They were prevented (former but not previously published post)
I have been reading my way through the gospel of Luke and one thing that Luke points out again and again is that the disciples were prevented, kept from understanding Jesus' prophecies about how he would die and that he would rise. I'm currently reading in chapter 24 and Luke mentions that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were kept from recognizing Jesus.
During their meal with Jesus, the two Emmaus disciples, Cleopas and his companion, had their eyes were opened to recognize Him. When Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples that evening in Jerusalem, Luke states that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures concerning Himself. They did not understand what He told them when He was with them before His crucifixion and resurrection because He kept them from that understanding. Luke is very careful to point this out. A divinely given 'blindness,' if you will, seems to be the cause of this.
In the case of unbelievers, the Scriptures state that the 'god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.' (2 Cor. 4:3)
The 'blindness' spoken of in Luke seems to originate with God and, in God's timing, the blindness is taken away. This is a curious thought to me. I wonder at the connection this understanding, or lack thereof, has with our growth in spiritual maturity. God does not reveal everything to us about Himself all at the same time. We would be unable to bear it, digest it, process it. Instead, He lovingly portions it out to us as we grow in our relationship with Him. I wonder if this was the case with the disciples. I wonder if, perhaps. the reason they were kept from understanding these things was because they would not have been able to process what they were hearing at that point in time - they were not mature enough to handle the information.
Do you ever grow impatient with the seeming slowness of your growth in your walk with God? Do you ever wonder if it is because God is giving you what you are able to 'digest' right now and isn't giving you something that you are ill-equipped to handle? Do you ever pursue the Lord's mind long over a period of time with no answer and then suddenly God reveals the answer to you? Does this ever strike you as a blessing from the Lord that He did not give you the answer right away because you may not have then been mature enough to handle it?
Luke doesn't seem to indicate that the disciples were curious about why they couldn't understand these things. Their focus was more temporal - who would be the greatest, etc. I don't know that they understood that these things were things they might want to investigate further. I doubt they believed Christ when He told them these things. He had made so many confusing statements to them and to the crowds during their time with Him they may have placed these prophecies in the same box of things that were not to be understood. If they had truly grasped the import of Christ's prophecies about his final suffering, they may have questioned him further. Peter sought to deny these things when he did catch the import of them. Perhaps, they thought if they ignored what Jesus was saying to them then these things wouldn't happen. Avoidance would lead to impossibility, perhaps they reasoned.
Don't we do the same? Don't we try to ignore unpleasant realities, hoping they will disappear? How do we respond when faced with unpleasant realities? Why?
Instead of seeking to ignore them, what can we learn from them?
During their meal with Jesus, the two Emmaus disciples, Cleopas and his companion, had their eyes were opened to recognize Him. When Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples that evening in Jerusalem, Luke states that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures concerning Himself. They did not understand what He told them when He was with them before His crucifixion and resurrection because He kept them from that understanding. Luke is very careful to point this out. A divinely given 'blindness,' if you will, seems to be the cause of this.
In the case of unbelievers, the Scriptures state that the 'god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.' (2 Cor. 4:3)
The 'blindness' spoken of in Luke seems to originate with God and, in God's timing, the blindness is taken away. This is a curious thought to me. I wonder at the connection this understanding, or lack thereof, has with our growth in spiritual maturity. God does not reveal everything to us about Himself all at the same time. We would be unable to bear it, digest it, process it. Instead, He lovingly portions it out to us as we grow in our relationship with Him. I wonder if this was the case with the disciples. I wonder if, perhaps. the reason they were kept from understanding these things was because they would not have been able to process what they were hearing at that point in time - they were not mature enough to handle the information.
Do you ever grow impatient with the seeming slowness of your growth in your walk with God? Do you ever wonder if it is because God is giving you what you are able to 'digest' right now and isn't giving you something that you are ill-equipped to handle? Do you ever pursue the Lord's mind long over a period of time with no answer and then suddenly God reveals the answer to you? Does this ever strike you as a blessing from the Lord that He did not give you the answer right away because you may not have then been mature enough to handle it?
Luke doesn't seem to indicate that the disciples were curious about why they couldn't understand these things. Their focus was more temporal - who would be the greatest, etc. I don't know that they understood that these things were things they might want to investigate further. I doubt they believed Christ when He told them these things. He had made so many confusing statements to them and to the crowds during their time with Him they may have placed these prophecies in the same box of things that were not to be understood. If they had truly grasped the import of Christ's prophecies about his final suffering, they may have questioned him further. Peter sought to deny these things when he did catch the import of them. Perhaps, they thought if they ignored what Jesus was saying to them then these things wouldn't happen. Avoidance would lead to impossibility, perhaps they reasoned.
Don't we do the same? Don't we try to ignore unpleasant realities, hoping they will disappear? How do we respond when faced with unpleasant realities? Why?
Instead of seeking to ignore them, what can we learn from them?
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