A need for Spiritual Glasses

Luke 10:23-24

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”  Have you ever been in such a hurry to get to your destination that you missed many of the things in between?   What a great picture of many teachers in our churches today.  Have you been in that adult class where they cover six chapters of the Bible in one lesson because they had a time line or destination to reach?  Do you think you might have missed something?

It is helpful to look at Matthew’s gospel and the parable of the sower to understand better what Jesus is telling His disciples, the twelve.  Jesus is answering the question: “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”  Jesus answers in verses 13-15,         “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:  “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”  Are we living in such a time that Jesus is referring to?

Before the days of big screens at sporting events, many of us sat in the noise bleed section of the stadium and you could see but not clearly.  The prophets and kings saw a Christ in the future, but it was not a clear picture, Jesus was not standing physically in their presence.  So Jesus in Matthew’s account goes on to explain his truth: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:16-17)

The apostle John gives this great insight from Jesus in John 14:19-20, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”  What are you seeing and hearing?  My prayer is that each of us will seek our only identity in Christ, for He is the abundant life, and this world needs Jesus!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice