“Is the Christian faith a ‘blind’ faith?”

October 2018 – Grace & Truth Magazine

QUESTION: Is the Christian faith a “blind” faith?

ANSWER: The Christian faith is not another religion among the thousands of religions in this world. Instead, it is essentially a relationship with the One who proclaims Himself to be the Light of the World and promises that anyone who follows Him will not walk in darkness. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’” (John 8:12 NKJV ). He was “the True Light ... which, coming into the world, is light to every man” (1:9 footnote, JND ). Here we can fittingly apply the words of David in Psalm 36:9: “In Thy light shall we see light.”

“Light” is one of the key words in the Gospel of John, along with “life” and “love.” Throughout its chapters we see again and again the battle between light and darkness. Religious leaders were stumbling in darkness in chapter 1 and trying to pin down John the Baptist as to who he was. John pointed to One whom they did not know but was coming. A few verses after this answer, the Light came onto the scene. When John proclaimed Him to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (v.29) and “the Lamb of God” (v.36), the bystanders seemingly paid no attention to Him.

But two of John’s disciples, having heard his declarations, followed Him. When the Lord inquired what they were seeking, they answered, “Where are You staying” (v.38 NKJV). He replied, “Come and see” (v.39). These disciples then gave the same invitation to others to bring them to Jesus. Throughout this gospel, in one personal encounter after another, we hear this invitation repeated:

• Philip to Nathanael – “Come and see” (v.46),
• The Samaritan woman to the men of her city – “Come, see a Man who told me ...” (4:29), and
• Jesus to His listeners – “... comes to Me ...” (6:35,37, 7:37).

In John 9 we see a man born blind become seeing. Initially there was obedience to the word of the Lord. Then, as he was questioned by the enemies of the Lord, we see him growing in his understanding of who the Lord is until finally the Lord revealed Himself to him, and he is found worshiping Him. The Lord built on this at the very end of John 9 and into chapter 10, showing that coming into relationship with Him is a pathway of increasing light, while walking according to the traditions of the religious teachers is a matter of following blind leaders.

Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead in John 11, came out of the cave where he had been buried, bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus commanded that he be loosed from all these impediments. He could then walk intelligently, and consequently in John 12 we find him sitting at the table with Jesus, but he was also then an object of the enmity of the spiritually blind religious leaders.

John 13 through 17 present us with the final hours of the day before the Lord’s crucifixion. We see the Lord occupied with His followers, first showing them His loving concern by cleansing and refreshing them, then pointing out their weaknesses when they are self-confident. He went on to tell them about the dwelling places in the Father’s house He was about to prepare for them and continued from there to tell them about the Holy Spirit who would take His (Christ’s) place in guiding and aiding them in His absence. He told them too of the Father, who loved them, who pruned them to make them fruitful, and to whom they could come in His name with their petitions and needs. He warned them that they, like He, will encounter the world’s hatred and enmity, but they heard Him praying for them and expressing His appreciation for them as He prayed to the Father.

A little later that night Jesus was arrested and given a completely unrighteous trial by the Jewish Sanhedrin and then in the morning by the Roman governor. He was crucified, buried and rose again – appearing to different ones of His own. His final words in this gospel are “You follow Me” (21:22).

No, the Christian faith is not a blind faith. It is an intelligent walk with the Lord Jesus Christ – a pathway of joy and satisfaction while sharing the reproach and rejection of the One who came as light into this world, which lays in deep darkness. “Follow Me!” is something He still says to His own. You will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. In the words of King Solomon in Proverbs 4:18, ”The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

Answered by Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.