The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 7:31,35:
"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?... But wisdom is proved right by all her children."
This is the account where Jesus points out the utter darkness of the hearts of mankind. Recall the fulfilled Scripture Jesus read in the synagogue as he announced the purpose of his public ministry, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19. It is a quote of Isaiah 61:1-2. That passage speaks of release from darkness for "the prisoners". Who are these prisoners and what is the prison? The prisoners are all mankind, every man, woman and child on planet earth. What is the prison? It is the spiritual darkness that has fallen over the hearts of all mankind due to sin and estrangement from God.
Jesus points to the utter darkness of this prison people are in. They cannot see or perceive anything of a spiritual nature. Although we have an ample supply of all kinds of folks who claim to have arrived at some spiritual attainment or another, the truth is, all suffer an imprisonment of spiritual darkness. Jesus uses the differences between John the Baptist, who is the subject of the moment, and himself to illustrate just how dark the spiritual blindness is that people are imprisoned in. He says that just as the child's taunt about the musician who can play a happy or sad tune, and the appropriate response is found lacking, so look at folk's response to the differing ministries of John and Jesus. One is an ascetic while the other eats and drinks. They say John has a demon because he doesn't eat or drink and Jesus is a glutton and drunkard because he does. In other words, it doesn't matter what folks are exposed to: the darkness they are imprisoned in prevents them from any spiritual insight. They are spiritually crippled, spiritually blind.
However, "wisdom is proved right by all her children." Only in Jesus Christ is there freedom from spiritual darkness, only in Jesus Christ is there an ability to acknowledge and respond appropriately to the things of God. How precious is the faith we have in Jesus Christ that restores our spiritual sight!
Here is how wonderfully the apostle Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 2:9-16: "However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him'— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."
Today I thank God for bringing us sight to our spiritually blind eyes. I thank him for revealing to us his things in such a way that we can understand and know what it is he has for us!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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