Blind See

A few years ago, I had my eyes examined, and vanity took over and though I had never worn them before, I tried to find contacts that I could wear.

However, the first pair I tried gave me double vision and a headache. Then a week later, when we tried again, I could see relatively clearly at a distance but I could see nothing up close. Another pair made it even worse. I could see the paper and writing but could read nothing.

For a brief moment, it gave me a taste of what Paul went through after his confrontation with Jesus on the Damascus Road.

I guess contacts may not be the answer for me and my eyes. First, I found that I couldn’t put my fingers in my eyes. Second, when I did ultimately miraculously somehow get the contacts in, I couldn’t see. May have been that the prescription was wrong. May have been that my needs couldn't be matched. Either way, I saw worse with them in my eyes.

There are many instances in the Bible where Jesus made the blind see. Either by speaking or touching, or even making mud with spittle and packing it on the blind one’s eyes… the blind began to see.

I can only imagine how they must have felt. From darkness to light. From nothing to the abundance of color and wonder and amazement.

In today’s passage, we see another kind of blindness and restored sight.

On the road to Emmaus, a couple followers of Jesus begin talking and walking with another man who was also walking their direction. On their journey, they began talking with this man about all that they had seen and taken in over the past few days.
They shared about Jesus and how they thought He was the Messiah.
They shared of the healings and the stories they had heard and seen.
They shared of His trial, the beatings, the crucifixion...
And they shared the story of the women finding the grave empty and were told by an angel that Jesus was alive, had resurrected.

Then Jesus began sharing with them about himself and how the Scriptures had pointed to all that would happen and had to happen to Him.

I’m sure the men were fascinated and intrigued by the man’s insight and sharing. Yet, they were still blind to the fact that they were walking with Jesus. That is until they convinced Him to stop with them in Emmaus and eat.
It was there that Jesus began to break the bread.
It was there that the men’s eyes were opened and they realized that they had just spent the day walking and talking with Jesus.

And suddenly, Jesus vanished. Disappeared. Gone.

And the men questioned themselves, wondering “did not our hearts burn?” as He spoke with them.

I wonder how we would have reacted.
I wonder if we would have known or seen that the man walking with us was Jesus.

I know in my all too busy world that I am too often blinded to what God is doing around me.
Blind to the need and the hurting around me.
Blind (and deaf) to what God is trying to teach me and show me in the Scriptures and in life.

And there are moments when I wonder if I had just met, dealt with, walked by, as the old song says, “Jesus in Disguise.”
Moments when I wondered if even my heart burned inside my chest, somehow knowing that the person was holy, was sent from above, was maybe even Jesus walking with me on my own road to Emmaus.

O Lord, help us see.
Help the scales fall from our eyes so that we, with 20/20 vision, might see as you see and do as you do.
Help us respond to the tugging and burning of our heart.
O Lord, help us see you at work around us and go there and be a part of it.
O Lord, give us courage to tell our little part of the world about you - about who you are, what you have done, and how you have changed our lives.
O Lord, let us see and, at the same time help others see you. I’m Jesus’ name. Amen.

Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem

“That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.” - Luke 24:13-17 ESV

“So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. - Luke 24:28-35 ESV