But Since You Say, "We See"

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” (John 9:39-41 NASB1995)

What did Jesus mean when he said, “For judgment I came into this world”? It meant to distinguish between right and wrong and good and evil, to separate light from darkness and truth from lies. It was to teach us, the people, cause and effect, to let us know the eternal results of the decisions that we make in life for good or for evil. For Jesus’ messages were not all feel good messages. He continually stated what God expected of us in the way of thought, word, and deed, and what will result if we do not follow his instructions but if we should decide to go our own stubborn way, instead. 

For the results of Jesus’ teachings were that many who were spiritually blind, and who knew that they were, by faith in Jesus Christ were delivered out of their spiritual blindness so that they could now see truth and righteousness and what God expected of them, with a desire to submit to God and to obey him. But those who thought they could see, who were full of pride, were made blind because they rejected Jesus Christ and his teachings. Instead of them being receptive to Christ and to his teachings, their hearts were hardened against him and they willfully shut their eyes and ears to the truth.

I liken this a lot to some who have been brought up under Christianity, who have been taught the Scriptures from very early on in their lives, some of whom even taught the truth of the Scriptures to others, perhaps for many years, some of whom may be (or were) pastors of church congregations. They are not ignorant of the truth, but in their pride they ignore and reject the truth that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught so that they can continue in their sin. They have all the head knowledge that they need to obey God, but they want their sin more than they want Jesus in their lives.

For, the Pharisees were not ignorant of the truth of God’s Word. They were taught it, and they taught it to others from the Old Covenant. So they knew right from wrong and good from evil. They knew God’s moral laws, that they were to obey them. They were also taught about the Christ (the Messiah) who was to come, but when he came, they largely rejected him, and they fought against him. They did, and so did the Scribes and the Sadducees and the rulers in the Temple of God. And eventually they had him put to death on a cross, although he had done no wrong, but because they hated him.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God. For Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Titus 2:11-14; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22] 

And Jesus is still warning us against such attitudes and hypocrisy in our own lives, and against following after such leaders or becoming just like them. 

Seven Woes  

Based off Matthew 23

An Original Work / May 31, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love 

Woe to you, teachers of the law;

Hypocrites, you keep men from God.

You refuse to obey the truth,

Nor will you permit others to.

You travel o’er land and sea

To win a single convert to you.

When he becomes one 

You make him twice as much

A “son of hell” as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides of mankind.

You distort the words of your God.

By your practices you declare

Your oaths mean nothing, though you swear.

You give a tenth of your spices,

But you neglect justice, mercy.

When you focus your 

Time and talents on

What is external, you miss out.

Woe to you, who appear so clean,

When inside you are crass and mean.

You work hard to look so upright,

While you hide all your sins inside.

You deceive yourselves when you think

You would not have done what others

Did to God’s messengers 

And prophets of old,

For you will do much the same.

You’re to blame.

https://vimeo.com/125489388

But Since You Say, “We See”

An Original Work / April 21, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love