Open our Eyes
Vicky Moots
In II Corinthians 4:4 the apostle Paul explains the reason for spiritual blindness: “…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.” Who is the god of this world? It is Satan himself. Mankind has been spiritually blinded by his lies.
Paul knew this by experience because he had been blinded to the gospel by Satan. Prior to his conversion, he had sought to destroy those who had become followers of Jesus. Paul, who was named Saul at the time, was a very religious Jew, a Pharisee, who strove for righteousness through the works of the law, and thought he was blameless before God.
Acts chapter 9 records the story of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. Verse 3 tells us that a bright light shone from heaven, and he fell to the ground. He then heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him and revealing who He was. When Saul arose he discovered that he was blind. What he hadn’t realized was that he was already blind spiritually.
Three days later, God sent Ananias to him to pray for him to receive his sight and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 18 states, “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received his sight...” God opened his blinded physical and spiritual eyes and called him to preach Christ, the one whom he had previously rejected and persecuted.
Paul’s eyes were not only opened to the gospel, but to many other spiritual truths which he has since revealed to us through his epistles. His desire was for our eyes to be opened also. In Eph. 1: 17-18 we read Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Saints, and for us also: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Satan not only blinds the eyes of unbelievers to the gospel, but he also tries to blind us as Christians to keep us from seeing the spiritual riches that go beyond initial salvation. He tries to keep us from laying hold of our inheritance and the fullness of God’s grace.
Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us through the Scriptures, as He did to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32, after His resurrection. In vv. 15-16 we find that Jesus drew near to them, “but their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” Then v. 27 states, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” In vv. 30-31 we read, “... he took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him....”
The eyes of these disciples had been blinded to the Christ of the resurrection. Many Christians today, likewise, only know Christ as a man, but do not know Him in the power of His resurrection. May the Holy Spirit enlighten the eyes of our understanding as we study the Scriptures and feast upon the bread of life, so that we may truly know Christ in His fullness.
Luke 4:18-20 records the account of Jesus standing in the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath and reading from the book of Isaiah. The words which He read in v. 18 were a prophecy which was fulfilled by Jesus Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind...”
Yes, Jesus came to recover sight of the blind and praise the Lord He is still delivering captives that are bound by Satan and opening blinded eyes today through the power of His Word and the Holy Spirit.
