Blind people, who have always lived with a visual impairment, know the value of being able to see better than anyone else, but those who have been able to see everything since birth cannot understand it fully. What if a man who has lived in total darkness regains his sight one day, so he can see the world clearly? At that moment, he would be overjoyed beyond words.

It is the same with us. Our souls must have leaped for joy and overflowed with thanksgiving when we met God and our spiritual eyes were opened to see the truth. However, as we always see and hear the words of truth, everything becomes routine with the passing of time.

While walking the path of faith, sometimes we forget to give thanks to God for the blessings that He has given us. We were deeply touched by God’s word at first, but as time passes, we may feel like it’s just routine. We must not commit this foolishness. As the people of Zion, we should all thank and glorify Elohim all the more every day for allowing us to see the truth.

God has allowed us to see and believe in Him

The Gospel of John records an incident where a man blind from birth met Jesus and his sight was restored. Jesus put mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. The blind man obeyed Jesus’ words and his eyes were opened, so he could see everything clearly.

The fact that Christ opened the eyes of the blind man was something unprecedented, miraculous, and blissful, and it was also the fulfillment of the prophecy about what Jesus would do (Isa 42:1–7). However, the Pharisees treated Him as a sinner just because He worked on the Sabbath. The man who regained his sight and saw the world for the first time answered their question as follows:

Jn 9:25, 31–33 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” . . . “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The man who had been blind from birth said that he didn’t know who Jesus was, but that he was now able to see when he did as Jesus had told him. He emphasized, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

His heart must have been filled with inexpressible joy and overwhelming emotion when he saw the world for the first time. His heart must also have been overflowing with thanksgiving to Jesus for opening his eyes so that he could see. He was sure that the one who restored his sight had been sent from God.

As he expressed his faith in Jesus, the people who opposed Jesus drove him out. On hearing this, Jesus met him and let him know who He was.

Jn 9:35–38 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

When he was blind, he did not recognize Jesus although he met him. However, when his eyes were opened and he could see, the situation was totally different than when his eyes were closed. He was able to identify colors and see the person in front of him, and he also came to realize that Jesus was God. As he knew that Jesus was the Savior who healed his eyes, he came to believe in Christ and received Him.

We were also spiritually blind before we knew the truth. Although our eyes were opened, we could not discern spiritual things. Though we wanted to worship God properly, we did not even know what day God appointed as the day of worship. As we were living in darkness like blind people, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother came and opened our spiritual eyes. They let us know about the Sabbath, the Passover, and Elohim who brought us the tree of life. So now we see and have true faith in Christ—the Spirit and the Bride.

Seeing but never perceiving, and hearing but never understanding

There were many people who met Jesus 2,000 years ago, as we can see in the New Testament. Some of them recognized Christ and received Him, but some slandered and opposed Him in every way. To those who did not recognize Christ who was right in front of them, Jesus said they were spiritually blind.

Jn 9:39–41 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Mt 13:14–16 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.’ ”

Mk 4:11–13 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ”

They were all blind because they did not recognize Jesus although they saw Him, weren’t they? It might seem easy for them to recognize and receive Jesus when they saw what He was doing. However, the Jews failed to recognize Jesus at that time. So Jesus called them “blind” and said about the religious leaders such as the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, and the chief priests, “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Mt 15:14).

Open eyes and closed eyes

God came to this earth in the flesh. The King of kings took off His glorious robe and put on ordinary clothes temporarily. However, many people who claimed to believe in God did not recognize Him when He came to this earth as a man. With their closed spiritual eyes, they even tried to stone Him.

Jn 10:30–33 “I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Mk 2:5–12 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all . . .

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one,” and forgave sins with the authority to forgive, which belongs only to God. This shows who Jesus really is. Jesus taught people many times that He was God, but they picked up stones to stone Him. It’s because their spiritual eyes were completely closed.

In the age of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit and the Bride came to this earth in the flesh. As for those whose spiritual eyes are closed, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding. Some respect and follow every word given by the Spirit and the Bride who are with us, but others neglect it. Those who neglect God’s word are in the state of being unable to perceive though seeing and unable to understand through hearing.

We must open our spiritual eyes, so we can recognize God correctly and receive Him. Those who have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear are different from others in the attitude of honoring God and in the manner of behavior toward Him. This is how those who have open eyes are distinguished from those who have closed eyes.

Joy and blessings for those whose spiritual eyes are open

We were blind before, but now we have eyes to see. So, let us reflect on ourselves and see whether we honor God with joy and thanksgiving or we just have God in our knowledge. Our spiritual eyes are already open, but if they become dull in our daily routine, we cannot follow God’s guidance fully. We should receive Elohim with excitement and emotion as if we were blind until yesterday and regained our sight today, and should also fully follow the path They lead us on.

At the time of Jesus, Zacchaeus had the same kind of mindset. He was a chief tax collector. One day, he heard that Jesus was coming through his town. He wanted to see Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him. When Jesus came by, He looked up at him and called him by his name. Then Jesus said to him, “I must stay at your house today.” That day, Zacchaeus’ heart was filled with so much joy. After receiving Jesus, he pledged to give half of his possessions to the poor, and that if he had cheated anybody out of anything, he would pay back four times the amount (Lk 19:1–10).

As for the Apostle Paul, when his spiritual eyes were opened, he testified that Jesus was in very nature God and preached the gospel with thanksgiving no matter what hardships he faced. The Apostle Peter immediately recognized Christ who came in the flesh and confessed his faith in Him.

Mk 16:15–19 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

God gave such great blessings to those whose spiritual eyes were opened. We are so blessed to call God “our Heavenly Father” and “our Heavenly Mother.” Do we, then, look at God with our spiritual eyes open, just as Peter did? Let’s think this over. If we still put our own thoughts and feelings before God’s word, our eyes are not yet fully opened. We must look at God with eyes open and not with eyes closed. When the army of Aram surrounded the city of Dothan to capture the prophet Elisha, his servant saw the Aramean soldiers and chariots and became afraid. At Elisha’s prayer, God opened his servant’s spiritual eyes, and he saw the heavenly army, which far outnumbered the enemy, surrounding them (2 Ki 6:8–17). He thought that there were no soldiers to fight on their side, but he came to realize that the heavenly army was protecting them. Then his fear disappeared and he had great courage.

When we close our eyes, we feel like there is no one around us. However, we are not walking this path alone. We have brothers and sisters in Zion, who are walking the path of the gospel beside us. Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are with us, and myriads of angels are helping us wherever we preach the gospel.

Now, let us keep our spiritual eyes wide open and look at the spiritual world where God works. Everything is being accomplished as prophesied in the Bible. Paying attention to the prophecies, let us fully understand the Spirit and the Bride, who are leading us all the way according to the prophecies, and run towards heaven with unwavering faith to follow Them wherever They lead us.

There are many people around us whose spiritual eyes are still closed. Let us open their spiritual eyes, too. God has given us the authority to open their eyes. So, our brothers and sisters in Zion all around the world are now preaching Heavenly Father and Mother, who have come to this earth, to Samaria and even to the ends of the earth.

The kingdom of heaven is drawing nearer every day. Brothers and sisters in Zion! I earnestly ask you all to obey God’s word with joy and thanksgiving and to fulfill the gospel mission, looking at God and God’s numerous blessings for us with open eyes.