Sayings

"The blind leading the blind" is an idiom and a metaphor in the form of a parallel phrase; it is used to describe a situation where a person ignorant of a given subject is getting advice and help from another person who is just as ignorant of the subject. It is thought that the phrase  can be traced back to a Sanskrit text, which were written around 800 - “ Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind.”

In the New Testament, Jesus uses the phrase again in warning about false teachers, “Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”Matthew 15:14

There are a number of ways that we can interpret blindness in this metaphor.  The word in the greek, translated as blind, can refer to a physical or mental blindness. Such mental blindness is found in the 16th century phrase, with its roots even traced to the 14ht century’s Wycliffe Bible, the first translated into English; where in  Matthew 13:13, we read: “for thei seynge seen not, and thei herynge heren not”. Such an intentional myopathy, when truth is in plain sight, is what Jesus is referring too.

A man was driving through a mining region one Sunday when he noticed a large number of mules in an open field. When he inquired about this unusual sight, he was told that the work animals had been brought up from the dark passages below to preserve their eyesight. Unless they were regularly exposed to the sunlight, they would eventually go blind. The Christian needs similar experiences to keep him from losing his spiritual vision. The Lord’s Day has been given to aid him in keeping his eyes focused clearly on the TRUE LIGHT!

In 1 John 1:7 we find a remedy to such spirit blindness that avoids leading another astray.  “If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.” (The Message)

Lord, You call us to be

your light

in the darkness,

your voice

in the wilderness,

your hope

for the hopeless.

You give us

strength

in our weakness,

peace

and gentleness,

words

and boldness,

to proclaim

more of you

and of us, less. Amen