When Your Theology Keeps You From Seeing the Truth

"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45)

"Then He opened their minds
to understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

I counted thirty-one times
Jesus mentioned
His death and or resurrection.

Not once did the disciples understand
the meaning of these statements
about His death and resurrection.
But the Gospel writers noted it:

"They did not understand this saying,
and it was concealed from them." Luke 9:45

"They did not understand the saying
and were afraid to ask Him." Mark 9:32

"They understood none of these things;
this saying was hidden from them." Luke 18:34

"They kept the matter to themselves,
discussing what 'rising from the dead' meant." Mark 9:10

They had seen the prophecies-
the suffering servant (Isaiah 53),
the pierced one (Zechariah 12:10),
the rejected stone (Psalm 118:22),
the lamb led to slaughter (Isaiah 53:7),
the righteous one not abandoned to Sheol (Psalm 16:10)-

but their interpretation of Daniel 7:13-14
biased them against the truth.

Daniel's vision told them
the Son of Man would receive
an everlasting kingdom.
If His rule is eternal,
He cannot die.
And if He cannot die,
He cannot rise.

So every prophecy of
His death,
and resurrection
was filtered out
by their devotion
to a Scripture
they misunderstood.

Then, in that room,
Jesus did what His teaching
never accomplished.

He opened their minds.

Revelation is the Scripture
God has spoken.

Illumination is the Spirit's light
that reveals the Text's true meaning.
The common denominator
that suddenly drew
every prophecy
into one clear story.

The Law.
The Prophets.
The Psalms.
A whole library of promises
converging
on the suffering
and rising
of the Christ.

For the first time,
the cross made sense.
So did the empty tomb.
So did their mission.

They didn't figure it out.
He opened their minds.

Because seeing Jesus
is never an achievement.
It's always a gift.

Illumination is the reward
the Spirit gives
as He opens our eyes
to what we've read.

The Gospel story is a garden.
Reading it plants the seeds.
Illumination is the Spirit
making those seeds blossom.

You may not know this about Jesus,
but He is the One who breaks
the bias
that keeps you from seeing
the truth.