When horses are on the road, they often wear blinders. Why? Their eyes are on the sides of their heads, and they are easily distracted. The blinders (also known as blinkers or winkers) help keep the horse focused on what is directly ahead.
Blinders essentially knock out a portion of the horse’s range of vision, keeping the animal from seeing what we do not want it to see. That is why we sometimes say people are blinded to certain things. They are focused on what they want to see, and they tune out what is not directly in front of them.
The Jews in Jesus’ time had blinded eyes. Their blinkers were ones of their own making. The Scriptures had told of the coming of the Messiah, but they had misinterpreted everything that had been revealed.
John 10:31-33 illustrates how determined the Jews were to keep their blinkers tightly bound to their heads.
The Riot:
Jesus entered the Temple by way of Solomon’s Porch, and in answer to the people’s question, he replied, “I and my Father are One.”
This precipitated a wave of anger against him, and Verse 31 tells us the Jews took up stones to stone him to death.
The Reply:
Their actions must have puzzled Jesus. He had answered their question truthfully, and yet they were prepared to kill him.
In Verse 32 he called out to them, “My good works have come from my Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
The Reason:
Jesus’ question was fair. He deserved to know the reason for the judgment they had made against him. We read in Verse 33 that the Jews didn’t care about his good works. They had a stronger motive for raising the stones in their hands.
“You are no more than a man,” the Jews called to him, “and yet you make yourself God.”
The Jews’ reasoning was sound except for one thing. Jesus was what he claimed. He was God. The Jews had worn their blinders too many centuries. They were convinced the Messiah would bring their nation back to military and political supremacy against her enemies. Their blinkers had blinded them to the truth.
Jesus came not as a military leader. He came to restore people’s souls and draw them back to the Father. Jesus came to restore life, not the wounded national pride of Israel.
If only the Jews could have pulled their blinkers from their faces, they would have seen the truth. Jesus came first to them, and they were the first to reject him.
They still reject him today.
When we remove our blinders, we see Jesus as he really is. He is our life and our salvation, and he draws us to him.
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Code: FD.FGO.F.9.13c.vp
Throwback Thursday: Originally Published on August 16, 2013 in Faith