John 9:39-40          ( posted 3-10-11 )

“ 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.

And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? “

Let’s continue.

Here Jesus said;

“ For judgment I am come into this world, “

At another time Jesus said;

“   And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. “   John 12:47

Jesus was not contradicting Himself as Bible critics would tell us.

We have to understand that Jesus, pre-existent as God, became man as the Son of God, but because He cannot deny Himself;

“ If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.  “   2 Timothy 2:13

He is still God;

“  I and my Father are one. “   John 10:30

So, it is obvious that since Jesus humbled Himself and became a man obedient to God the Father but nevertheless knew He is still God and equal with God, even being a man;

“ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. “   Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus spoke from both His deity as God, God in the flesh, and as a human being, born as a humble servant unto God the Father even unto death, the death of the cross.

So, Jesus said things from His standpoint as a human being, and as His eternal existence as God.

This is why at times He would say, as in the verse of our study;

“ For judgment I am come into this world, “

and at other times say;

“   And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. “

In actuality, Jesus both came to earth to save us and to judge us.

As a man, being God in the flesh, Jesus came to save us from our sins.

And since He is still God, in which He cannot deny, He said He will judge us.

My friend, if we have trouble believing Jesus is both God and man, then we will look at His statements as contradictions…as Bible critics do.

If we acknowledge Jesus as to who He really is and believe Him for who and what He claims to be, then we will not see any contradiction in the statements He makes about Himself.

“ that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. “

To understand this statement of Jesus, we need to look at another statement He made to His disciples when they asked Him why He spoke to the people in parables.

“ And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. “   Matthew 13:10-16

At face value, it would appear that Jesus is telling us that the gospel is for some people but not others.

The Greek word “ blepontes “ translated “ see “ means to look at, behold, beware, perceive, regard, take heed.

While this Greek word means more than merely looking at someone or something, it also has depth of meaning as to acknowledge something or someone.

Knowing that Jesus came both to save us and to judge us, let’s consider the entire statement Jesus made about Himself in why He came to earth;

“ For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. “

If you are reading my studies on the book of Romans, you will see that Paul told us that God put His truth in all human beings so that we are without excuse for rejecting God’s truth.

In other words, in reality nobody can claim while standing before God that he or she knew nothing about God’s plan of salvation…Jesus Christ.

The commonly asked question by people who are actually willfully ignorant of the Bible - “ What about those on uncharted islands who have never heard the gospel ? "

willfully reject the Biblical fact that God already put it in all human beings to know God’s truth.

Paul said;

“ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  “    Romans 1:18-20

Jesus is not saying that God gave the gospel to some people and not others as His intended plan from the beginning.

Jesus is telling us that in coming here He is bringing us to make a decision.

The decision to either believe God’s truth or reject it.

“ that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. “

Salvation is clearly Biblically for whosoever will believe.

And all human beings have the freedom to choose to believe God’s truth or reject it.

But we do have to make a decision while still living in this life.

We cannot wait until after death to decide.

In truth, to not decide is the same as making the choice not to believe God's truth.

Our eternal destiny is the result of  our own choice.

Human beings know God’s truth but many of us refuse to make the decision to believe and procrastinate in making the decision…just as the thief on the cross did but fortunately for him made the choice moments before he died.

Jesus did not say He will make human beings blind when He said;

“ and that they which see might be made blind. “

Paul said satan has blinded those who refuse to believe;

“ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  “          2 Corinthians 4:4

My friend, if we choose to reject God’s truth, satan will blind us and it is doubtful that we will ever come to the knowledge of God’s truth again, once we have willfully rejected it.

Whatever our condition turns out to be is the clear result of our own choice.

Notice Jesus said;

“ and their eyes they have closed; “    Matthew 13:15

It is by our own choice and our own doing and satan jumps right in there to draw the blinds shut so the Light of God’s truth cannot penetrate our heart.

Some of the Pharisees understood Jesus was referring to them;

“ And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? “

They knew their own prophet Isaiah prophesied this would happen to Israel.

Jesus quoted Isaiah;

“ And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. “    Matthew 13:14-15

I also want you to notice that divine healing comes with salvation.

Check this out!

“ lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. “

Praise the Lord.

Divine healing is a major part of the atonement.

If you are dealing with a physical issue and you know in your heart you belong to Jesus and are of “the faith” , just believe the Lord for healing as it is clearly His will with His own personal endorsement with signature…signed with His own blood.

I will continue with verse 41 in the next study.

Wayne Brown