For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all
Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this [is] my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Romans 11:25-27
Not all of Israel is blind to
this truth, but much of it at this time is. There is a day coming when as a
nation:
"...They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall
mourn for him, as one mourns for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness
for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn."
Zechariah 12:10b, compare John 19:37
Blindness was a common condition in Israel in the first century. Those who were blind from birth or as the result of an accident were thought of as sinners whom God has judged. They were outcasts from society. On the social scale, they were ranked beneath the normal sinners and only one notch above tax collectors.
In fact, we learn from Jewish historians and from the scriptures that there were four types of people that were the most hated of Jewish society:
