One passage in the Bible that has become one of my favorite stories is that of Luke 24, the road to Emmaus. Recently I came across verse 45 of the chapter and it really popped out, so to speak, and made me really excited to get it's meaning and a question came to mind, "HOW DID HE OPEN THEIR UNDERSTAND!?". The reason that got me really excited is that Jesus promised us in John 14:12 that we would do greater works than Him. So I must say that the thought of being able to partake in what Jesus did in Luke 24 would be an awesome inheritance.
As how I usually get some reference, I checked out my all-time favorite blog http://skipmoen.com. I was very excited to have found something Skip wrote about Luke 24:45 when I typed in his search engine 'Luke 24:25' and 2 articles/post were found. Here's what he says,
1st post: THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOUGHTS
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, Luke 24:45
Opened – Oh, how I wish I had been there. These two men, walking from one village to another, encounter the greatest teacher of all time. As they follow the dusty road, he begins to explain the Scriptures to them. He opens their minds. The Greek verb dianoigo has the nuance of opening something for the first time (see Luke 2:23). These Jewish men, trained in the Scriptures all their lives, understood for the first time what it really meant. For years they knew the words, but they were completely ignorant of the meaning. Now Jesus reveals to them what was previously hidden. Suddenly they see.
Aren’t we just like that? We know the history. We know the stories. We think we have the theological arguments in place. We follow the rules. But our minds are closed. Until we have an encounter with the living Lord, until Jesus comes to us and explains the hidden message of His suffering and death, we just carry around a book filled with religious words. Without the illumination of the Spirit, we just don’t get it. We can have all the right propositions, all the right religious rules, even the right theology, but our minds are still closed. It takes a walk with Jesus to give us spiritual enlightenment.
The Bible is the strangest book in the world. It contains God’s essential message to Man. It is crucial for life, here and beyond. But it is a closed book to those who are not touched by the Spirit. You can read and read and read, but without God’s involvement, you will come up empty. This is the only book in the world that is open to all and closed to everyone. “Let him who has ears hear” describes each of us. We all have ears, but our physical apparatus is of no value in this process unless it is accompanied by a spiritual component. Then we actually hear the text.
Don’t imagine that you can simply read a passage in Scripture and understand it. God’s message to men and women requires the agency of the Spirit and the receptivity of a humble heart. When you pick up this book, you need to remember the two men on the road to Emmaus. They knew all the words and yet were completely in the dark. They needed Jesus to open their minds for the first time. So do we.
2nd post: CLOSED SHOP
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, Luke 24:45
Opened Their Minds – Luke expresses the thought in a truly Greek way. “Opened their minds” is the Greek phrase dienoizen auton ton noun. Literally, it is “he opened up the mind of them.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? The pronoun (auton) is plural but the noun (ton noun) is singular. Even in this Greek construction, we see a Hebrew perspective. The verse does not say that Jesus opened each one of their individual minds. It says that He opened up the collective understanding. The truth was revealed to them as a unit, not as individuals in the unit. When we translate this verse, we move the meaning to a Greek worldview. So we convert the group consciousness to individual apprehension. What Jesus says is revealed in community, not in individuals. That’s important, especially in a culture where individualism reigns supreme even in religious experience.
The Greek verb is dianoigo. It implies opening up what was closed. It is used to describe the experience of a firstborn child – to open the womb for the first time. In the LXX, it translates the Hebrew word paqah. This verb is often used to describe the experience of seeing something that was hidden. When Jesus causes His disciples to “get it,” they suddenly discover what was there all the time. It was just hidden from their understanding.
The implication is actually rather staggering. This event occurs after the disciples are fully aware of the resurrection. These men had studied the Hebrew Bible all their lives. They learned to read from its texts. They heard it read aloud every Sabbath. They probably were more acquainted with Scripture than any ordinary Christian today. But they still didn’t see the bigger picture. They were eye witnesses to the greatest manifestation of God in history and they didn’t understand what it meant. Jesus had to open up their minds.
What this means is that Scripture is not apprehended by intellectual prowess alone. Scholars do not command exclusive rights to spiritual wisdom. Why? Because the truth of God’s Word lies hidden until the Spirit opens a passageway into a person. It’s perhaps ironic that the oldest form of the Hebrew language is pictographic. Like Egyptian hieroglyphics, early Hebrew used symbols to represent letters. The consonants DRB make up the word dabar (which means “word”). The pictograph carries the meaning “a door into a person.” God’s Word is an opening into me, but it will never be what it is supposed to be until God opens the door. This is not the picture of Jesus knocking. This is a picture of the active word, pushing aside the door to enter into me. What this means is straightforward. You will never understand what the Bible is saying unless God opens the pathway into your consciousness.
You can’t get it by reading, studying and memorizing. Without the Spirit’s intervention, the door stays closed. Maybe reading your Bible needs to start with something besides opening the book.
Here are 2 scriptures to really bring everything into perspective.
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. (Luke 10:21)
Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. (1 Corinthians 14:20)
Bill Johnson wrote a one-liner recently on his Facebook page, 'Gifts are free, maturity is expensive'.
Truly our Father hides things for us not from us :D
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