Luke 24:44-47 “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." (45) And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. (46) 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, (47) and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Finally however, God was merciful to the disciples and allowed them to see the truth. For in the above passage of scripture, we see that when our Lord appeared to them after His resurrection, that our Lord reminded them of the numerous times He had told them exactly what would happen to Him. But it was only now that our Lord Jesus opened their understanding to the scriptures, that they could now see the truth of the Messiah having to come twice. That is, the first time, to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day so that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations. And the second time, to set up His reign physically on the earth and to bring peace to the earth. But very clearly from this passage, we see that if Jesus had not opened their understanding to the scriptures, they would not have been able to change their thinking and thus believe the truth. And so, we see from this example, just how it is that God blinds the minds of the unbelievers, in that He allows them to believe a lie which is contrary to the truth of the gospel.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments