A believer whose spiritual eyes have been opened develops spiritual discernment
through the Word personally, rather than blindly following
a pastor who is spiritually blind.
“He also spoke a parable to them: ‘Can a blind person lead a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher’” (Luke 6:39–40).
As I meditate on these words, I desire to receive the lessons they give.
(1) As I meditated on today’s main passage, Luke 6:39, I was first led to meditate together on Matthew 15:14: “Leave them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
(a) As I did so, I began to think about whom Jesus was referring to when He spoke to His disciples of those who are “blind and lead the blind.” The Korean Modern Bible translates this phrase as “blind guides.”
(i) Here, the “blind guides” refer precisely to the “Pharisees” and “scribes” (v. 1), who are “hypocrites” (v. 7). Jesus called these legalistic and hypocritical religious leaders “blind guides” because they misinterpreted the Law, were themselves spiritually darkened, and led others onto the wrong path, ultimately causing all of them to fall into destruction—“the pit” (v. 14; Lk. 6:39) (Ref.: Internet).
· What it means that these legalistic and hypocritical religious leaders misinterpreted the Law is that they were breaking God’s commandments because of their traditions (Mt. 15:3).
- For example, God said, “Honor your father and mother,” and also, “Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death.” Yet they taught that if someone said what should have been given to parents was offered to God, then that person did not need to honor his parents. In this way, because of their traditions, they nullified (made void) the word of God (vv. 4–6).
n Even now, Jesus says to hypocrites, “You have abandoned the commandments of God and are holding on to human traditions,” and “You set aside the commands of God in order to observe your traditions” (Mk. 7:8–9). When pastors, according to church traditions (?), neglect their wives and children (their families) and even sacrifice them in order to serve the Lord’s church devotedly, this nullifies the word of God (v. 13), abandons God’s command (v. 9), and such people are “those who have abandoned the faith and are worse than unbelievers” (1 Tim. 5:8).
· Therefore, Jesus said to them: “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, saying: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrines the commandments of men’” (vv. 7–9).
- In today’s terms, those who abandon God’s commandments in order to keep church traditions are hypocrites in the Lord’s sight. If they honor the Lord only with their lips while their hearts are far from Him, they are merely worshiping the Lord in vain. Such hypocrites clean the outside but are full of greed and self-indulgence on the inside (23:25), and they are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of bones and all kinds of uncleanness (v. 27).
(b) As I meditated together on Luke 6:39 and Matthew 15:14, the second thing I considered was whom Jesus was referring to as the other “blind” (Lk. 6:39; Mt. 15:14)—those who are led by the “blind,” namely the “hypocrites” (v. 7), the “Pharisees” and “scribes” (v. 1), those legalistic and hypocritical religious leaders.
(i) They refer to the people who, being spiritually dark and lacking discernment, receive false teaching from the Pharisees and scribes—Jewish legalists—and follow them, losing spiritual discernment and together falling into the path of destruction, “the pit” (Lk. 6:39; Mt. 15:14) (Ref.: Internet).
· I would like to share a portion of a devotional reflection I wrote on July 18, 2018, centered on Genesis 27:23, under the title “Pastor, please discern and bless us!”: “Right now, many of our pastors are becoming corrupted. Their spiritual eyes have grown dark, so they bless believers recklessly without discernment. Clearly, believers are living deceptively like Jacob; clearly, believers are living in disobedience to God’s commandments; clearly, believers are trying to justify their lives while being yoked with the world. Yet pastors, instead of rebuking the believers we love as Jesus does (Rev. 3:19; cf. Prov. 27:5), are blessing them instead. Right now, pastors’ spiritual eyes have grown dark, and they are seeking the material blessings that spiritually blind believers like. Clearly, believers are not first seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, yet pastors are praying blessing prayers so that ‘all these things’ may be added to them. Clearly, this is not the time to pray blessing prayers; rather, it is clearly the time for all of us to repent. Right now, spiritually blind pastors are leading spiritually blind believers. Just as Jesus said, the blind are leading the blind (Mt. 15:14). As a result, both have fallen into the pit (v. 14). Even though pastors, who are blind, and believers, who are blind, have already fallen into the pit, we are unable even to discern that fact. To this extent, we have now lost spiritual discernment” [Ref.: https://blog.naver.com/kdicaprio74/222415937059].
- Here, two sentences come to mind once again: (1) “Right now, our pastors’ spiritual eyes have grown dark, and they are seeking material blessings that spiritually blind believers like.” (2) “Right now, pastors whose spiritual eyes are dark are leading believers whose spiritual eyes are also dark.”
n Can you imagine the scene of spiritually blind pastors leading spiritually blind believers?
· When I asked a computer artificial intelligence about “the scene of spiritually blind pastors leading spiritually blind believers,” I received the following response: “‘The scene of spiritually blind pastors leading spiritually blind believers’ metaphorically expresses, from a biblical perspective, a dangerous situation in which people are led in the wrong direction through spiritual ignorance or blindness. It emphasizes the absence of true, Word-centered, Spirit-led pastoral ministry and strongly underscores the importance of having one’s spiritual eyes opened to know God rightly and to live a life that longs for heaven. This is connected to the warning that when a blind person leads another blind person, both may fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14), and it carries the meaning of a powerful warning that urges people to receive proper spiritual discernment and guidance within the truth” (Internet).
- “Core meaning and biblical background
The importance of spiritual eyes: This refers not simply to physical eyesight, but to “spiritual eyes”—the ability to discern God and the spiritual realm through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
Biblical warning: Just as in Jesus’ words, “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Mt. 15:14), it warns that if a spiritually dark leader guides a spiritually dark group, all may stray from the truth.
The danger of the absence of truth: This refers to a state of not knowing God rightly (John 17:3) and being unable to provide true life and salvation, suggesting that such a state may lead to a condition without salvation and life.
What this metaphor implies
The need for true leaders: It emphasizes the need for pastors whose spiritual eyes have been opened by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who know God rightly, stand firmly on the Word of Scripture, and can lead believers along the right path.
Believers’ wakefulness: It emphasizes that believers themselves must also be spiritually awake, possess discernment, and, rather than following blindly, cultivate spiritual discernment personally through the Word.
Worldly values vs. spiritual values: It stresses that true faith is a life that does not cling to what is seen with physical eyes, but lives while longing for heaven through spiritual eyes” (Internet).
n At this point, when I read the statement, “Believers’ wakefulness: believers themselves must also be spiritually awake, possess discernment, and, rather than following blindly, cultivate spiritual discernment personally through the Word,” I was reminded again of a devotional reflection I wrote on August 31, 2020, under the title “We Must Discern (3)”, meditating on 1 John 4:1–6: “Second, Scripture says, ‘Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.’ Look at today’s passage, 1 John 4:1: ‘Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.’ Dear friends, should we blindly believe pastors’ sermons? Or should we discern—even pastors’ sermons—whether they are correct or incorrect based on Scripture? In Acts 17:11, the Bible says that the people in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the (Word of God) with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. In other words, the Bereans studied the Scriptures every day to determine whether the word of God they heard through the apostle Paul was true. Applied to today, this means that you must study the Bible daily to determine whether the sermons you hear through pastors are truly the word of God or not. We must no longer, as some pastors used to say in the past during sermons, close the Bible and believe everything unconditionally. We must verify it. The reason is that there are too many false pastors, and false gospels and false sermons delivered through their mouths are rampant” [Ref.: https://blog.naver.com/kdicaprio74/222495257815].
(2) As I meditated on today’s main passage, Luke 6:40—“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher”—I was first led to meditate as well on the first part of Matthew 10:24–25: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master ….”
(a) In these two Scripture passages, the meaning of the statement “a disciple is not above his teacher” is that a blind disciple will be no better than a blind teacher, and that disciples who receive the guidance and teaching of the Pharisees remain bound within the framework of those false teachings and go no further than that (Hochma).
(i) And the statement, “everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Lk. 6:40b) [“it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher” (Mt. 10:25)], means that if the disciples of the Pharisees fully follow their teacher’s instruction, they will become Pharisees exactly like their teacher (Hochma).
· However, we must not overlook that behind these words lies another intention of Jesus—namely, the exhortation, “Should not the disciples who follow Me be different from these people? Through all the teaching you have received so far, be made complete and become like Me.” Although no one among humanity can ever reach the level of Jesus, believers must grow in every way up to Christ, who is the Head (Eph. 4:15; Col. 1:18) (Hochma).
- True disciples of Jesus do not follow hypocritical and misguided teachers, but fully understand and practice the teachings of Jesus, the true Teacher. They grow, are transformed by the Holy Spirit, and mature to become like Jesus (Ref.: Internet).
n This is a word that emphasizes a disciple’s resolve and perseverance: a disciple cannot surpass the teacher, and just as the teacher experiences humiliation, persecution, and suffering, the disciple may also experience them. Therefore, even amid such suffering, the disciple should not lose heart, but be satisfied simply to walk the same path of suffering as the Lord (Mt. 10:25) (Internet).