Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ When Jesus heard that they had ·thrown [cast; driven] him out [^Cof the synagogue], Jesus found him and said, “Do you ·believe [trust] in the Son of Man [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14]?”

³⁶ He asked, “Who is ·the Son of Man [^Lhe], sir, so that I can ·believe [trust] in him?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him. ·The Son of Man [^LHe] is the one talking with you.”

³⁸ He said, “·Lord [^Cthe same word is rendered “sir” in v. 36, but here may have a more solemn sense], I ·believe [trust]!” Then the man ·worshiped [prostrated himself before] Jesus.

³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world ·so that the world could be judged [^Lfor judgment]. I came so that the blind would see and so that those who see will become blind.” [^CThose who acknowledge they are spiritually blind will see the truth; and those who think they see spiritually (the Jewish religious leaders) are actually blind; Is. 6:10; 42:19.]

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were nearby heard Jesus say this and asked, “Are you saying we are blind, too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you keep saying you see, your ·guilt [or sin] remains.”