Open Your Eyes – Luke 11:27-36

Ever heard of blepharitis?  It is an inflammation of the eyelids that makes it hard to open your eyes.  It can be caused by Staphylococcal bacteria, malfunctioning Meibomian glands (yep, I’ve never heard of those), or dermatological conditions like rosacea and dandruff (those skin cells getting in your eyes).  You may have experienced a form of this when you wake in the morning and your eyes are crusted over and shut.  Well, Jesus is accusing those in his nation of a kind of spiritual blepharitis.

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”  (Luke 11:27-36 ESV)

Jesus is cutting through the foolishness.  People have seen his miracles and demon exorcisms but still ask for signs and even accuse him of being in league with Satan.  And now someone cries out from the crowd something that would seem a compliment but whose values are misplaced.  Sure it is blessed to be Mary, Jesus’ mother (though she will go through much pain first).  But more important is obeying God’s word through Jesus.

Plenty of signs have been given that Jesus is the Messiah, but now the focus will not be on signs for such a fickle generation but rather the sign of Jonah.  He was, in a sense, resurrected from sure death in the fish to preach to Ninevah a message of repentance.  Unike the queen of Sheba who came a long distance to see the light of king Solomon, or the Ninevites who repented at Jonah’s preaching, this generation has failed to recognize that light God has shown them.  And Jesus is greater than Israel’s greatest king or any of her prophets.  Yet this generation has not repented.

To have one’s eyes darkened by sin and rebellion defeats the purpose of the light Jesus is bringing.  People must open their eyes so the light can shine in and make them light.  Jesus’ light is too important to miss.