Spiritual blindness

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Those words of John Newton, penned in 1772, form part of one of the most well known and well loved of Christian hymns. They also serve as an introduction to an important biblical doctrine: that of spiritual blindness and its associated doctrine of spiritual deafness.

Jesus frequently said: 'He who has ears, let him hear (Mat 11:15)' and 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Mar 4:9).' What did he mean by that? He meant: 'Those to whom God has given the ability to hear and understand spiritual truth should pay attention to what I am saying.'

That instruction is so important, Jesus gave it to each of the seven churches in the book of Revelation (Rev 2—3).

An unusual healing

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'

'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no-one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'

Having said this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'wash in the Pool of Siloam' (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (Joh 9:1–7)

The man Jesus saw had been blind from birth. One or more parts of his body responsible for his sight had not been formed in the womb, and, as a result, he had been born blind. We can discern that from the way he was healed.

Jesus usually healed people by speaking a word to them, but not on this occasion. Instead, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes. He then told him to wash it off in a pool and, when he did so, he could see. Why did he heal him in that way? He did it to illustrate a spiritual truth.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Col 1:15–6)

Paul tells us that everything that exists was created by Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. That means that this man was standing in front of the creator of the universe. And, as Jesus formed man from the dust of the earth (Gen 2:7), so he made mud from the dust of the earth and placed it on his eyes. Jesus, his creator, completed the formation of his body.

Initially, when the disciples saw the man, they asked Jesus who had sinned, the man or his parents, that he had been born blind. Jesus said that neither the man nor his parents had sinned, but he had been born that way so that the work of God might be displayed in his life—that Jesus is our creator who gives sight to mankind.

Power in prayer

When the Pharisees heard that the man had been healed on the Sabbath, they questioned him about it, and in reply he said:

'Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' (Joh 9:30–3)

While answering their questions the man drew attention to a truth we need to remember: that God does not listen to sinners. That is as true for Christians as for anyone else. The psalmist wrote:

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer (Psa 66:18–9).

Peter tells us that if a husband does not treat his wife with consideration and respect, his prayers could be hindered (1Pe 3:7). The Greek verb means to hinder, stop, impede progress. Not treating our wives correctly (which is only one example of sin) can cause our prayers to be unheard by God. Why? Because he doesn't listen to sinners.

James tells us that the prayer of a righteous person (a person who does what is right in the sight of God – 1Jo 3:7) is powerful and effective (Jam 5:16b). If we want power in prayer we must make sure there is no sin in our lives, and that we are walking in obedience to his commands (1Jo 3:21–2).

Born blind and deaf

The man who had been healed said that no one had ever heard of opening the eyes of someone born blind. That was true; only God can do that. However, the healing had spiritual significance, because everyone on the face of the earth is born spiritually blind, and only Jesus, our creator, can open our spiritual eyes so we can see.

The same is true with respect to spiritual deafness. All of us are born spiritually deaf—we lack the ability to hear and understand spiritual truth—and only Jesus, our creator, can open our spiritual ears so we can hear.

When John Newton said that once he had been blind but now he could see, he wasn't referring to physical blindness; he had never been physically blind. He was referring to spiritual blindness—the inability to see and understand spiritual truth, especially the truth that he was a sinner, and that Jesus had died for his sins.

Jesus spoke about spiritual blindness after healing the man:

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' 'Who is he, sir?' the man asked. 'Tell me so that I may believe in him.'

Jesus said, 'You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.' Then the man said, 'Lord, I believe,' and he worshipped him. (Joh 9:35–8)

By the grace of God this man could now see Jesus physically and spiritually. He understood who he was and worshipped him.

Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. (Joh 9:39)

Jesus wasn't talking about physical blindness—he gave physical sight to many during his earthly ministry, but didn't remove physical sight from anyone—he was talking about spiritual blindness. Jesus came into the world to open the eyes of the spiritually blind, and to blind the eyes of those who thought they could see spiritually.

The sin of not believing in Jesus

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, 'What? Are we blind too?' Jesus said, 'If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.' (Joh 9:40–1)

Jesus wasn't saying that physically blind people are innocent of sin. God does not overlook their sin because of their disability. Everyone in the world will be held accountable for their sin (Rom 3:9–19), and that includes blind people, who are as capable of sinning as anyone else.

Jesus wasn't referring to physical blindness and to sin in general, but to spiritual blindness and the sin of not believing in him. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of that sin (Joh 16:8–9).

If the Pharisees had realized they were spiritually blind, they would have turned to Jesus for understanding, and would no longer have been guilty of that sin; but because they claimed they could see spiritually, they did not turn to him, and their guilt remained.

Blind guides

Jesus directed most of his rebukes at the spiritual leaders of his day.

'Woe to you, blind guides! You say, "If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath." You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, "If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath." You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?' (Mat 23:16–9)

Those leaders were not physically blind; they were spiritually blind, and yet they claimed to be spiritual leaders in Israel.

Then the disciples came to him and asked, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?'

He replied, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.' (Mat 15:12–4)

That final statement is true spiritually as well as physically. The pit that spiritually blind people fall into is the pit of hell.

Man can only understand spiritual truth as the Holy Spirit gives him understanding (1Co 2:14), so any spiritual leader who is not born again (not indwelt by the Spirit of God) is a blind guide. If a spiritually blind man leads a spiritually blind man, both will fall into the pit.

God has deadened their hearts

So, who is to blame for man's spiritual blindness and deafness? Man is to blame. God created man to have fellowship with him. When man was created he had full and free communion with God, but when he sinned that relationship was broken. Since then man has only been able to hear the voice of God as God has enabled him to hear it.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2Co 4:4)

Paul states that Satan (the god of this age) blinds people's minds so that they cannot understand the gospel. But John's Gospel says:

Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfil the word of Isaiah the prophet: 'Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' (Joh 12:37–8)

Even though Jesus did many outstanding miracles in the sight of the people, the majority would not believe in him. That had been predicted by Isaiah seven hundred years previously (Isa 53:1). But why did it happen? Joh 12:39–40 tell us:

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 'He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.'

The people would not believe in Jesus because they couldn't believe in him. And the reason they couldn't believe in him was because someone had blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts. Who was that person?

The clue to this mystery is found in the meaning of the Greek word translated 'deadened'. The word is poroo which means to harden, deaden, make hard like a stone. So v40 could be translated as: 'He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts….' Paul speaks about the hardening of people's hearts in his letter to the Romans:

What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened [poroo], as it is written: 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.' (Rom 11:7–8)

Paul tells us that God hardened the hearts of his people and made them spiritually blind and spiritually deaf so they could not believe in his Son. But he didn't do that to the elect (those he had chosen to save).

God's sovereign choice

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (Rom 9:16–8)

The book of Exodus tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that his will for Pharaoh would come to pass—that his firstborn son would be killed (Exo 4:21–3) and that he would perish under his wrath (Exo 14:26–8). If you read the first fourteen chapters of Exodus you will find that Pharaoh could not resist God's will.

At one point he summoned Moses and Aaron and told them he had sinned against them, and against the Lord, by not letting the Israelites go. He asked for their forgiveness and told them to pray to the Lord for him so that the deadly plague would be removed.

Moses did so, but the Word says that the Lord again hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the people go (Exo 10:16–20). Pharaoh wanted to be saved from God's wrath, but God wouldn't let him, because salvation does not depend upon man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy (Rom 9:16–7).

Unfortunately, Pharaoh was not an object of God's mercy, prepared in advance for glory (Rom 9:23–4), but of his wrath, prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22). Moreover, he was a Gentile, which means that God hardens the hearts of Jews and Gentiles in accordance with his will.

That has led some to ask: 'But if God hardens people's hearts so they cannot repent, then why does he blame us for our sin?' The answer is: 'But who are you, O man, to talk back to God (Rom 9:20)?'

Who are we to question God's dealings with mankind? The fact is that every one of us is a sinner from birth and deserves nothing but the flames of hell, but God has seen fit to save some through the sacrifice of his Son, and we should be grateful for that.

Not all of mankind will perish in their sin, as Pharaoh did. Some will come to eternal life. Even as Noah saved his family, small in number, from God's wrath through his righteousness (Gen 6:8–9), so shall the children of God, small in number (Mat 7:14), be saved from God's wrath through the righteousness of Christ.

God's grace

The Bible teaches that Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot understand the gospel, and God makes them spiritually blind and spiritually deaf so that they cannot turn and believe.

And, as God is sovereign on earth and Satan is a created being, God allows Satan to blind people's minds so that his purpose in election (his choice of those he saves) will be fulfilled (Rom 9:10–3).

Man's salvation is entirely in the hands of God. Only God can soften people's hearts and give them ears that hear and eyes that see so they can respond to the gospel of his Son. And that, as John Newton tells us, is a result of his grace.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both. (Pro 20:12)

Michael Graham
December 2005
Revised June 2026

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