTORATION OF SIGHT
A. Can you imagine the shock he felt when Jesus answeredhis question,
"What am I missing in my
life to live eternally?" Here is where we find the unexpected Jesus.
1. Our 1stCentury Yuppie had been successfulin business, spectacularin
societyand saintly in
religion. By most standards he as a greatguy. What he expected was a pat on
the back, evena little bit of praise, after all he had earnedit.
2. Well, we would have given it too him wouldn’t we? Hey, be honest, that is
exactly what we do.

We praise the popular, award the successfuland exalt the super religious who
have all the
right answers to all the right questions. But not Jesus.
3. There was something missing in the young man’s life, something vital - self-
sacrifice. You
remember what Jesus told him, "Sellall your possessions, give the proceeds to
the poor, then
take up your cross and follow me." A nuclear bomb could not have done as
much damage.
4. The Rich Young Ruler couldn’t believe his ears, and his heart could not
bear the weightof the
answer. His riches, authority and youth had blinded him to the spiritual intent
of God for His
people. He could not see pasthis accomplishments to obey God. He couldn’t
let go of all he was
in the world to become all that he could be in God.
5. So, he picked his jaw up off the ground, dropped his head in defeatand
moped awaythoroughly
disappointed. There is no question that he understood what Jesus said; the
point was as clear
as day, he just could not obey it. He had the knowledge just not the
commitment to act upon it.
He wanted his cake and to eatit too.
B. How many of you are in the same position as he was? Everything is
running smooth in your life.
You are comfortable financially, acceptedsocially, goodreligiouslyand you
think you are set.

Jesus says you are not complete. You have yet to take the final steps -
surrender, sacrifice and
service.
1. Micah6:7,8
2. Luke 14:26-33 NCV
3. Mark 10:42-45
C. Would you allow Jesus to open your eyes to the life you must live? Don’t
count
your wealth, heath and popularity as tickets to heaven. Don’t even seek to
bargain with Jesus
basedon your religious piety. Seek His ways and His ways are Surrender,
Sacrifice and Service.
Recoveryof Sight to the Blind, Isaiah 61;Only One Fulfilled Isaiah61; the
Masoretic Changesto Scripture; Jesus Quotedthe Septuagint
Have you ever noticed a discrepancybetweenwhat Jesus saidat the
synagogue in Nazarethand the scripture he was actually quoting from Isaiah
61:1? Jesus seems to have added a phrase that wasn’t in Isaiah, but did he add
it or did he quote it exactly? What we have recorded in Luke as Jesus’words
seemto have been fulfilled in his walk, because indeedhe brought the
recoveryof sight to the blind. Not just figuratively, not just one blind person,
but many blind people. In fact, Jesus healedmore blind people than anyone
else ever did. That alone should have been enough for people to fear
tampering with the text, but because one group did not believe in Jesus as the
Messiah, we are left with altered texts, and we must searchout severalsources
to determine the correcttranslation.

Jesus did not speak King James English, he spoke Northern Aramaic, and
while people of that time period spoke Aramaic, they wrote Greek. The
Greeks hadbeen the rulers of the “whole world” in those days. We can find
many alterations to texts, and as we have studied, Goy or Goyim is one of
those random and ridiculous misconceptions. As we know, the Greeks did not
have a word for themselves as being “less than” the Jews. Nordid they have a
word for themselves that described them as heathen dogs, while the Jews were
exalted above everyone else on the planet. That misconceptionand deliberate
translation change has made people feel badly if they are not Jews. Horrid!
God did not call you a Gentile, and that should not have a negative
connotation. The word should have been translated Nation(s)or Tribe(s).
http://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2013/12/gentiles-all-jews-are-
goyim-multitudes.html
Jesus quoted the Septuagint when he said this:
Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospelto the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty them that are bruised,19 To preach the acceptable yearof the Lord.
KJV
By 300 B.C. Hebrew was nearly a lost language, and as we have noted before
the Hebrew writing styles evolvedover time. Moses wrote in paleo or
hieroglyphs, which evolved into to a cursive Phoenicianstyle, which again
evolved into the block lettering at the time of the Babylon captivity. But by
300 B.C. not many people wrote or spoke Hebrew. The written language of
the day was Greek. At the time of the first century, people were fluent in
writing Greek. The synagogue scrollswere allwritten in Greek and people
read them daily. Jesus quoted from the Greek scrolls. In 300 B.C. Ptolemy

commissioned72 scribes under the direction of the high priests and Sanhedrin
to scribe the Hebrew scrolls into Greek which gives us the Septuagint today.
So did Jesus make a mistake or did he really say what was written in Isaiah
61:1? Let’s read this againin the Amplified.
Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed
Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah]to preach the goodnews (the Gospel)to
the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recoveryof
sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed[who are
downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To
proclaim the acceptedand acceptable yearof the Lord [the day when
salvationand the free favors of God profusely abound.] [Isa 61:1,2.] AMP
We obviously have a problem as Jesus was quoting from the Septuagint, but
some of our Bibles today omit the phrase “recoveryof sight to the blind”.
Why?
Isa 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach goodtidings unto the meek;he hath sentme to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound;2 To proclaim the acceptable yearof the Lord,
and the day of vengeance ofour God; to comfort all that mourn; KJV
Our discrepancyexists because the Masorete’s alteredthe Biblical text. The
Jews first started attempting to alter text in about 130 A.D. and early church
leaders wrote of the shame these Jews should have for what they were doing.
The Jews simply were attempting to erase Christianity from the scrolls. By
300 A.D. the Masorete’swere still altering text to eliminate Jesus as being
Messiah, andthis practice continued until 1000 A.D. One of things they
altered was the usage of Yahweh/Jehovahto Adonai, purportedly 134 times,

as well as severalsections oftext changing Elohim to Adonai. (See EW
Bullinger’s Companion Bible Appendix 32 for an almostcomplete listing,)
They eliminated words and letters, and by 700 A.D. the problem was that no
one knew what had been alteredanymore, so that things were repeatedly
being changed. The Masorete’s also burned texts and eliminated texts from
their collectionof scrolls that spoke of the Messiahsuchas the Wisdom of
Solomon, or scrolls that portrayed the Jews in a bad light like The History of
Susanna. They had no oversightby Priests or the Sanhedrin as the Priests and
Sanhedrin didn’t exist after 70 A.D. So Masorete’swere free to change what
they wanted without any checks and balances.
We have to determine if Jesus was truly quoting Isaiah61:1. Are there
translations that include the phrase “recoveryof sight to the blind”? As we
just saw the King James Version does not include that phrase. The King
James Versionwas translated from the Masoretic text. Here the Amplified
includes a variation of our missing phrase.
Isa 61:1-2 THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has
anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospelof goodtidings to the meek,
the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of
the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, [Rom 10:15.]2 To proclaim
the acceptable yearofthe Lord [the year of His favor] and the day of
vengeance ofour God, to comfort all who mourn, [Matt 11:2-6; Luke 4:18,19;
7:22.] AMP
What can we do? Sometimes we have to dig deeper to look at discrepancies.
Remember the Septuagint was scribed in 300 B.C. and while some of the
Septuagint versions have been altered as well, there are a few old and nearly
unaltered versions we can find. One such version is the Apostolic Bible
PolyglotEnglish Text, Copyright 1996 by Charles Van der Pool. It includes a

Strong’s numbering system for the Greek Old Testament. While this version
seems to be out of print there is a free on-line versionwe cansearchthrough.
ABP_Strongs(i)
Isaiah61:1G4151SpiritG2962ofthe lordG1909isuponG1473me,G3739
G1752becauseG5548he anointedG1473meG2097to announce good
newsG4434to the poor.G649Hehas sentG1473meG2390tohealG3588the
onesG4937being brokenG3588intheG2588heart;G2784to proclaimG164[2to
captivesG8591a release],G2532andG5185[2to the blindG3091recoveryof
sight]; 2 G2564to callG1763[2yearG29623 ofthe lordG11841the
acceptable],G2532andG2250dayG469ofrecompense;G3870to
comfortG3956allG3588the onesG3996mourning;
http://studybible.info/ABP_Strongs/Isaiah%2061
Another version that we can read which was takenfrom some of the oldest
unspoiled texts is the English Translationof the Greek SeptuagintBible, The
Translationof the Greek Old TestamentScriptures, Including the Apocrypha
Compiled from the Translationby Sir LancelotC. L. Brenton 1851. This is
also a free on-line resource.
61:1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has
sent me to preachglad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and recoveryof sight to the blind; 2 to declare
the acceptable yearofthe Lord, and the day of recompence;to comfort all
that mourn;. http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/Esaias/index.htm

Here are two JewishBible versions that eliminate the words “recoveryof sight
to the blind”. This tells us they were transcribed from a Masoretic Textand
not the Septuagint.
Isaiah61 Complete JewishBible (CJB)
61 The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me, because Adonaihas anointed me
to announce goodnews to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted;
to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the
dark; 2 to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai and the day of vengeance
of our God; to comfort all who mourn,
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+61&version=CJB
Yeshayah61 Orthodox JewishBible (OJB)
61 The Ruach [Hakodesh]of Adonoi Hashem is upon me [Moshiach], because
Hashem mashach(hath anointed) me [Moshiach]to preachbesurah (good
news, glad tidings) unto the anavim (meek, poor, oppressed);He hath sent me
to bind up the nishberei lev (the brokenhearted), to proclaim deror (freedom,
liberty) for the shevuyim ([Golus] captives), and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the Shnat Ratzon L’Hashem (the year of
the L-rd’s favor and grace), and the Yom NakamL’Eloheinu (our G-d’s Day
of Vengeance);to comfort all the avelim (mourners);
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Yeshayah+61&version=OJB
It is important to realize that we have to go beyond reading our standard
Bible to understand scripture. It is to our benefit to searchout various texts
and then put them in a timeline format. Which versions are older or newer,
and which modern translations were derived from what sources helps us
understand our history. This is also for the benefit of others who do not
believe. What I mean is, how can we teacha Jewishpersonabout who Jesus

was without this knowledge? Yes, Christians have a habit of saying “you have
to take it by faith”, but that doesn’t always communicate to non-Christians.
Jesus did in fact heal blind people. This was a notable sign to a Jewishperson
and many followedJesus at that time, but years later, with the erasing of
scripture, people may not be quite sure.
Did Jesus healthe blind? If he did, he announced it correctlyin the synagogue
in Nazareth. Otherwise he added to Isaiah, but as we have seenhe did not add
to the prophetic words of Isaiah, but statedthem correctly. Let’s look to see if
Jesus fulfilled this scripture.
Matt 9:27-31And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followedhim,
crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.28 And when he was
come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.29 Then
touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.30 And
their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly chargedthem, saying, See that no
man know it.31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroadhis fame in
all that country. KJV
Two blind people were healedas recordedhere. After Jesus’fame was spread
abroad, John, who was in prison, sent two of his disciples to talk to Jesus. Was
he really the Messiah? WhenJohn baptized him they all heard the audible
voice from heaven and saw the Holy Spirit descendon him, but John was in
prison and he neededto find out if Jesus was the one fulfilling the
requirements of Messiah. Look whatJesus tells Johns disciples.
Matt 11:2-6 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he
sent two of his disciples,3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or
do we look for another?4 Jesus answeredand said unto them, Go and shew

John againthose things which ye do hear and see:5 The blind receive their
sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deafhear, the dead
are raisedup, and the poor have the gospelpreachedto them.6 And blessedis
he, whosoevershallnot be offended in me. KJV
The first thing Jesus says is that the blind see. Jesusgave him the list and says
that those who are not offended in him will be blessed. Another blind man
who also couldn’t speak was healed. The people debated as to whether Jesus
was the son of David, meaning they were wondering if he was the Messiah
because the blind were receiving their sight.
Matt 12:22-28 Thenwas brought unto him one possessedwith a devil, blind,
and dumb: and he healedhim, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake
and saw.23And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of
David?24 But when the Pharisees heardit, they said, This fellow doth not cast
out devils, but by Beelzebubthe prince of the devils.25 And Jesus knew their
thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided againstitself is brought
to desolation;and every city or house divided againstitself shall not stand:26
And if Satancastout Satan, he is divided againsthimself; how shall then his
kingdom stand?27 And if I by Beelzebubcastout devils, by whom do your
children castthem out? therefore they shall be your judges.28 Butif I castout
devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. KJV
When the honest heartedpeople consideredJesus as the Messiah, the religious
leaders tried to shut them down. However, Jesus didn’t even have to hear
what the religious leaders were telling the people, he just answeredthem with
the recognitionthat the devil won’t castout the devil. That would be silly.
Instead the religious leaders were not even considering the fact that the man
could now see and speak, they seemedto only be concernedwith the casting
out of demons. Their focus diverted the people from the obvious, which was

that a man who was blind and dumb could now see and speak. Yet that did
not deter the people from seeking healing from Jesus.
Matt 15:29-31 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of
Galilee;and went up into a mountain, and satdown there.30 And great
multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind,
dumb, maimed, and many others, and castthem down at Jesus'feet;and he
healed them:31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the
dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to
see:and they glorified the God of Israel. KJV
Again they wondered. Now we should wonder, was there anyone else that
could do these miracles to this degree? I don’t mean has anyone else healed
one or two people from blindness, but how many people have been healedto
the extent that Jesus healedpeople. On the way to Jericho someone else gets
healed from blindness.
Mark 10:46-52 And they came to Jericho:and as he went out of Jericho with
his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of
Timaeus, satby the highway side begging.47 And when he heard that it was
Jesus ofNazareth, he beganto cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David,
have mercy on me.48 And many chargedhim that he should hold his peace:
but he cried the more a greatdeal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.49
And Jesus stoodstill, and commanded him to be called. And they call the
blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.50 And
he, casting awayhis garment, rose, and came to Jesus.51 And Jesus answered
and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man
said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.52 And Jesus saidunto
him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he
receivedhis sight, and followedJesus in the way. KJV

While he was leaving Jericho two more people were healed from blindness.
Matt 20:29-34 And as they departed from Jericho, a greatmultitude followed
him.30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard
that Jesus passedby, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of
David.31 And the multitude rebuked them, because theyshould hold their
peace:but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Sonof
David.32 And Jesus stoodstill, and called them, and said, What will ye that I
shall do unto you?33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be
opened.34 So Jesus hadcompassionon them, and touched their eyes: and
immediately their eyes receivedsight, and they followedhim. KJV
It wasn’t enough that Jesus was healing people from blindness all overthe
place, in the north and the south of Israel, now Jesus is healing blind people in
the temple.
Matt 21:14-16 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he
healed them.15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful
things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna
to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,16 And said unto him, Hearest
thou what these say? And Jesus saithunto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfectedpraise? KJV
This is a revealing thing to record, that the chief priests and scribes saw the
wonderful things that Jesus did and the children crying out Hosanna to the
Son of David, yet the chief priests and scribes were displeased. Fromthe first
century, Jewishreligious people were always trying to claim someone else was
the Sonof David, the Messiah. Rabbiafter Rabbi declaredvarious people to
be the Messiah, yetnone of them everhealed as many blind people as we see
here. Therefore, if they eliminate the requirement of recovering sight to the

blind, anyone could be declared the Messiahand people would believe it.
Eliminating the recoveryof sight to the blind from Isaiah 61:1 helped sell
their religion and continue the claim that Jesus was not the Messiah. People
didn’t have their ownprinted Bibles, and most could not read the scrolls in
Hebrew, so the Masorete’s hadan edge in propagating these alterations. We
have to recognize that we are not told exactly how many blind people Jesus
healed, but for two thousand years not one other person healedthis many
blind people. Jesus didn’t always heal people in the same way either.
Mark 8:22-26 And he cometh to Bethsaida;and they bring a blind man unto
him, and besought him to touch him.23 And he took the blind man by the
hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put
his hands upon him, he askedhim if he saw ought.24 And he lookedup, and
said, I see men as trees, walking.25After that he put his hands againupon his
eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man
clearly.26 And he sent him awayto his house, saying, Neither go into the town,
nor tell it to any in the town. KJV
Jesus took this man out of Bethsaida and spit on his eyes. Another blind man
was healedwhen Jesus usedclay, and we see Jesus healing another man who
had been born blind. Jesus had been teaching in the temple and the Scribes
and Pharisees threw a womenwho had been caught in adultery at him. Jesus
continued teaching in the treasury and then initiated another conversation
with the Scribes and Pharisees regarding who he was. Jesus declaredhimself
to be the “I AM”. Jesus then left the temple and as he was leaving he saw a
man who had been born blind.
John 9:1-12 And as Jesus passedby, he saw a man which was blind from his
birth.2 And his disciples askedhim, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or
his parents, that he was born blind?3 Jesus answered, Neitherhath this man
sinned, nor his parents: but that the works ofGod should be made manifest in

him.4 I must work the works ofhim that sent me, while it is day: the night
cometh, when no man can work.5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light
of the world.6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made
clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,7
And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by
interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came
seeing.8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seenhim that
he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?9 Some said, This is he:
others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.10 Therefore saidthey unto
him, How were thine eyes opened?11 He answeredand said, A man that is
calledJesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the
pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I receivedsight.12
Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. KJV
Even today, there seems to be this superstition where some people believe that
if a child is not born whole then someone must have sinned. That is not the
case. Buteven if it was true, we have atonement for our sins in Jesus. Notice
what Jesus says, he says “neither” have sinned. This man was blind and didn’t
receive his sight until after he washedthe clay off his eyes;of course he didn’t
see who put the clayon his eyes, he was blind. Everyone was quite upset over
this as it was the Sabbath.
John 9:13-27 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.14
And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and openedhis eyes.15
Then againthe Pharisees also askedhim how he had receivedhis sight. He
said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.16
Therefore saidsome of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he
keepethnot the sabbath day. Others said, How cana man that is a sinner do
such miracles? And there was a division among them.17 They say unto the
blind man again, What sayestthou of him, that he hath openedthine eyes? He
said, He is a prophet.18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he
had been blind, and receivedhis sight, until they calledthe parents of him that

had receivedhis sight.19 And they askedthem, saying, Is this your son, who
ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?20His parents answered
them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:21
But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes,
we know not: he is of age;ask him: he shall speak for himself.22 These words
spake his parents, because they feared the Jews:for the Jews hadagreed
already, that if any man did confess thathe was Christ, he should be put out
of the synagogue.23Therefore saidhis parents, He is of age;ask him.24 Then
againcalled they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the
praise: we know that this man is a sinner.25 He answeredand said, Whether
he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind,
now I see.26Thensaid they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he
thine eyes?27He answeredthem, I have told you already, and ye did not hear:
wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? KJV
Religious leaders were so stirred up and agitatedby all the miracles that Jesus
had been doing that they started threatening people with being put out of the
synagogue. The synagoguewas the center of every community and a very
important place to connectwith the other Jews in the community. To be
excommunicated was a horrible socialstigma. They wouldn’t be able to buy,
sell, or worship in their town, and would probably have to move. The parents
couldn’t claim Jesus was the Messiah, so they avoided answering. The blind
man gets a little snippy with the religious leaders, and the religious leaders
fire back.
John 9:28-34 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we
are Moses'disciples.29We know that God spake unto Moses:as for this
fellow, we know not from whence he is.30 The man answeredand said unto
them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is,
and yet he hath openedmine eyes.31 Now we know that God heareth not
sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he
heareth.32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the

eyes of one that was born blind.33 If this man were not of God, he could do
nothing. 34 They answeredand said unto him, Thou wastaltogetherborn in
sins, and dost thou teachus? And they casthim out.
The man points out that God does not hear sinners. The religious leaders kept
trying to claim he was a sinner, born in sins. Since the world began, no one
had opened the eyes of the personborn blind and it was a marvelous thing,
and the man points out they should recognize who Jesus is.
John 9:35-39 Jesus heardthat they had casthim out; and when he had found
him, he said unto him, Dostthou believe on the Sonof God?36 He answered
and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?37 And Jesus saidunto
him, Thou hast both seenhim, and it is he that talketh with thee.38 And he
said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.39 And Jesus said, For
judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see;and
that they which see might be made blind. KJV
Now Jesus doesn’tjust mention who he is, but he says that he came for
judgment. How will people respond to miracles? Do they deny them and cast
people out of the synagogue, ordo they celebrate and in wonder considerif
this is the Messiah? Judgmentis not always someone else deciding your fate,
but you deciding your ownfate by your owndecisions and behavior. Jesus
responds to the Pharisees.
John 9:40-41 And some of the Phariseeswhich were with him heard these
words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?41 Jesus saidunto them, If ye
were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see;therefore your sin
remaineth. KJV

If they had been blind they wouldn’t be sinners, but because they“see” and
don’t agree with the miracle of healing the one born blind, they were stuck in
their sins. Put simply, they rejectedthis miracle because they could see Jesus.
This division came at a bad time in history to the Jewishmind. The Romans
were occupying the land and had become the overlords of the Jews. Whatthe
Jews wantedwas to have their land back under their own control. A division
like this made them weakernotstronger.
John 10:19-22 There was a division therefore againamong the Jews for these
sayings.20And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye
him? 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a
devil open the eyes of the blind? 22 And it was at Jerusalemthe feastof the
dedication, and it was winter. KJV
Once the Jews themselves were divided, a faction rose up to get rid of the
evidence that Jesus came as Messiah. Thatgroup of people had the mindset
that if they changedthe written scrolls they could do awaywith the new group
of Jesus followers. Whenthat did not happen over many years, the same
group decided to gatherall the ancient writings under the guise of
transcribing them, and instead they burned them. By the time we get to 1000
A.D. the Masorete’s hadwritten a new group of scrolls, altering the text to fit
their beliefs. Again, alterations were being been made for at least700 years, so
tracking the changes becomeschallenging. Logic woulddictate that a scroll
written in 1000 A.D. should not be takenas seriouslyas one written in 300
B.C. And that is where we are today, on a hunt for the unadulterated text.
Just to point out that the Old Testamentwas not the only alteredtext, let’s
look at the New Testament. In the story of Phillip witnessing to the Ethiopian,
we have a sectionof scripture that some modern translations do not include.

Acts 8:36-38 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:
and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believestwith all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answeredand said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Sonof God.38 And he
commanded the chariotto stand still: and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. KJV
Verse 37 is not included in the Message,Darby, New Living Translation, and
the International Standard Version. There was no standard for the New
Testamentlike the Septuagint, so we are at the mercy of varying text. The
Masoretic texteliminates this verse but it is found in westerntexts. The
Apostolic Bible PolyglotEnglishText, Copyright 1996 by Charles Van der
Poolincludes this verse.
Acts 8:37G2036[3saidG11611AndG3588G*2Philip],G1487IfG4100you
believeG1537ofG3650yourentireG3588G2588heart,G1832itis
allowed.G611AndrespondingG1161G2036he said,G4100I
believeG3588[4theG52075sonG3588G23166ofGodG1510.13to beG3588
G*1JesusG55472Christ]. http://studybible.info/ABP_Strongs/Acts%208
The Complete JewishBible takes this verse out but footnotes it at the bottom
of the page.
Complete JewishBible
Acts 8:36 As they were going down the road, they came to some water; and
the eunuch said, “Look!Here’s some water! Is there any reasonwhy I
shouldn’t be immersed?” 37 [b] 38 He ordered the chariot to stop; then both
Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip immersed him.

b Some manuscripts include verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all
your heart, you may.” He answered, “Ibelieve that Yeshua the Messiahis the
Son of God.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8&version=CJB
The Orthodox JewishBible includes this verse in brackets. This tells us that
even the writers of these Bibles felt this verse should be included.
Orthodox JewishBible
37 [And Philippos said, “If you have emunah b’chol levavcha, it is mutar. And
he answered, saying, Ani ma’amin ki Rebbe MelechHaMoshiachYehoshua
Ben HaElohim hu.]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gevurot+8&version=OJB
While there are many more alterations to the text, and at leasttwo thousand
discrepancies betweenthe Septuagint and the Masoretic Text, one thing is
certain, Jesus healedmany blind people. We count here at least10 blind
people, but when the text reads they brought the blind there may have been
severalblind people healed. So conservatively, at leastten blind people were
healed.
Jesus did not add to Isaiah’s prophecy, but rather he quoted it accurately.
Jesus healedso many people that the Jews became divided, but the question of
whether Jesus was the Messiahis settled. No one has fulfilled Isaiah61:1 to
the degree Jesus had. If one is looking to understand whether Jesus could
have been the Messiah, one only has to read the things that he did and
compare them to the prophecies of the Old Testament. If one finds a
discrepancy, a little deeperstudy will ultimately answerthose questions. By
erasing this one phrase, the “recovering ofsight to the blind” from Isaiah,

anyone could claim to be the Messiah, but by putting it back in, only one
person could be the Messiah;Yeshua is the Messiah.
Restoring sight to the blind | Isaiah 61
October4, 2012 by PeterCohen
The people walking in darkness have seena greatlight; on those living in the
land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)
The coming of the Messiahwas associatedwith renewaland redemption.
Though this was to be understood primarily in spiritual terms, it would also
be manifested in the physical world. Jesus beganhis ministry with the
announcement that the long awaitedmessianic age had dawned. Reading from
the scrollof Isaiah, he announced that this prophecy was now being fulfilled:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recoveryof sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor” (Lk. 4:18). From that time on he went about performing
miracles attesting to his messianic calling – restoring sight to the blind,
opening the ears of the deaf, casting out demons and healing the lame – but
these miraculous healings merely illustrated the pitiful spiritual condition and
blindness of humanity as a whole and of our need of spiritual healing. The
mission of the Messiahwas to bring healing and restorationfor all men who
were stumbling in darkness, blinded by the godof this age and held captive by
sin.
The Cause ofSpiritual Blindness
Before Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, they enjoyed unrestricted
fellowship with the Lord, untainted by a guilty conscience. Thoughwarnedby
God that disobedience would result in death, they were enticed by the
serpent’s promise that their eyes would be opened and they would be like
God, knowing goodand evil. The immediate consequence oftheir

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