Have you ever read Scripture

Have you ever read Scripture
and felt like you should understand it-
but you don't?

You know the words.
You know the story.
You know what happened.

But the meaning
stays just out of reach-
like a puzzle
you're trying to solve
without the box top.

The disciples had read,
"they pierced my hands and feet" (Ps 22:16).
But they never connected it
with a crucified Messiah.

They had read,
"he was pierced for our transgressions" (Isa 53:5).
But they never understood that
It referred to the suffering of Jesus.

They never imagined
that the One described as
"despised and rejected by men"
and "a man of sorrows" (Isa 53:3)
could be the Messiah Himself.

And they never dreamed
that the One
"led like a lamb to the slaughter" (Isa 53:7)
was the very One
standing before them,
risen from the dead.

And Daniel's vision
of the Son of Man receiving everlasting dominion (Dan 7:13-14)-
they assumed that meant
a Messiah who could not die,
and therefore
a Messiah who could not rise.

Looking back,
it's obvious to us.
But it wasn't obvious to them.

And you may not know this about Jesus,
before He ascended
He did something
they could never do
for themselves.

"Then He opened their minds
to understand the Scriptures."

This wasn't new revelation.
The Scriptures were already written.
This was illumination-
the God-given ability
to see what had been true
all along.

And Paul tells us
how God does this today:

Christ removes the veil
so we can see (2 Cor 3).
God enlightens
the eyes of our hearts (Eph 1:18).
The Spirit illumines
what we cannot grasp on our own (1 Cor 2).

Jesus opened their minds.
The Spirit opens ours.

But there is one condition.
Just one.

For God to open our eyes
to understand Scripture,
we must open the Scriptures
and ask Him
for understanding.

Spiritual understanding
isn't an achievement.
It's a gift.