Now you might think that God had blinded their minds. Notice how the passage reads:
Were they blinded? You might think so, but I do not. I do not think they were because of what Jesus Himself said right in the context here. But what I want you to see, before we get to that, is that even somebody who had associated with Christ for a fairly long period of time, a good while, can fail to see. They did not expect to see. Remember? We see what we expect to see. We see what we want to see. We see what we are educated to see.
Unless we make the effort to be discerning, to consciously think about other aspects of what we are looking at, it is very likely that we will not see. We, brethren, have to consciously process the truths that we are receiving from God, as we are involved in the circumstances, as we walk with Christ. Or we might be walking with Christ, and He is there, but we do not see Him. This can happen if we do not identify the circumstances that we are going through in our lives with Him. The spiritual, not perceived, is overlooked!
That word in Greek means inconsiderate. They did not think! They did not consider. It means not reasoning right. It is very similar to the nabal of the Old Testament. O foolish ones. They were not properly applying their minds. It carries with it a moral reproach and describes one who does not govern his mind.
Brethren, they did not believe! Even though they had been taught, they did not believe the things that appeared in the Old Testament describing the Messiah and His resurrection. And so they did not see the Christ who was with them because they did not expect to see Him! Christ calls them fools. He not only calls them fools, which shows me that He expected them to be able to identify Him, He calls them slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
I think their hope was really nothing more than a wish. But I think it is significant that it does not say in their response as they talked to Him that they trusted Him. You see, they were not using their faith. They were not using their belief. There is a big difference between hoping and trusting. Trusting requires making choices and having patient endurance.
