Matthew 15.12-14, Luke 6.39-40, John 9.39-41.
Jesus’s saying about “the blind leading the blind” is pretty famous. So much so, people don’t remember who originally said it. I once had someone tell me it comes from the Upanishads. And it is actually in there; Yama the death god compares the foolish to the blind leading the blind. Katha Upanishad 2.6 But ancient, medieval, and modern westerners didn’t read the Upanishads! They read the gospels. They got it from Jesus.
Jesus actually doesn’t use the idea only once, in only one context. We see it thrice in the gospels. It appears in Matthew after
So let’s deal with the context of each instance. Matthew first.
Matthew 15.12-14 KWL - 12 Coming to Jesus, his students then told him, “You know the Pharisees who heard the word are outraged?”
- 13 In reply Jesus said, “Every plant will be uprooted which my heavenly Father didn’t plant.
- 14 Forgive them; they’re blind guides.
- When blind people guide the blind, the both fall into a hole.”
Not every Jew in Jesus’s day was religious. Of the few who were, one sect was
You think this behavior might offend Pharisees? You’d be correct. That’s what Jesus’s kids came to tell him about. In response he called ’em blind guides. Well they were.
Most interpreters of
Yeah, it’s an interpretation which violates Jesus’s character. Sounds more like a typical grace-deficient Christian than Christ.
Yes, Judgment Day is our deadline for getting our respective acts together. And we don't know whether our individual judgment days will fall at the End, or in the next several seconds once that runaway truck plows into us. But Jesus didn’t come to earth to judge, but save.
Blind Pharisees.
The bit where Jesus used the adjective
Matthew 23.13-24 KWL - 13 “Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, how awful for you: You shut off heaven’s kingdom to your people.
- You don’t go in—nor permit others to enter.
- [14 Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, how awful for you: You eat up single mothers’ homes.
- And while praying huge prayers? This is why you’ll receive an extreme judgment.]
- 15 Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, how awful for you: You travel sea and land to make one proselyte—
- and whenever you can, make them twice a child of ge-Henna as you.
- 16 How awful for you blind guides, who say,
- ‘Swearing by the temple is nothing. Swearing by the temple gold is binding.’
- 17 Stupid and blind. What’s greater, the gold? Or the temple sanctifying the gold?
- 18 And ‘Swearing by the altar is nothing. Swearing by the gift on it is binding.’
- 19 Blind. What’s greater, the gift? Or the altar sanctifying the gift?
- 20 Swearing by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it.
- 21 Swearing by the temple, swears by it and by the Spirit who dwells in it.
- 22 Swearing by heaven, swears by God’s throne and by the One sitting on it.
- 23 Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, how awful for you: You tithe mint, dill, and cumin.
- You dismiss the Law’s central ideas: Justice, mercy, and faith.
- You should do the one—and not dismiss the other!
- 24 Blind guides. You’re filtering out gnats and swallowing camels.”
“Filtering out gnats and swallowing camels” describes Pharisees perfectly. Either they were nitpicking fine details in the Law, much as one would try to make absolutely sure there were no bugs in their tea; or they found a loophole which let ’em break the Law altogether, much as one would gorge oneself on a ritually unclean animal if it were tasty enough.
Yet the Pharisees imagined themselves experts in the Law. Experts on God. Experts on how to have a proper, righteous relationship with him. People who could pressure others—for their own good!—into following God exactly the same as they;
So in other words… just as bullheaded, fruitless, heretic, and so unfit for
Let’s be fair. Not all Pharisees were this type of dense hypocrite. The ones Jesus addressed in Matthew 23 were, but others studied with the Pharisees because they really did seek God—and knew
Those Pharisees harassing Jesus definitely weren’t. Because they should’ve quickly realized who Jesus is, and followed him. But they were blind.
And a blind guide isn’t on
Blind teachers.
In Luke, in the Sermon on the Plain, the saying’s part of Jesus’s lesson
Luke 6.39-40 KWL - 39 Jesus also said this analogy to them: “Can a blind person guide the blind
- without the both falling into a hole?”
- 40 A student doesn’t exceed the teacher;
- once fully trained, everyone is like their teacher.”
To a degree, the idea of one blind person guiding another is ridiculous. Like Jesus said, they’ll both fall into a
Thing is, blind people are often the best guides for other blind people. They know how to advise ’em on how to get around, and do things despite their impaired vision or sightlessness. They know from experience. No, they can’t always navigate others around holes. But if they’re particularly good with their canes, they can. Commonsense will tell you whose guidance to trust. Much like commonsense makes it clear Jesus’s comment is generally true: Blind guides aren’t ideal when you’re trying to walk unfamiliar ground… full of holes.
Blind judges.
Now
Either way, Pharisees were so hidebound in their insistence Jesus was sinning,
Jesus’s response to the whole sorry mess:
John 9.39-41 KWL - 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world to provoke judgment.
- Thus those who can’t see may see—and those who see may become blind.”
- 40 Some of the Pharisees with Jesus heard this and told him, “Surely we’re not also blind?”
- 41 Jesus told them, “If you’re blind, you didn’t sin!
- But now you say ‘We see!’—so your sin stays on you.”
Now since Jesus was speaking with Pharisees, and suggesting they might possibly be blind, Christians tend to leap to the conclusion he was condemning them same as he did the Pharisees who opposed him in Matthew 23. Is that valid? Yes.
We don’t know if these were the same Pharisees as went to the formerly-blind guy’s synagogue. Maybe so. Maybe they’re the ones who told Jesus what had happened, and provoked Jesus to go find the blind guy.
This blind guy hadn’t even seen Jesus. Couldn’t identify Jesus by sight till Jesus identified himself.
That’s what Jesus’s answer means. “If you’re blind”—like this man—“you didn’t sin!” You used your noggin; you figured Jesus out. “But now you say ‘We see!’ ”—like the Pharisees in synagogue—“your sin stays,” because you’re just as stubborn. Just as grace-deficient.
Blind means you can’t see past yourself to follow Jesus. And if you think you’re following God without Jesus, it’s not possible.
Blindness doesn’t just apply to Pharisees, of course. It’s true of any person, Christian or not, who figure “We see!”—that they’re right and Jesus isn’t. That they know best, and Jesus… well, he can’t mean what he appears to mean, and they’re gonna have to reinterpret him
What to do? Well, realize
