Wandering Crusader #266 Do You See What I See?

“I will also ask you one question…the baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?” Mark 11

In the temple, Jesus found Himself confronted by the priests. They demanded to know by what authority He was doing the things He did. Before providing the answer, He had a simple question of His own. Do you know God when you see Him?

In a test for color blindness, a number in one color is set in a field of a different color. If you’re color blind, you cannot discern the number. The number is there. A person can explain that it’s right in front of your eyes, yet you cannot distinguish it from the background, and so, cannot “see” it. Jesus wanted to know if they could distinguish God from the background.

The priests from Jerusalem had already been shown a man full of the Spirit of God doing the works of God. If they could not tell that which they had seen was from God or not, further explanation was not going to satisfy them. Of course, their blindness was not so much a matter of an inability to see, or even of an unwillingness to see, but an unwillingness to confess what they did see.

Man was created with the ability to see God. Though we no longer may look on the face of God, we did not lose the ability to see Him. We see Him “through a glass darkly”. He is seen in the splendor of nature, in the stars, and in ourselves. But what will we do with our seeing? Will we be moved to draw closer or hide?

The priests of today, serving at the altar of self, find it hard to see God against the backdrop of modern society. Like those priests of old, to even admit to seeing threatens the temples they have built. True riches are not found in buying and selling, in amassing things, or developing gadgets. If that were so, we would find satisfaction, peace, and rest for our souls.

Joy and contentment are within sight. We only need to know God when we see Him.

Maranatha