Turn a blind eye - To knowingly refuse to acknowledge something which you know to be real.

Blind as a bat - completely blind

Up a blind alley - at a dead end

The blind leading the blind - a situation where people who don't know how to do something try to teach other people.

In the country of the blind, a one eyed man is king - A person who is not particularly capable can attain a powerful position if the people around him or her are even less capable.

Like a blind dog in a meat market - out of control

Love is blind - If you love someone, you cannot see any faults in that person

Men are blind in their own cause - If you believe in something very fervently, you will not recognize the flaws or dangers in what you believe.

He's got a nose like a blind carpenter's thumb – This one speaks for itself!

A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse - You cannot get people to take a hint if they are determined not to.

 There's none so blind as those who will not see - You cannot make someone pay attention to something that he or she does not want to notice. 

 At the end of John 8 it says, “They picked up stones to throw at Him.”  The leaders had enough of this plain talk of Jesus that they did not understand.  He tells them in chapter 8 that the reason they don’t understand Him is because He and they have different fathers.  This point is illustrated in chapter 9 when a man who has no physical sight is given both physical and spiritual eyes, while those whose physical eye sight is perfect, have no eyes to see who Jesus is. 

 How many times did you look at Jesus and not see Him?  How many times did you listen to a message about Him, but never heard it?  How many times did someone show you the works of Christ, but you never saw them for what they were?  Just because we have perfect eye sight does not guarantee that we are able to see Jesus or recognize actions done by believers as demonstrations of His love.  The Jewish leaders of John 8 and 9 had seen the miracles, but they wanted more proof because they could not bring themselves to admit that what they had seen was from God. 

 Have your eyes been opened to the things of Christ or are you one of those who is so blind that you will deny the evidence of Christ plainly before you

YOU SLY DEVIL!

“You sly Devil/You sly dog” = sneaky, devious, lucky; often used as a term of endearment or admiration.

That is, unless you really mean that the Devil is sly, and then it certainly isn’t a term of endearment.  But nonetheless, Satan is a liar, that’s what he does best, and wants only what is best for himself.  I say, “Himself” because Satan is real and active in this world.  He is a created being who was forcibly expelled from the presence of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 14).  His power is limited according to the purposes of the Lord, but his desire for power and his aspiration for victory have not decreased in intensity.  I have read the end of the book and Satan is the loser, but that doesn’t seem to dampen his work in this world.  You might ask, “Randy, where is Satan at work?”  The answer: everywhere there is evil, everywhere there is temptation, and everywhere there are those actions, events, attitudes and desires that run contrary to those of our Heavenly Father.  But remember, he is evil, not stupid.  How do you go about attempting to thwart the purposes of an omnipotent and omniscient Being?  Here lies the premise – you have to be sneaky, subtle and sly. 

How would you change the morals of an entire society?  Would you crash a load of sin right through the front door?  No, you do it in small bites – just like you would eat an elephant!  How would you get millions of people to accept, as common practice two people walking into a business and only one person walking out alive?  You slowly change the definition of what constitutes life.  How would you get millions of people to welcome into their homes others who swear at them, call their view of life “stupid, narrow or ignorant,” or begin to take off their clothes once they get into their living rooms?  You tell them that art imitates life, therefore your favorite TV shows just reflect society, they are not out to change society.

Satan has gotten so good at the subtle art of temptation that we hardly notice anymore.  Like a pebble that has been in our shoe for a long time, we have grown used to the irritation, used to the continued movement of the “line in the sand” when it comes to right and wrong.  Satan is smarter and craftier than we are, so pay attention! 

The good news is that he loses in the end!

REMEMBERING

The bad days seem to come to our minds rather easily: The day my father died, the day I said something to hurt my wife’s feelings, the day I failed…you can fill in the blank.  The goods days seem to take a little bit more effort to remember; although I remember the night I proposed, my wedding, the day each of my daughters was born, and the day I got my dog!

September 11^th is upon us and it has been 10 years since we watched in horror, disbelief and anger at the murder of thousands of innocent men and women.  We also witnessed incredible bravery and sacrifice by those whose only thoughts were to save as many as they could from the burning buildings. 

God does not promise us an explanation for everything we face in this world, at least not an explanation we may like.  For the believer we know the promise of Romans 8:28, but we must understand that what God sees as good for us may not be all that pleasant in our minds.  He sees perfectly while our vision is clouded by sin and our own selfishness.  But the events that, to us, seem chaotic, cruel, or without justification are not without purpose; that does not make them any more tolerable!  Almost everyone can look back at a broken relationship, failed job, sickness, struggle, or time of pain and see some purpose in it now that you are far enough removed.  That is not saying it is only time that heals, for you may not have healing, but you may have understanding. 

Either we believe that God is in control of everything, or we believe that we are God; because who wants a god who can’t do the difficult things.  He is not like us.  He does not fail, He does not only attempt, He does not endeavor: our Heavenly Father does what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants because it is good – as defined by the only One who is and knows what is good.  I am not a fatalist, but sometimes the only answer we have is: Because that’s the way He wants it to be.  Can you be satisfied if that is all He gives you?

If you have doubts, let me remind you of something, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) 

LIGHTEN UP

Every so often I have the privilege to drive the 36 hours out to Jackson Hole, WY and camp for a few days.  There, at Jenny Lake, right at the base of the Grand Tetons the sky seems bluer, the air cleaner and anything we cook over the fire seems to taste better.  After dinner we let the fire die down to ashes so it doesn’t give off anything but heat, then we lean our chairs back and wait for the show to commence.  The show I speak of would be the setting of the sun and the revealing of the stars. 

There are a dozen or so stars within 10 light years of us.  To my theologically oriented mind that doesn’t mean much, but I do understand that the closest stars are still very far away.  Yet I am able to see the light from those stars, and what is even better, there are stars that are hundreds and thousands of light years away from earth and I am still able to see the light that comes/came from them.  However dim their light may be, in the dark night sky I find it only takes a little bit of light to be seen.

Jesus said that He was the light.  Why is it that some are still in darkness?  Why is it that some are unable to see what appears to be so obvious to others?  In Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in John 8 they just don’t seem to be able to see the light.  In fact, as so often happened with the Pharisees, they completely misunderstood what Jesus was teaching them.  They accused Jesus of lying, thought Jesus was going to commit suicide, and basically had no understanding that all of their study of the Old Testament should have prepared them for and revealed to them that Jesus was from the Father and was the Messiah they had been waiting for.  Their problem: they were in darkness.

I remember being in darkness.  Thinking I had the spiritual answers my heart longed to know.  Thinking I understood who Jesus was and what He wanted me to do. But I was in darkness.  Not until Jesus opened my eye and His light filled my life and lit my path was I even capable of grasping His great love and sacrifice for me. 

When did the light break into your life.  Did it happen in the darkest of times?  Did you think you had come to the end of yourself?  “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Check out the sermon the Sunday on John 8:12-30.