Seeing What’s Right In Front of You – Lk. 5:17-39
Have you ever been in a situation in which you were trying to help someone overcome a problem, only to discover that the other person could not see what was staring him right in the face? As a pastor, I have counseled countless people who, for one reason or another, could not see the root of their problems even though it was plain for me to see.
Sometimes, we can’t see what’s right in front of us because we are distracted by other things. Other times, it’s a matter of being so devoted to preconceived ideas that we are blind to reality. Still other times, we could see what’s right in front of us if we just chose to look at it. Instead, we stubbornly refuse because reality is uncomfortable.
In today’s text, we are going to see two separate incidents in which the religious leaders of Jesus’ day failed to see what was right in front of them. They had their reasons – reasons that still manifest themselves today. The lesson is one of opening our eyes and seeing the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.