A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?

Luke 6:39-7:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now He also spoke a parable to them: “A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A student is not above the teacher; but everyone, when he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ⁴³ For there is no good tree that bears bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree that bears good fruit. ⁴⁴ For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

⁴⁶ “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

7 When He had completed all His teaching in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

² Now a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. ³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they strongly urged Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; ⁵ for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” ⁶ Now Jesus started on His way with them; but already, when He was not yet far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof; ⁷ for that reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You; but just say the word, and my servant shall be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” James 4:17 says: For one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin. In today’s text Jesus says: “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”  Jesus is not our Lord if we don’t do what He says we should. It is sin for us not to do what we know we should do. We cannot disregard Jesus words and think that we are established on a sure foundation.  James 1:22 says: Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. There are many who delude themselves claiming to be established in Christ, but embracing and supporting the immorality and lawlessness of our culture. Psalm 119:160 says: The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.  In John 17:17, when Jesus prayed in the garden on the night He was betrayed, He prayed to the Father saying: Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. It is more than that God’s word is true, God’s word is truth. While the world tells the lie that truth is relative and each person can have their own version of truth, what God says is the actual plumbline of truth. Whatever is not in alignment with God’s word, is a lie.

There is a saying, “There is none so blind as those who will not see.”  In the text Jesus says: “A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?”   Still, there are many people today who are willing to follow those who choose not to see. In Matthew 24:4-5 Jesus says: “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the  Christ,’ and they will mislead many people.”  Those who choose not to see will mislead many and easily be misled. In John 3:17-21 Jesus says: “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”  The one who loves and chooses darkness also chooses not see.

Thank You heavenly Father. You are faithful and true. Your word is truth, a faithful standard to which everything else can be compared. Thank You Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the world. To know You is to see and know truth and light. Thank You Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth for guiding me in all truth and leading me to walk in the light of God’s word. May I be, as Jesus said, a light to the world, so that others too might see and know the truth. Amen.