John 1:4-5 (NRSV) ...in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There is a lot in the Bible about seeing and blindness, about light and darkness. Jesus is speaking to people, but they are not always understanding. That was a part of his work. God had commissioned Isaiah to invite and warn the People of God and gave him this rather strange message...
Isaiah 6:9 (NRSV) And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.'
God was bringing judgment. The people would be stubborn. They would choose to go their own way (that is what hell is). I wonder if we would listen. I wonder if we would have our eyes opened, even if we found it disillusioning.
Leo Tolstoy said, “I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.”
Change is hard when we think we know, when we have been the teacher, when we have lived with particular assumptions. Rather than see, we will close our eyes.
Not my will, Father, but yours be done! (But if your will pleased me that would be really great!)
There is a lot in the Bible about seeing and blindness, about light and darkness. Jesus is speaking to people, but they are not always understanding. That was a part of his work. God had commissioned Isaiah to invite and warn the People of God and gave him this rather strange message...
Isaiah 6:9 (NRSV) And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.'
God was bringing judgment. The people would be stubborn. They would choose to go their own way (that is what hell is). I wonder if we would listen. I wonder if we would have our eyes opened, even if we found it disillusioning.
Leo Tolstoy said, “I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.”
Change is hard when we think we know, when we have been the teacher, when we have lived with particular assumptions. Rather than see, we will close our eyes.
Not my will, Father, but yours be done! (But if your will pleased me that would be really great!)
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