BLINDNESS AND SIGHT

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon
those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 42:6-7 (read 42.1-7)

Human eyes have been blind to God's will for humanity. The Jews expected the coming of a warrior messiah to put the nation of Israel in the position of supremacy among nations and inspire the world to look to Jerusalem to receive the light of salvation. They are still waiting!

For nearly 2,000 years Christians have awaited the return of a conquering Christ to avenge His enemies and establish His Kingdom of peace on Earth. The wicked are to be condemned to eternal torment in hell and the good rewarded endless paradise. They, too, are still waiting!

Both Jews and Christians rely on divine violence to enforce justice and peace. The Jews rejected Jesus because he was not the mighty conquering liberator messiah. Christians place their ultimate hope in a coming Christ who will be powerful and vindictive instead of vulnerable and peaceful. Through the centuries Christianity has taken up the sword more than the cross. It has had it’s eyes closed to peace as being a way of life.

A careful reading of Isaiah 42.1-7 shows the nature of the person who announces the will of God for all people of the world: "He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” It is light that will open blind eyes and release the prisoners, from their dark prisons.

The prophet Isaiah indicates that God is pleased with those who do not make a big show or use brute power, but with those who respect the broken and the weak. This sensitivity will open the eyes of the blind and free the oppressed from their prisons.

The "open the eyes" of the blind comes before "set free the prisoners." The worst blindness is "closed eyes." Our tendency is for us to close our eyes to the truths that trouble us. By doing so we are living a lie. Living with closed eyes is living in a "dark prison". Closed eyes create prisons. A closed mind enslaves.

Often evangelization consists of exchanging one prison for another. When we adopt the posture of possessing the whole truth we find ourselves obligated to defend and maintain that truth. In this way our "truth" becomes another dark prison. The new converts are led to close their eyes to everything that is not within the truth that is taught by their new “faith”. Discourse and indoctrination are dangerous, because they can be used to build other prisons. Testimony, not instruction, can lead the blind to open their eyes and get out of one prison without falling into another one.

It is with "open eyes" that deliverance comes. A person who really sees will not submit to oppression. He or she is free to live the truth even when imprisoned. Jesus is the supreme example of this principle. We cannot imagine Jesus being submissive to any human authority. He was free to live the love of the Father, against all religious and social constraints. By preaching submission and conformity, the churches are building "dark prisons".

Justice can be established only by living it, never by imposing it. Neither Christianity nor the Jewish State of Israel has been able to put this text into practice. Thus the world (gentiles) does not look to either the State of Israel or Christianity for light. The countries in which Christianity is a majority are directly involved in and promoting the violence. In promoting violence even Christians become antichrists.

ISAIAH 42:1-7 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

    and he will bring justice to the nations.

He will not shout or cry out,

    or raise his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

     he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

This is what God the Lord says—

the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,

    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,

    who gives breath to its people,

    and life to those who walk on it:

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;

    I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

    to be a covenant for the people

    and a light for the Gentiles,

to open eyes that are blind,

    to free captives from prison

    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.