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

 

       Now of course Jesus is talking spiritual blindness here. I would have to take issue with anyone putting down the physically blind. Most are quite capable and have adapted well with the use of canes and guide dogs. I had a blind man help me move from one apartment to another in the same complex. We walked the route together once and he knew it!

       Now back to those Pharisees and their rules and rituals. I don’t know how many times they missed the points of what Jesus was saying or how empty they truly were. But they missed it again. They had rules for cleanliness but only for the outside. Jesus came to clean from the inside out. The Pharisees might as well have been walking around with masks on their eyes.

       In the late 1830’s it was common practice for students at the Perkin’s School for the Blind to wear green silk ribbons around their eyes. Some sources of blindness make the eye unattractive. Nowadays people usually wear dark sunglasses. My mom didn’t need to. She had prosthetic eyes which were quite realistic and pretty.

       Why don’t we go back and check on those Pharisees? Oh dear, it seems they have fallen into a ditch of their own making. And yet Jesus says leave them alone. Curious. What is He telling the disciples? Perhaps He would rather they spend their time and energy on those who are ready to hear. And He made sure they understood.

      Those who do not know the Bible cannot be in tune with the spirit and are blind. It is my prayer that you are not among them.