Amazing Grace

Modern psychology has revealed numerous cognitive biases, which are systematic errors in our thinking that influence and affect how we make decisions and think about the world around us. One well known example is the confirmation bias, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values while discounting or ignoring what does not. In this passage, the disciples illustrate a kind of spiritual confirmation bias, disabling them from grasping Jesus’ full identity and his ultimate purpose. First century Jews had high Messianic expectations, but no one could imagine a suffering Messiah; it simply didn’t fit their paradigm, much like victory through defeat and humiliation don’t fit ours today.

But underneath this misconception is a deeper spiritual problem. Luke brilliantly constructs his gospel account by placing the actual healing of a blind man immediately after the disciples inability to see spiritual reality. Ironically, it is a physically blind man that can most clearly see Jesus for who he truly is. What does all this mean? The only way to fully see Jesus is to be able to admit how blind we are, which means acknowledging our hopelessness, helplessness, and desperation apart from him. The cross reveals the true horror of sin and its punishment, but also reveals the glory of grace and the depth of God’s love. As John Newton’s famous hymn goes, “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch; like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”