45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:45-49
This scripture happens after Jesus has risen from the dead and returned to the disciples. He has been teaching them for three years and they have learned and seen so much, but the one thing they could never seem to understand was His death and resurrection even though He told them about it so many times.
Here at the end of Luke, He does something new before He tells them again about His death and resurrection. “He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.” Then He tells them again and points to scripture; scripture that they had heard many times, and most likely memorized and meditated on like God had commanded. This brings to mind a lot of questions!
Why did He have to open their minds? Why did He quote the scripture again even though they knew it? Does God close minds to scripture? Why was this the right time to give them understanding? Why not before His death to comfort them and give them hope during those three days?
Scripture isn’t like any other book. We know that it’s alive (Hebrews 4:12). It’s not like a math textbook, non-fiction or fiction, entertainment or education. Understanding this book has nothing to do with your level of intelligence, reading skills, or experiences. Of course, you could study the Bible and learn a set of rules or the historical facts from it and even be able to recite definitions and doctrine but there is far more hidden in the pages of the greatest book ever written and there is far more depth to be had that recitation.
It is alive and active. It is full of secrets and revelations. There is prophecy and testimony that have the power of God to perform themselves (Isaiah 55:11), but the Bible says that God hides and reveals things to whomever He pleases.
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
Matthew 11:25-26
13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
Matthew 13:13-16
Here in Matthew 13, He used scripture to explain what was happening. Jesus spoke about the hard hearts of the people in Israel during His ministry through the words of the prophet Isaiah. He referred to their hearts as calloused, ears as hardly hearing, and eyes as closed. I love what awaits them if they start to see, hear, and feel God and turn to Him. It’s healing! Healing is always what awaits us when we turn to God.
We know that not only can we harden our own hearts (Psalm 95:7-11), but that God can do it as well. He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh and Egypt would have the chance to find out Who the Lord of Hosts was (Exodus 14:4). During the process it must have been bewildering to Moses and the enslaved Israelites that God didn’t just free them without all the extra pain, work, and fear, but we know God’s ways are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9).
17 Be good to your servant while I live,
Psalm 119:17-18
that I may obey your word.
18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
The Psalmist, (possibly David) knew that only God could reveal things about the law to him. He asked to see what it all pointed at and what was hidden in the words of direction and punishment. All of Israel was instructed to learn the law from the time it was given to Moses by God. The author would have read and heard it many times but wanted to know more about it than he already did.
This is why you hear seasoned Christians (salt metaphor intended!) speak about reading the same verse of the Bible again for the 100th time and it jumps off the page. Reading, memorizing, speaking, and singing a verse doesn’t mean much without the aid of the Holy Spirit. He decides what we understand and when and His decisions are perfect. This living Word is breathing. Its movements and flow sometimes stir us and sometimes escape us.
We all know someone who has heard the gospel, much of prophecy, and most of the Bible and completely missed it. We know that we can sit in the pew and learn but never turn to God. Daily reading of scripture wont save us, it is the One who inspired scripture.
Jesus told the disciples so many times that He would suffer, die, and rise again on the third day, but until He gave them the ability to understand it they did not. Why? I don’t know, I just know what it says and I trust Jesus to choose the when.
The other thing that sticks out to me about the scene at the end of Luke is that He tells them about His death and resurrection again after they had understanding. It makes me think of this scripture.
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Romans 10:17
The Gospel does something as it is spoken and read; it brings faith. With the words of God, especially about Jesus, we see lives transform, doors open and shut, physical and emotional healing, changes in impossible situations, and miracles.
It makes me want to read the Bible over and over again so that God can continue to open my eyes to new things. It makes me want to preach the gospel, listen to the audio Bible while I clean the kitchen, and study it every day. I want to hear the word about Christ again and again so that the testimony about who He is, what He has done, and what that means for us does what it was intended to do inside me and all around me. There will always be layers and there will always be something for God to reveal.
Jesus, open my mind and the minds around me so that we can understand the scriptures, especially this. You, the Messiah suffered and died and rose on the third day. This means that repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to the entire earth and every nation, and it began in Jerusalem. You are alive! And we know what that means…
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
John 14:26
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