Fresh Eyes

Luke 24:16 – But their eyes were held that they should not know Him.

    This incident takes place shortly after the resurrection of Jesus. Two of His followers encountered Jesus as they were on the road to another town, but they did not recognize Him. They walked together and talked of the events of the previous few days and all the while they still did not realize that it was Jesus who was speaking with them.

    This phrase, ‘their eyes were held’, is a figure of speech which is very instructive. Did God hold their eyes from seeing Jesus? It certainly is possible for he has done it before. I remember reading an account of people who were smuggling Bibles into a country where Christianity was outlawed. The border guards opened their luggage and even looked directly into the compartment where the Bibles were hidden; they looked right at the Bibles but did not see them; apparently, God held their eyes.

    Another way of looking at this is to consider that we are the ones who close our own eyes. The original writings tell us that their eyes were held, that is they were fixed or seized. Something had previously captured their attention. They had just recently watched as Jesus was brutally tortured and crucified. They watched Him die, they saw Him buried, and now their eyes were fixated on that and unable to see anything else.

    How many times has this happened to us? Something terrible happens to us and it makes a deep impression on our minds and from that point on we are not able to see anything but that incident. We might have lost a loved-one; can we see ourselves being happy again? We might have experienced a financial crisis; can we see ourselves recovering from it? We might have been betrayed by our spouse; can we see ourselves being able to trust again? We might have failed in ministry; can we see ourselves being used of God again? These things are real and all of us deal with it; we must deal with loss and sorrow for we are the ones who are in charge of our own minds. Can we open up and see again?

    Closed eyes can also imply a hardened heart; a decision to not be open or vulnerable again; a choice to close off the possibility of new and exciting things. If we remain in a seized state, fixated on the past, we can never really know Him; we thus close ourselves off from intimacy with God and others. Closed eyes mean a closed mind; a closed mind means a closed heart; a closed heart means a closed life. Consequently, we shut ourselves away from hope; we lock ourselves behind closed doors in a room with no light, sentencing ourselves to solitary confinement.

    Take courage, friends, we are in this together and our Father God is in the door-opening business. It matters not where we have locked ourselves away, or for how long; He will keep seeking us out and drawing us back until we give Him the key to the door of our life. Hear Him whisper His word to you today, and even though the room may be dark, and your eyes cannot see, we believe it shall be as the Book of Psalms says, ‘Your word is a door that lets in light.’