"Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who
are deaf, yet have ears!" That
describes humanity without the Holy Spirit.
We are those people and so we need to be patient and loving, merciful
and gracious with others no matter how they treat us. Jesus was the only one who truly saw and
heard and understood the world around Him.
He was there before the foundation of the world, had seen it all unfold,
and came into the world to give light to the world, to open ears and eyes. Do you know the story of the blind man and
the elephant? Jesus is the one man who
ever has existed who can tell the rest of us that we are blind and who can tell
us what we are perceiving, open our eyes and allow us to see the truth. God here summons His people who are blind and
deaf in order that they might see Him to be the only true God.
The disciples do get it right, they don't know the way Jesus
is going, it is all confusing to them at this point. He speaks of going to the Father to prepare a
place for them and they have no idea what He is talking about. The metaphor is that of a groom preparing a
place in or added to His father's house for a bride. Once the "engagement" had happened
the prospective groom had a job to do, add a room to his dad's house so they
could live in it. Once that work was
finished or close to it, the wedding date was set. Jesus uses that metaphor to explain why He is
going away, to make a place for them and us but doesn't reveal the date of the
final wedding. He says what He has
always said to these men, follow me. If
we want to be with Him forever, the only sure way to get there is to recognize
that He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Nothing else will do. True enlightenment is found in that
confession, it is the way of humility.
Peter says that as we grow up in Him, as we recognize the
reality that the builders rejected Jesus but in fact He is the chief
cornerstone, we become a spiritual house.
It all begins with a cornerstone, the right one. If the cornerstone fails, the building itself
fails. Jesus was there before the
foundation of the world and was raised from the dead to eternal life, He never
fails, always exists, so how could the cornerstone be anything else? If we build on that foundation we will be
secure. We are like Hosea's children,
renamed by the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Hallelujah to the Lamb!
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