and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.
-- Matthew 13:15 (Jesus quoting the prophet Isaiah)
Isaiah said it centuries before. People would close their eyes, choosing darkness over light. They would so consistently tune out the love song of the universe, as to eventually think the chaotic notes of selfish loneliness were the only chords played or sung. But closed eyes and deaf ears are only symptoms. The true problem lay deeper.
Jesus said the ones spoken of by Isaiah were right in front of him. He walked among them. Deaf ears missed the life in his words. Closed eyes missed the light shining in their darkness. Wounded, dying, dull hearts missed the invitation to be truly restored.
Jesus said the ones spoken of by Isaiah were right in front of him. They still are. We still are. Many were blind, deaf and dull. Many still are. We all are in some ways.
It is telling that Jesus literally opened the ears of the deaf and made the eyes of the blind to see. It is telling because on a deeper level, a spiritual level, an eternal level, this is what he does. On a few occasions he literally made the dead heart begin to beat with life. Again, what he does.
Jesus often healed with the cooperation, sometimes even at the request, of the person to be healed. At other times there was no initiative shown - for instance, a dead person doesn't ask to be raised. Jesus often asks us to take steps of faith, to do what we can do, before he does what only he can. Sometimes in our weakness or woundedness we are incapacitated, and he reaches us with grace.
God, I will open my eyes as best I know - heal my blindness; I will open my ears as best I know - heal my deafness. I will turn my heart to you as best I know - restore it as only you can.
For now...
D
