To put it simply, we are a visual race.
How would humanity survive if we were all blinded in a moment? We can glimpse a partial answer to that question in a 1951 sci-fi novel by John Wyndham called The Day of the Triffids. In this post-apocalyptic novel, the entire world is blinded in a single night by a glittering spectacle that consumes the sky.
It’s the beauty of the flickering colors in the heavens that eats their vision, rather like an amazing Aurora Borealis that is so beautiful we are never allowed to see anything else. We are blinded to everything that comes afterward. Faces. Colors. Views of the mountains, the oceans, or clouds against the horizon revealing the most amazing sunset in creation.
We are a visual race. Why, then, do we blind ourselves without cause?
Matthew 24:1-51 reveals a very small segment of Jesus’ life and his interaction with his disciples. The men he had chosen to be his followers continually frustrated him, refusing to open their spiritual eyes, and seeing only the things of the world. The first few verses in this passage set the tone.
“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray.’ ”
Jesus goes on to discuss his Second Coming, the Lesson of the Fig, and his admonition that no one knows the hour of his return, not even the angels of heaven. However, his most important point was already spoken.
“See that no one leads you astray.”
Humanity is visual. Jesus knew that. What we see is what we believe. Maybe it’s time we were blinded by the beauty and glory of Jesus’ eternal presence. In John Wyndham’s 1951 classic, being blinded meant humanity could be caught and consumed by the alien invaders. When we are blinded by Christ, only then do we allow ourselves to be caught up in Christ. We will be consumed by him, and he will be all we think, feel, and know.
If we refuse to be blinded by him, we will remain caught up in the world, and it will be all that we see.
Jesus is there. We simply need to close our eyes to find him overlaid upon the world.
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Code: FGO.J.28.15.vp.esv