Even as accustomed to hearing about abortion as we are in this day and age, it still should stir us deep within our souls. The fact that hundreds of babies are killed daily as a "choice" is disturbing when one considers the kind of heart that it takes to submit to such a procedure. Without natural affection is the way Paul describes such in Romans 1.
On the other hand, a story arises that demonstrates the complete opposite of such darkened hearts. Nikki Bradshaw Carpenter(LINK) died while trying to protect her three children during a recent tornado in Mississippi. How stark a contrast she provides to the hearts of baby killers today.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Why They Could Not See Jesus
Luke 24:13-35
So they're walking from Jerusalem when Jesus joins them in their excursion. They did not "notice" who He was and Luke records that they were kept from recognizing Him. The interesting part about the verb is that it is in the passive tense which means something was acting upon them to keep them from recognizing Him. Some insert here that this was a "Divine" blindness put upon them by God. I'd like to propose an alternative.
In verse 25, when Jesus begins the greatest unrecorded Old Testament class of history, He labels these two as slow of heart to believe. In other words, they were experiencing a drought of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God is what Paul teaches us in Romans and so it should be no shock then that Jesus begins to teach, from the word of God, these two men. In order to build their faith, He taught them His word. He taught them the revelation of Himself in what we know as the Old Testament Scriptures.(I really would have loved to have been there.)
The real reason why these two were not able to see Jesus is that they were not believing the witness of the Scripture. They knew Jesus was crucified. They HAD BELIEVED(emphasis mine) that Jesus was the redeemer of Israel. They had heard of the incredible story told by the women but they had also heard of Peter and John's report of an empty tomb but no Jesus.
With all that they could see, Jesus was not who they thought He was to be. They were blinded by their own vision. They were blinded by THEIR OWN UNBELIEF. Thus, Jesus taught them the Word, which brought forth faith which when coupled with the eating of the bread led to the opening of their eyes. Surely, He could have opened their eyes earlier but the point is pressed that faith comes by hearing the word of God. In fact, their hearts were telling them this was Jesus the whole time(verse 32) but they didn't believe because of what they had seen with their eyes.
Why could they not see Jesus? They could not see Jesus because of unbelief. If you and I want to see Jesus, we need to hear His Word. Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing. And what should we believe? The testimony of Scripture is the answer for the child of God.
So they're walking from Jerusalem when Jesus joins them in their excursion. They did not "notice" who He was and Luke records that they were kept from recognizing Him. The interesting part about the verb is that it is in the passive tense which means something was acting upon them to keep them from recognizing Him. Some insert here that this was a "Divine" blindness put upon them by God. I'd like to propose an alternative.
In verse 25, when Jesus begins the greatest unrecorded Old Testament class of history, He labels these two as slow of heart to believe. In other words, they were experiencing a drought of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God is what Paul teaches us in Romans and so it should be no shock then that Jesus begins to teach, from the word of God, these two men. In order to build their faith, He taught them His word. He taught them the revelation of Himself in what we know as the Old Testament Scriptures.(I really would have loved to have been there.)
The real reason why these two were not able to see Jesus is that they were not believing the witness of the Scripture. They knew Jesus was crucified. They HAD BELIEVED(emphasis mine) that Jesus was the redeemer of Israel. They had heard of the incredible story told by the women but they had also heard of Peter and John's report of an empty tomb but no Jesus.
With all that they could see, Jesus was not who they thought He was to be. They were blinded by their own vision. They were blinded by THEIR OWN UNBELIEF. Thus, Jesus taught them the Word, which brought forth faith which when coupled with the eating of the bread led to the opening of their eyes. Surely, He could have opened their eyes earlier but the point is pressed that faith comes by hearing the word of God. In fact, their hearts were telling them this was Jesus the whole time(verse 32) but they didn't believe because of what they had seen with their eyes.
Why could they not see Jesus? They could not see Jesus because of unbelief. If you and I want to see Jesus, we need to hear His Word. Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing. And what should we believe? The testimony of Scripture is the answer for the child of God.
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