This hymn, written by one of England’s most powerful evangelical preachers, is possibly the best known in all of Christianity.
The writer, John Newton, learned Bible verses on his mother’s knee until she died when he was seven years old. After her death, his life became very unstable. He ended up in the British Navy but he later deserted and was severely punished. His life was a rollercoaster ride until March 9, 1748 when he was in a treacherous storm at sea. He cried to God for help and was delivered from “deep waters” on the 10th day of March.
Over the next several years his spiritual growth was somewhat irregular. But, he eventually became one of the most powerful evangelical preachers in British history. He was a strong opponent of slavery and wrote several hundred hymns…the most famous by far is “Amazing Grace”. He wrote the hymn as he was studying 1 Chronicles 17:16 – 17 as follows.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.
The entire hymn is packed with spiritual truth. But let’s focus on the last part of the first verse: “I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.” The word “blind” occurs 36 times in the Old Testament and 55 times in the New Testament. It occurs the most number of times in the book of John (18 times).Testament and 55 times in the New Testament. It occurs the most number of times in the book of John (18 times).
One of the most well-known miracles of Jesus is the restoring of sight to the blind man in John Chapter 9. The blind man could truly say, “I once was blind but now I see.”
Let’s look more closely at this riveting account of the divine wisdom and power of Jesus.
The account begins with a question from Jesus’ disciples. They ask Him whether the man or someone in his family sinned…causing his blindness. This was a common belief in those days…the reason for a deformity was sin.
But Jesus responds with an astounding statement: “neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
This is a shocking example of the sovereignty of God. God ordained this for His purpose. Jesus healed his blindness…but, He did it on the Sabbath. This was a real problem for the Pharisees. Jesus did not obey their rules regarding the Sabbath.
The Pharisees decided to look into the matter and they asked the man who healed him and how. He responded by saying, “the man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.” The Pharisees were divided on the issue. Some thought Jesus was a sinner for not honoring the Sabbath. Others wondered how a sinner could do this miraculous deed. So, they questioned the man again. The former blind man said, “He is a prophet.” So the level of respect the man who was healed had for Jesus increased from man to prophet.
The Pharisees were not satisfied so they questioned his parents. The parents did not want to discuss the matter for fear of offending the Pharisees. So they responded, “Ask him; he is of age.” Once more they summoned the man who had been healed and asked him again about Jesus. The man who had been healed became bolder before the Pharisees and actually began to rebuke them. This time he indicated that Jesus was from God. Enraged, the Pharisees threw the man out of the synagogue. Basically, the man was excommunicated from both a religious and social perspective.
When Jesus heard what had happened and found the man, He asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man responded to Jesus with a question, “Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Notice the man is ready to believe! When Jesus told him that the person he was talking to is the Son of Man, the former blind man responded, “Lord I believe!” Then, he worshipped Him. So, the blind man had his physical eyes opened and his spiritual eyes were opened as well. He was truly blind, but now he can see the world and see Jesus as the Son of God and his lord and savior.
But does this the story ends on this joyous high note? No, Jesus has a final message for the Pharisees! Jesus tells them that He came into the world so that the blind might see and those who see might become blind. The Pharisees respond by asking Jesus this question, “Are we blind too?” Jesus’ response is as follows (verse 41).
“If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
What does Jesus mean by this response? Spiritual sight (born again saving faith) only comes to those who recognize and acknowledge their spiritual blindness. This concept is consistent with the first beatitude from Matthew 5: “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” If we acknowledge our spiritual blindness and therefore the need for God’s “Amazing Grace,” we can sing, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” But, if we claim to see on our own, we are basically saying that we don’t need God’s grace…we are self-sufficient. And, like the Pharisees we are bound for destruction.
Now, more than ever, we need God to “open our eyes that we may see glimpse of truth thou has for me.” May we be like the blind man who was poor in spiritual sight, but through God’s amazing grace, believed in Jesus and worshipped him as Lord.
This man would surely sing “we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun”.
— H. Carter
Hymns for Him 