Failing to Grasp Truth
And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Jesus was a very patience man. He walked with these disciples for three years. He did miracle after miracle in front of them. He taught them day and night. He taught they alone and in crowds. He taught the directly and indirectly as He taught others. He laid out the plan of His Father for His life, multiple times. Yet, as the above verses state, they often still did not get it. It must have been frustrating. Man’s failure to acknowledge the truth of God is man’s defining challenge. This is such an important aspect of mankind that Paul told young pastor Timothy to focus on this very issue:
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Notice that is is God who must “grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” Only God can open the eyes of the blind. Only God can open our spiritual eyes to see His heavenly truth. Notice what happened when Jesus was walking with two disciples after His accession:
While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
We have to realize that God opens the eyes of them He would and closes the eyes of them He would not have see the glorious light of the Gospel. God allows Satan to do that in order to accomplish His plans:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
So, when we fail to grasp the truth of God’s word there are three reasons we can point to:
1. God has chosen to keep the Gospel a mystery,.
2. The god of this world as been allowed to “blind” man’s eyes to the Gospel.
3. Man, because of his lack of spiritual life, has dead eyes and can’t see the Gospel.
Only God can open the eyes of the blind to make them see the glorious beauty of the Gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment