Tag: spiritual blindness

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Mark Devotionals

Lord, do you sometimes sigh?

Making God sigh

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him.

Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this generation demand a sign?” (Mark 8:11-12)

Aware of this, [Jesus] said to [his disciples], “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread?

Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember…

Don’t you understand yet?” (Mark 8:17-18, 21)

How often, Jesus, do you sigh deeply at my stubbornness, at my unbelief?

How often do you sigh deeply at my hardened heart, at my eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear? At my failure to remember. At my lack of understanding?

And yet, somehow, you’ve never given up on me.

As with the blind man, you keep touching my eyes until I can see. You keep touching my ears until I can hear. You keep touching my mind until I can understand. And you keep touching my heart until it softens.

Thank you for your incredible grace.

Categories
Luke Devotionals

Lord, I want to see!

Jesus healing blind man

[The disciples] understood none of these things [Jesus was saying]. The meaning of the saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:34)

[Jesus] asked [the blind man], “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.” (40-41)

Jesus, how often am I like the disciples? You want to say something to me that’s important, that I need to hear. And yet the meaning of your words are hidden from me and I don’t grasp what you’re trying to say to me.

Jesus, I don’t want to be blind. I want to see. Open the eyes of my heart so that I can grasp what you’re trying to tell me.

Remove anything in my heart that would prevent me from understanding and receiving what you want to say to me.

Remove the pride of the Pharisee in me.

Remove the unwillingness of the ruler in me to surrender all to you.

Lord, there is joy in surrender. There is joy in following you. The blind man discovered that.

Let me discover that joy too.

Categories
Luke Devotionals

When Jesus makes his visitation

Luke

If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes…you did not recognize the time when God visited you.” (Luke 19:42, 44)

Ever since my pastor’s message on spiritual blindness several weeks ago, I’ve noticed this theme throughout Luke.

We see things hidden from the disciples and Pharisees because they had closed their eyes and ears to what Jesus was saying and doing. (Luke 18:34, 19:39-41)

At least in the disciples’ case, they did recognize him as Messiah, although they were totally mistaken in their idea of what Messiah was.

But the Pharisees, despite all the signs and miracles Jesus performed, despite the fact that they could never answer his wisdom (Luke 13:17; 14:6), closed their eyes and ears to him, rejecting him, and as a result failed to recognize when God visited them.

On the other hand, we see people who did want to see and hear when Jesus was making his “visitation.”

We have Bartimaeus, the blind man in Jericho crying out, “I want to see!”

Despite all the people trying to shut him up, he refused to give up until Jesus heard him and called him. And by his faith, he was saved. (Luke 18:35-43, Mark 10:46-52)

And we see Zacchaeus, unable to see Jesus because of his height, making every effort to see.

Jesus saw and called him too, And when Jesus came to his house, Zacchaeus opened his ears to Jesus’ message of repentance and he too was saved. (Luke 19:1-10)

Jesus has made his visitation, and wants to bring us his salvation and peace. But we can’t know that salvation and peace unless we open our eyes and ears to him.

Even as Christians, it’s possible to be blind. The church at Laodicea was. They were living the “good life.”

But according to Jesus, they were actually “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17)

Jesus offered to clothe them with his righteousness and help them to see.

He offers the same to us. He loves us and as with Zacchaeus, he calls us to repent. (Revelation 3:19)

So let us heed his words:

See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

Categories
Luke Devotionals

Opening our eyes and ears

Luke

Let anyone who has ears to hear listen. (Luke 8:8)

As I was reading this chapter, I couldn’t help but think of my pastor’s message yesterday talking about spiritual blindness. (Mark 8)

In Matthew’s gospel, he gives the longer quote of Isaiah (10) than Luke does, in which we see these words:

For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and
understand with their hearts,
and turn back—
and I would heal them. (Matthew 13:15)

And I was thinking, are there ways I have allowed my heart to grow callous to God’s word? Are there words that used to touch me, are there words that used to sting me, that do so no longer because I did nothing about them?

Are there any things that have made my ears hard of hearing? Is there any pride dulling my ears because I think I already know it all?

Or is there so much noise coming from other things, Youtube, podcasts, etc., that I can’t hear what God is trying to say to me? 

Are there things that I have shut my eyes to in God’s word? I shut them because I don’t want to see them. I don’t want to see them because it would force me to change how I think or how I act, and I don’t want to change.

Is Jesus pleading with me, “Listen! Open your eyes! I want to heal you. I want to lead you. I have something better for you”?

Lord, by your grace, you have opened my eyes. Don’t let me close them. You’ve opened my ears to hear you. Don’t let me dull them.

You are good. Your word is good. So help me hold fast to it. Even when it’s hard to obey, help me to keep moving forward with you. I want to bear fruit for you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Mark Mark 8

Blind

Blind man and Jesus

My father lost his sight after an accident in which he fell and his glasses broke into his eyes.

I kind of think that the man in this story also was once able to see, but through some disease or accident lost his eyesight.

For one thing, he seemed to know what trees and people were supposed to look like. For another, it says his sight was “restored,” which seems to imply that he used to be able to see.

At any rate, Jesus went through a very interesting process to heal the man. First, he spit in the man’s eyes, and then he touched them.

Why did he spit first? One commentary (Adam Clarke’s) says that perhaps it was for the practical purpose of separating the eyelids which may have been gummed together, as can happen in some cases of blindness.

After touching the blind man’s eyes, Jesus asked if he could see, at which point the man said he saw people walking around, but they looked like trees. Jesus then put his hands on the man again, and after he did, the man could see clearly.

Just as Jesus gave physical eyesight to this man, so he gives sight to those who are spiritually blind. But as in the case of this man, it can be a process.

He first loosens the eyelids by removing their old, sinful way of thinking. Then as he touches them, they begin to see, but not so clearly at first.

But at his repeated touch, they come to a place where they can see clearly, and the first thing they see is him. And as he transforms their minds and lives, they are made completely new.

What am I trying to say? Don’t get discouraged if the people seem blind to Jesus and his life-transforming truth. It often takes time before they can see.

And remember that you can’t make a person see. Only Jesus can. So keep bringing them before Jesus in prayer, and keep planting the seed.

And by God’s grace, the day will come when they will see clearly.