NONE SO BLIND

THERE ARE NONE SO BLIND, 

AS THOSE WHO WILL NOT SEE.

When the Epiphany comes around each year, I call to mind these words of Jesus.  I can’t help but wonder at the incredible blindness of the leaders of the Jerusalem.  Three men of obvious wealth and station come directly to the King to ask directions to a nowhere town like Bethlehem and it seems no one made a big deal of it. However, when the King asked why they wanted to go there, their answer about the Star and the birth of the King of Jews threw the whole palace into frenzy.  But it wasn’t because they thought their long awaited Messiah could actually have come. Oh, no, it was because they were afraidtheir long awaited Messiah had come!  To Herod the idea of the Messiah being King was fine as long it didn’t happen while he was king and hopefully not for many years in the future. There is no evidence that anyone went out to see the star for themselves, instead they huddled together to decide what to do. Eliminating the three would not have been wise, so they hit on the idea of giving the directions and then cunningly suggested they would love to see this newborn and give homage.  The three men bought it.  They had no idea who they were dealing with. 

That was the Palace, but the leaders of the Jewish faith, the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees knew that the Scripture plainly foretold the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. What a tragedy for them to turn away.  

This is a really sad story. These people, who were supposed to be the center of understanding the scriptures, instead not only denied it, they set out to destroy anyone who professed it to be true.  They had it in their grasp; they had their salvation and culmination of the promises of God right in front of them, and they not only ignored it, they acted as though it hadn’t happened.  They became voluntarily blind.  No wonder Jesus wept. 

Many people still deny God. They, too, are voluntarily blind to the wealth of love and grace and forgiveness that is in their grasp.  When tragedy strikes they blame God.  When fear comes they cry out to Him as they say, “If you’re really there”, in case anyone who has heard them deny God might be listening. 

Happily God does not hold grudges.  He forgives even hypocrites. 

We have to ask ourselves if we truly know the peace and joy that comes from faith in Christ.  Do we hold back a little, afraid that if we jump in with both feet, we’ll get hurt? We have the opportunity to live that life. It’s right in front of us.  We can’t let it slip through our fingers.  Because so many are blind to what’s theirs for the taking, we who know and love Jesus, have an obligation to let them know what they are missing. 

Share the joy, 

Carol Lemelin OPA