The Incredible Foresight of God's Plan

What were you doing at 5:11 this morning? I was hitting snooze on my alarm ... I'm trying to get back into the habit of going to Men's Bible Study Breakfast on Tuesday mornings at Levy. It's a great start to the day... but if you know me at all, you know I'm NOT a morning person. Most of the men who attend are old enough to be my grandfather ... but that's one of the neat things about it. I'm a youth volunteer so on Sunday mornings, evenings, and Wednesday nights, I'm in the teen class. It's great to have this opportunity to study the Bible with peers and (even better) elders in the faith. There's just so much insight to be gained.

We've been studying the book The Most Excellent Way: Overcoming Chronic Issues That Divide The Church by Eldred Echols. I've been pleasantly surprised. I think I expected it to be a lot drier than it has been. The basic premise of the book is that all issues that divide the church can be overcome if we are truly treating each other with the love of Christ. (Incidentally, the same holds true of marriage, but that's another story.)

As we were discussing the resurrection this morning, a thought struck me. Think about the following passage from Matthew...

¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

¹¹ He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

¹⁴In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Matthew 13:10-17 (NIV)

I can just imagine Jesus telling his disciples this, knowing full well that even though he tells them they've received the "knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven," they (the disciples) still don't understand them much better than the general masses. How many times do we, reading through the scriptures with the benefit of hindsight, think "How could the disciples be so thick-headed? They STILL don't get it!" I've often wondered why Jesus didn't just spell it out for the disciples, remedial-style ... until they understood God's plan for salvation. This is where it starts to get interesting...

Remember back to the upper room, when the disciples were huddled together behind locked doors out of fear that the Jews were going to come for them next. The resurrected Lord appears to them ... and suddenly they were transformed into fearless evangelists, bent on sharing the gospel whatever the cost, even if it meant losing their own lives ... the very reason they were hiding in fear when Jesus appeared.

Because the full mystery of God's plan was lost on the disciples while Christ was alive, the "Eureka!" or "Ah-hah!" moment that came when they realized the full implications of the resurrection was staggering and convicting. It forced them to reconsider all of the teachings of Jesus and the prophesies about Him in a new light. (Luke 24:31-32) Their eyes were finally opened and they reached a level of understanding that only comes through hindsight. God understood this aspect of human nature... and his plan accounted for it.

Lastly, from a 21th century perspective, it adds powerful evidence of the resurrection. How else can you explain the transformation of the disciples? From a psychological standpoint, it just doesn't make sense without the resurrection. Two thousand years later, we can still look back at the reaction of the disciples and be encouraged that our faith is not misplaced, and also be armed with a powerful tool for evangelism. Do you think Matthew and Luke understood as they penned the words of that particular story, that they would be so important 2,000 years later? All part of the plan.

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)