Luke 10:21-24 (ESV)

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Have you ever been at a significant event where you could claim, “I was there! I saw it!”? I was at the highest scoring game in NFL history, when the Washington Redskins beat the NY Giants 72-41. I was also at Cal Ripkin’s 2,130^th consecutive game – the one that tied Lou Gehrig’s record. Impressive, right?

Not!

What would it have been like to be one of the people who actually got to see the incarnate son of God? Wouldn’t you give anything to watch the power of God infused into a band of no-names?

Jesus is declaring that this is the moment all of history has been waiting for. Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. It’s the ultimate “I was there” event. Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

But the disciples don’t realize it. Sure, they’re excited, but they can’t see the full meaning. So, Jesus tells them plainly, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”

BC is turning into AD.

Do you ever wish you had been one of the apostles? Would you trade your life for that of an apostle? Remember, it’s a package deal that includes great suffering, probably even martyrdom.

We live with incredibly many blessings. Modern medicine makes life much more comfortable, and longer too. We can travel distances that people in the first century couldn’t have even imagined. Our food supply is much more varied than theirs and our recipes reflect that.

Their favorite foods would taste bland to us. Their water would make us sick. We live in a free, democratic republic, instead of under the boot of a Roman Emperor.

The apostles had none of our blessings. All they had was the trill and the significance of being an eyewitness to the incarnation.

Would you make the trade?

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies