Amazing Grace

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” (Psalm 119:18)



I remember an episode of MASH where Alan Alda’s character Hawkeye Pierce was temporarily blinded by an accident in the camp. He went through the rest of the episode staged over about a week with a wrap on his eyes. The other characters had to lead him around to various functions, and obviously he could not perform his duties. By the end of the episode, the treatment worked and he could see again. He had initially been very cranky and gloomy due to his infirmity, but by the end he had developed some interesting perspectives on the miracle of sight. His other senses had been heightened due to his blindness. One part of the show had a little slow steady rain, and he said it sounded like bacon frying in a skillet. Most of us who take our sight for granted would never think of making such a connection, but to this day when it rains, I remember that.



In John chapter 9, Jesus encountered a man who had been blind from his birth. Jesus healed his infirmity, and the man began to testify to the miracle worked in his life. Of course, the Scribes and Pharisees had a hissy fit about that, largely because they knew they were powerless to work such miracles, and their power base was threatened by this Jesus dude who was upstaging them. So they launched an offensive against him (typical) to get him to deny the power of Jesus in his life and to confess that Jesus was just any old ordinary sinner like the rest of us. He answered them, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25) The classic gospel hymn “Amazing Grace” is based on this verse and story. A man blind from birth would have some interesting perspectives on life that the rest of us would not see. He would be much more thankful and appreciative of the simple blessings of life. But most importantly, he would be impossible to shut up about the glory of his Lord Jesus Christ.



Over 30 years ago, my life was permanently and radically changed by the Saviour. Before, I could not see the reality of life. If God did exist, he was just the big blob in the sky that no one could know. The Bible was just a collection of fables written by men and full of contradictions. The meaning of life was to get a job and make money just so I could party on the weekends. Life after death was a myth at best, and life before death had no real purpose. But then Jesus touched my blind eyes by his sacrifice on the cross for my sins. I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind, but now I see. Ephesians 1:18 is now very real: “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.” Jesus makes all the difference to those who know him.



Most all of us know someone who is blind. But far more importantly, we all know many hundreds of people who are spiritually blind because they have never met the Saviour. They were born that way as a member of the fallen race of Adam (Romans 5:12). They need a new birth in order to be able to see with the eye of faith to the reality of life in Christ. They are filled with misconceptions about life just as I was long ago. Some of them are downright belligerent about it just like the Pharisees were, because Jesus threatens their “power base”. They think their life is their own, when God made us to fellowship with him. We have the “eye-salve” for their blindness (Revelation 3:18). The Lord Jesus Christ came to, “…preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” (Luke 4:18) Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and he has left us here to preach his truth until he comes.



If you have truly been touched by the Master, how can you keep your mouth shut about it?