The Blind Leading the Blind

“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”  Matthew 15:14

Jesus had made a statement which was directed at the self-righteous religious leaders:  “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matthew 15:11) which implied that these leaders were exhibiting the hatred in their hearts toward Jesus by their words.  Jesus’ disciples became fearful that the religious leaders would be offended at this statement.  You think?  If the shoe fits. Jesus knew who His enemies were.  They had already sealed their eternal doom when they committed blasphemy against God by attributing Jesus’ working of miracles to the power of Satan (Matthew 12:31-32).  They were blind to the truth of God, even though they boasted of having all knowledge of His law.

If being ignorant of the truth wasn’t bad enough, those who follow blind leaders are just as blind and will follow them into destruction.  Those of the Pharisees and scribes who considered themselves experts in the law as well as those today who still try to justify themselves by good works have failed to see the real purpose of the law: a “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).  We must always be on the alert as to whom we follow and to whom we listen.  If their actions and words do not line up with God’s holy word, then we must steer clear of them and not drive headlong into the ditch of doubt, confusion, and misery with them.

After Jesus made this statement, Peter asked Jesus to explain the parable about the effects of what goes into and out of a person’s mouth.  I think Jesus could have been a little annoyed at the disciples’ lack of understanding Jesus’ simple but profound parables.  Jesus kept His emotions in check and never allowed them to cause Him to do anything sinful or inappropriate.  He was ever mindful of who He was and Whom He represented.  In answering Peter’s request, Jesus said (paraphrasing), “You still don’t understand, do you, that whatever you physically put into your mouth, swallow, and digest is eliminated from your body when you go to the bathroom.  However, those words of criticism, judgment, and complaining which come out of your mouth originate in your heart and show just what kind of person you really are.”  He continued by identifying specific types of sin which come forth from a person to defile him or her:  evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemy.  These are all things that originate within the soul of a person and emphasize the sad state of man without Christ.

Jesus’ presence and words benefit those who are spiritually blind–that is, those who are “poor in spirit” who recognize their own spiritually bankrupt condition apart from Christ and who seek Him as their only means of rescue.  However, those who think they have it all together by their own standard of righteousness, those who have conjured up their own path to God, and think they see their way clearly, these are the ones who are really blind.  They are the ones who stand guilty before God because they have refused to see their own sin thus rejecting the only remedy for cleansing from sin and thereby “never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (II Timothy 3:7).  Jesus said in John 9:39, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”  What was Jesus saying?  I believe that He was indicating that those who were spiritually bankrupt but recognized their need for a Savior, knowing that they could not be righteous on their own would have their eyes opened to the truth of God and of salvation while those who believed that they were perfectly justified in their own right, would be allowed to continue in their blindness.  Jesus urged His disciples to not worry about offending the religious leaders.  There was nothing the disciples could do, positively or negatively, that would cause these leaders to change their attitude toward Jesus, or at the very least, cause them to leave Jesus and His disciples alone.  Why waste valuable time trying to get on the “good” side of those who are sided with the devil?