Blinded Minds, Opened Eyes

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

(Luke 18:31-34)

In the previous section, we saw that the method God uses to predestine unbelievers for destruction is by blinding their understanding to the gospel message. As a result, they cannot believe it and, therefore, cannot be saved. The question then arises: how does God blind the minds of unbelievers?

The answer is that He allows them to believe a lie. And because they believe the lie, they are unable to believe the truth when it is presented to them—since the truth directly contradicts what they have always believed. Thus, only God can grant them repentance from the lie, opening their understanding so that they may change their thinking and believe the truth.

To illustrate this principle, I have quoted the passage above. In it, we see our Lord Jesus taking His twelve apostles aside and explaining to them—clearly and directly—what would happen to Him during the upcoming Passover feast in Jerusalem. Jesus plainly told them that He would be delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked, insulted, spat upon, scourged, and ultimately killed—but that on the third day He would rise again.

Nevertheless, the passage clearly tells us that the disciples understood none of what He was saying, for the meaning was hidden from them. Obviously, it was God who had concealed this truth so they could not comprehend it.

As we read the account, we may find it almost unbelievable that the apostles failed to grasp such plain speech from the Lord. But to understand their blindness, we must consider what the apostles had been taught all their lives.

Most Jews who study the Torah (the Old Testament) are taught only about a Messiah who will establish His physical reign on the earth and bring peace. As believers, we understand that this refers to the second coming of Christ. But most Jews are not taught that the Messiah would come twice—first to suffer and die for sin, and only later to reign. As a result, very few are taught about a suffering Messiah.

Even today, most Jews continue to look for a Messiah who will rule and bring peace to the earth—one of the main reasons they cannot accept Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus did not do what they had always been taught the Messiah would do.

The twelve apostles were no different from most Jews. Although God had revealed to them that Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 16:17), He had not yet revealed to them the suffering aspect of His ministry. As they approached Jerusalem, they fully expected Jesus to establish His physical kingdom and bring peace to the earth (Luke 19:11). In other words, because they believed a lie, they could not comprehend or accept the truth Jesus was telling them.

That is why the disciples were so devastated and confused when Jesus died—because they had misunderstood the entire purpose of His mission (Luke 24:17–21).

Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

(Luke 24:44-47)

Finally, however, God was merciful to the disciples and allowed them to see the truth. In the passage above, we see that when the risen Lord appeared to them, He reminded them of the many times He had spoken these things to them before. But only now did He open their understanding so they could comprehend the Scriptures.

Only then could they see clearly that the Messiah had to come twice—first, to suffer and rise again on the third day so that repentance and forgiveness of sins could be preached in His name to all nations; and second, to return and establish His reign, bringing peace to the earth.

This passage makes it abundantly clear that if Jesus had not opened their understanding to the Scriptures, they would have remained unable to change their thinking and believe the truth.

Thus, from this example, we see how God blinds the minds of unbelievers: He allows them to believe a lie that contradicts the gospel. And unless He grants them repentance and opens their understanding, they cannot believe the truth.

Michael E.B. Maher

Predestined to His Purpose

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