Enjoy Life, Enjoy God

THE BLIND, THE CAPTIVE

November 2, 2010

 When we read words like "the blind" or "the captives," as a rule, it is safe to understand them literally. However, Jesus, like the prophets before him went beyond the literal. He spoke of those not only who could not see and were in chains literally but also figuratively.

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
- Isaiah 42:6,7 TNIV

Isaiah offers not only a hope but also a caution. Hope: The day comes when those who cannot see, literally or figuratively, will view wonders never before imagined. It will be wonderful. Those enslaved in captivity, whether in the shackles of a dungeon or the bonds of some other incarceration--slavery, addiction, abuse, on and on, will be free. But the caution is when Jesus brought Isaiah's prophecy to life, many who thought themselves with sight and in no way in chains were as blind as bats and confined with chains they couldn't even see. As a rule, it was the religious people who could not see their chains or that their eyes had failed them.

And so goes the caution and hope extended to us.

Joyfully,

Dale Patterson