Can the blind lead the blind?

 And He spoke a parable to them:  "Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall into the ditch?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  For every tree is known by its own fruit.  For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the floor arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.  And the ruin of that house was great."

- Luke 6:39-49

We are reading through Jesus' Sermon on the Plain, in Luke's Gospel.  We began reading this sermon with Tuesday's reading.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.  But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.  Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

And He spoke a parable to them:  "Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall into the ditch?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."  My study bible suggests here that Christ judges no one (John 8:15; 12:47).  Cyril of Alexandria has written:  "If the Teacher does not judge, neither must the disciple, for the disciple is guilty of worse sins than those for which he judges others." 

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye."  Here is the crux about judgment:  we're supposed to look to ourselves.  We'll never be able to have clear or "good" judgment in the first place unless we first see clearly our own flaws.

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  For every tree is known by its own fruit.  For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."  Jesus speaks of self-correction in the earlier example of  "removing the speck from our own eye" before we see fit to correct others.  Here's an affirmation of the idea of making our own hearts full of good treasure:  it's the way to make what we do good, to bear good fruit.  Elsewhere He's spoken about storing up the intangible treasures of the Kingdom; we may do so in our hearts, and "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."  So much depends upon what we dwell on, which master we follow, what kind of disciples we really are.

 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the floor arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.  And the ruin of that house was great."   My study bible says that hearing the gospel isn't enough.  Our salvation isn't based on hearing nor faith alone, but rather on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).

Jesus teaches us about the need for our own self-discipline, a commitment to following through on what He teaches.  He begins with an emphasis on the inner self, our looking within.  We can't see clearly unless we acknowledge and focus on our own imperfection, our own flaws.  This He calls the "plank" in our own eye, the thing we need to clean for clear vision.  We won't be able to judge anything appropriately without a clear vision about ourselves.  And when He speaks of removing the speck in another's eye, it's with a view toward helpful correction, not harsh judgment.  Jesus' views on discipline have to do with carrying ourselves as good disciples to the Teacher, being like the Teacher, Himself.  And that is supposed to be our focus as His followers.  In this way we are able to glorify God the Father, when we bring out the "good treasure" in a good heart, the true inner life of the self.  He's taking on our hypocrisy, our ability to listen but not to do nor to follow through.  What He promises is this foundation of faith, that if we really follow through and practice what He teaches, we're building a good foundation for our lives.  We're on secure ground.  We note that it's foolish, in His characterization, not to do so.  Christ's understanding of what it means to be a good disciple relies a lot on our own self-responsibility.  He's not one to deny that we're capable of following His commands!  He puts His faith in us, and we are meant to keep trying.  We are meant to get up again when we fail and keep going at it, keep working at what is meant by discipleship.  I think we have to see that His estimation of the things we're capable of is very high.  That is, as Knower of hearts, as the One who understands what is within us, He's the one who's teaching us that we're capable of much greater things than simply following our noses, self-interest that encourages self-righteousness, a selfishness that can only point at or project upon others.  This requires a self-awareness that is more than "following the rules"; it's a self-understanding that asks for a deep sense of self-correction, an awareness that we are blind to the things we don't want to see, and that calls on us to erase that blindness.  That's a high estimation of a human being, of our capabilities as persons.  We are called even to perfection, to be like God the Father (see yesterday's reading).  Christ doesn't speak out of blindness, or wishful thinking, or a determined philosophy to only see the good.  On the contrary, He knows us better than we know ourselves!  He loves us.  He knows the things we are capable of doing; He's our Creator.  Let us remember the faith He puts in human beings as disciples, His followers, those who love Him and His Father and to whom the gift of the Spirit is given.  His encouragement is for us to keep going, keep working at this, and go forward in His love and embrace to be more like Him.