In Matthew 13, Jesus sat down by the seaside and began
to tell stories. They were parables, which are usually a simple story, or in
the case of verse 33, just a statement, all with a much deeper meaning. To many who heard, it was simply a nice little
story. They listened with passing interest.
Others listened, then processed it through what they believed, what was
logical to them, and most likely what made them most comfortable. They heard and
saw what they wanted to see and hear. They
were fully convinced they understood what Jesus was saying. Unfortunately, that
wasn’t the case at all. They didn’t
recognize their blindness.
On the other hands, it was the ones “granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven” who listened, but did NOT understand. They were not content with a nice story. They
were the ones with the questions and no easy answers. No instant light bulbs
came on. They needed an explanation. Ironically, it is those who don’t feel
they could see or hear the whole truth that are the ones Jesus said have been
granted that privilege. In the Kingdom
of God, the blind see!
Kingdom truths are so out of this world, that they
cannot be seen and heard from an earthly perspective. However, that is the only
way we have ever looked at things. We convince ourselves that we have perfect vision and hearing by measuring how much information we've gathered and compare our "understanding" to others deemed less "enlightened."
We convince ourselves that we have perfect vision and
hearing. The Lord called the religiously arrogant on this very thing. (Revelation 3:17,18) When it comes to this
kind of blindness, we need more than eye salve or glasses.
In order to see and hear truth, we need a whole new
mind. Through faith in Jesus, we have
been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We now have access to a higher perspective
and been given a different filter through which to process experiences,
information and decisions. We are graciously given the Holy Spirit to walk us
through the process of unraveling the mysteries of the kingdom. “He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep
darkness into light.” (Job 12:22). However,
the first step towards truly seeing in the dark is acknowledging that we ARE
actually blind.
Jesus promises to lead the blind and graciously takes
us where we need to go. (Isaiah 42:16) However,
being led starts with admitting our blindness. If we are thoroughly convinced
that we know what we are doing and which way to go, pride and foolishness will
keep us from getting what we truly need. We continually need the eyes of our
hearts enlightened. (Ephesians 1:18) The promise of Psalm 146:8 – “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind,” has
more to do with spiritual blindness, then physical inability to see. Our
blindness needs to be continually addressed.
The most important reason why is because failure to acknowledge our
blindness results in our going further astray (John 9:39-41) or worse, leading
others into great peril (Matthew 15:12-15).
Making It
Personal
A person who believes they have great vision and/or
hearing will seldom get their eyes and ears checked. A smart person does it any
way. How do you go about getting your
kingdom eyes and ears examined?
How does it make you feel that having questions and
not understanding are actually evidence that God has granted to you to privilege
of seeing and hearing kingdom truths?
What do you need to do with all the questions and
confusion? (Matthew 7:7; James 1:5)
Reread the assurance of Isaiah 42:16 in The
Message. What does it means to you that
Jesus wants to be your personal guide?
Dealing with blindness is an ongoing issue. The lyrics “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,”
need to be our continual petition. What
are you actually asking of God with this request? Are you?
