Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see” (John 9:39-41 NLT).

Brandon Heath, a contemporary Christian artist, wrote in his song “Give Me Your Eyes” the following lyrics:

Give me Your eyes for just one second;

Give me Your eyes so I can see 

Everything that I keep missin'; 

Give me Your love for humanity. 

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted,

The ones that are far beyond my reach. 

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten. 

Give me Your eyes so I can see.

In the song, Brandon is essentially asking for God to help him see the world the way Jesus does. He wants to look at the world with compassion, deep observation, and most importantly, love. To put it even more simply, Brandon is asking for the Lord to help him step into living for Christ, especially in the way of this week’s passage. 

John 9 can be viewed as only a spectacular miracle (which it most definitely is). However, when reading the passage closely, there is something more there. Jesus has a conversation with the Pharisees, telling them how to really “see.” When he says that, Jesus doesn’t mean literally being able to view the world around them, rather, viewing the world the way He did: with compassion, kindness, and love. 

That’s where this story applies to us as modern-day believers! We may not be physically blind, but we may be spiritually blind and not even know it.

We may think we can see, but really, we are seeing through the lenses of the world, and not through the lenses of Christ. When we say we see through the lenses of Christ, that means we should be exhibiting kindness, compassion, and love, towards each other and our neighbors, and loving Christ with our whole being. 

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray now that you help us to step into your truth, and live the way you taught us to. Lord, we pray that if we claim to be able to see, you would aid us in truly being able to see. Help us to see the world the way you do, and let others see your light and truth through our actions, so long as they are glorifying to you. Amen.