Christian Cataracts
(Luke 24: 44-53)
Well, it finally caught up to me. My eyes got so bad I had to have double cataract surgery. I once was blurry but now I see! Yeah, your eyes going bad kind of sneaks up on you because it is so gradual. I found it difficult to drive at night and if it weren’t for my navigational device I would miss my turn because by the time I could read the street signs I had already passed my turn. I can identify with this annoying commercial for eyeglasses that I hear on my radio where this guy is driving with his wife and keeps missing his turn or not seeing clearly things in the road. He eventually relents and agrees to see an eye doctor. I am shocked at how clearer and brighter everything is to the point where it is almost blinding, and I’ve started wearing my sunglasses even on cloudy days.
And it’s having those Old Testament cataracts removed from your eyes that Jesus is talking about in our gospel reading for today. His entire three-year ministry has been a constant struggle in moving people away from the Old Testament, the Laws of Moses and the writings of the prophets into a new covenant that brings them closer to God, one that helps them see more clearly what it is that God wants from his people and for his creation.
We are in that forty-day period between Jesus’ resurrection and the time when he will leave the disciples and ascend up to heaven to be with the Father. In verse 36 Jesus appeared to the disciples and stood among them saying: Peace be with you. They thought they were seeing a ghost and, as proof that he was real, he showed them the wounds in his hands and feet, told them to go ahead and touch him and then asked for something to eat which he ate in front of them.
He now says to them: These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. For lack of a better term, this may have been the disciples “ah-ha” moment as Luke writes that it was at this moment that Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Jesus said to them: This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. For the disciples it was as if everything came together at this point, that the cataracts of the Old Testament were removed and suddenly they could see clearly what it was that Jesus had been trying to tell them, a new way of seeing things clearly. And then to underscore what he had just told them Jesus said: Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power. What? You mean there’s more. Yeah, but you must wait for it.
Luke tells us that Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. And as he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. That had to have been quite a sight, one hard to believe if you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes. In their amazement they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy, continuously going to the temple where they praised God.
Jesus has given them their marching orders. They are now to be witnesses of all that God has done. They have been tasked with preaching transformation, and changed hearts and lives, no longer bound to the Law which was hard to understand and even more difficult to keep. And furthermore, Jesus promises that they will not be alone, but that he will send a heavenly power to assist and guide them. This community, the disciples and other followers of Christ, have transformed from sadness and despair to joy and worship. And, for the first time, Jesus’ followers “worshipped” him. Up until this point they had been disciples and followers engaged in an earthly ministry but now that’s all changed as their rabbi has now ascended to heaven to be with the Father. They are now committed to worshipping the resurrected Christ and praising the God who raised him from the dead. Everything has fallen into place, and they can clearly see that.
Luke, a Gentile, was writing to the Greek-speaking world and he wanted them to know Christ’s message of God’s love and forgiveness that should go out to all the world, as was God’s plan all along. Luke is affirming that the evangelism of all nations will begin in Jerusalem foreshadowing where the Apostles’, formerly disciples, begins in Luke’s second volume, Acts 1: 8. Luke is essentially putting our transition into effect. For the Jews at the time who were struggling with what we commonly know as the Old Testament, the Jews who were trying to make the transition who believed that Jesus was the Christ, and new believers that include you and me, it is important to understand the backstory. Jesus opened these people’s minds to understand the scriptures which were open to and vulnerable to misinterpretation whether unintentionally or on purpose.
And fortunately for us, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit who assists us in our lives today as we study the Bible. I think it is important for us to realize that the Old Testament as we know it pointed to the Messiah and that we should just leave it there and devote ourselves to following Jesus because, as he said, he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Focusing our attention primarily on the Old Testament can often cloud our vision as we too attempt to interpret the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, not taking into consideration that they were merely a prequel to what was coming next, the coming attraction of the Good News brought to us by God’s Son, Jesus Christ. If we don’t, we open ourselves up to only seeing the world through the lens of the Old Testament which acts as a cataract blurring our vision impairing our ability to see the future as promised by God.
As believers living according to the new covenant made with God through Jesus Christ, we too should obey our Lord in every detail as we seek to restore people’s bodies and souls to the health and salvation God has in store for them, a life that can only be achieved if they can clearly see Christ’s plan for their lives and what it means to truly follow Him and only Him.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, how we praise you for the gift of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ who came to bring us forgiveness of sin and salvation through believing in him. We are grateful for someone who so patiently loves us and takes the time to explain what it is that you would have us do in his name. The teachings of your Son are so clear and understandable that with the help and guidance of your Spirit we are empowered to do all we can with what is provided for the benefit of your creation. Give us those opportunities as we go through our daily lives to help others see clearly what we see so that they too may have a change of heart and life. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
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5/17/26
Christian Cataracts
Jesus opened these people’s minds to understand the scriptures which were open to and vulnerable to misinterpretation whether unintentionally or on purpose.