Faith Venture

A beautiful sunrise over Machsee (kind of a lake) in Hannover this morning. That’s always an aid to meditation.

Reading in Luke this morning. No particular reason. That was open when I opened the New Testament on my iPad. But there Jesus was explaining to the disciples about how he would need to die and then be resurrected to complete his purpose on Earth.

But the disciples could not comprehend what he was saying. The meaning was hidden from them. I don’t think that passage means that God purposely withheld meaning. I think it means that sometimes we don’t know things. And we aren’t going to learn them–we also say things like “uncover the mystery” or “find the hidden meaning”–until our experiences and education/study prepare us to understand.

I would not criticize the disciples for not understanding. They were simply not quite prepared. Jesus was teaching them a little bit at a time. They would not fully understand until the experiences of the death, resurrection and subsequent teaching happened. Even then, it probably took the Pentecost experience where they openly began preaching to fully unlock the mystery for them.

We are not unlike that with our kids. We teach them certain things. But it is only in their heads–intellectual knowledge. Until they have the experience, they won’t really understand.

Just so with us. Many of us are brought up learning the Bible stories. But until we experience God, we don’t really know. That is where the “Spiritual Disciplines” help. Such activities as prayer, study, worship, community and others set us on the path to be open to God. “Some things must be believed to be seen.” It’s true in science, and it’s true with God. But when you open yourself to God, you open up the possibility to experience God. Trust me. It works.

This entry was posted on April 5, 2011 at 1:51 am and is filed under Christianity, Faith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.