Ears To Hear
Eyes To See
As I continue to age I am more and more aware, even with hearing aids, that I do not hear as well as I did. I can sit at a table in a restaurant with several conversations going on around me and not be able to follow the flow. That is after I have already had trouble reading the menu in the low light restaurants seem to find attractive.
Now, I can understand how two people can attend the same speech, political rally or sermon and come away with totally different understanding of what was said.
Jesus came announcing that the Kingdom had come. Some went away in anger at this young upstart. Others in wonder at his teaching. Others seemed totally indifferent.
In fact Jesus said that they did not have ears to hear or eyes to see. “For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’” Matthew 13:15 NLT
It seems that Most of the time people did not hear and understand not because of their ignorance or mental capacity but because they CHOSE to not hear or see because it would require them to CHANGE.
Because they didn’t want to change they missed out on the announcement by God, in human form, announcing a whole new world order. Because God was acting sacrificially in love for all creation. He was here to redeem messed up people living in a messed up world. He was here to help people become fully human.
They closed their ears and eyes turned their backs to truth and walked away rejecting the Good News. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 NLT
Many of them were good moral people. Many were religious people. Some were even Biblical Scholars. But they were too set in their ways to change. So they closed their hearts and minds to the truth standing in front of them. To get rid of the truth they could not/would not hear, they killed him.
Makes you wonder what we close our ears and eyes to because hearing and seeing would require us to change. They closed their ears and eyes turned their backs to truth and walked away rejecting the Good News not willing to change their outlook, views or belief system to accept the truth standing in front of them.
Lord open our ears. Lord open our eyes. Lord help us to respond in courage, obedience, and faith to the truths you are showing us to day. Only then can we truly be the people of God, The Church.