Remove The Veil

Remove the Veil

Luke 9:43-45

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was

astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “As for you, let these

words sink into your ears: for the Son of Man is going to be handed over to men.”

45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so

that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this

statement.

The narrative we are taking a look at here is very short, in fact it’s only two verses. This

is from Luke chapter 9 verses 43 to 45. Jesus had just performed miracles and people

were astonished to see what happened. The people of Jesus day in the Galilee and Judea

needed to see signs and miracles to believe. Therefore, Jesus gave them signs and

miracles. Then we have this small transition from a discussion of healing to a discussion

of discipleship. The bridge here is to understand that becoming a disciple of Jesus,

especially in the early years of Christianity, may bring you greatness, but it also may

bring you the sorrow of a painful death.

I would rather not concentrate on that, rather I rather talk about that which is hidden

from us today. The verses also say that the disciples did not understand, therefore the

hidden meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection was hidden from them. When I look

at the church today, have we placed a veil over the true meaning of Jesus' message?

Let’s first look at the activity of the church in general.

Jesus and his disciples were poor and very common people of the day. Well, of course

Jesus was the Messiah so he wasn’t the common one, but the disciples were common

people. They lacked both money and fame. They were common people of the land.

Furthermore, they created the first what we would come to call churches or should I

say communities of believers. Yes, Paul tells us there were some rich people in those

communities, but most of them were poor common people who were just trying to

survive.

In the world, there are definitely church communities that are destitute and are

struggling. What I found interesting when I took a trip to northern Mexico to study the

church is that the poor churches seem to have more spirituality and trust in God.

Perhaps it’s because they had so little, they had a dependency on God to provide

everything they needed. I was sitting in a house when there was a knock at the door and

a young girl was there asking the lady of the house if she had a tomato that she could

lend to her neighbor. The lady of the house opened her refrigerator, and she had one

tomato. If God was sending me a message, it was pretty clear. That woman gave that

last piece of food from her refrigerator to the young girl that she could take it home for

her mom to cook dinner.

My question to the lady of the house was, “so what are you going to have for dinner?”

Her answer was, “God will provide.” I found out in Mexico, now this was in 2001, that

even though it was a payday you may not have gotten paid. It was not uncommon for

that to happen. What happened if her husband came home without a paycheck? They

can’t buy food without money. With the possibility of going hungry that day, the family

was not concerned because they believed God would provide.

At that moment, I wondered if it was because they had so little that they had a bigger

dependence on God. There were 25 seminary students in that group with me, and none

of us had a worry about what we were going to have for dinner that night. We all had

money and credit cards. Therefore, we knew we were going to have something. How

would it be to live without that net? Would a reduction in material possessions lead to

increased reliance on God?

What was the veil that was over the disciples’ eyes that they could not understand that

Jesus as the Messiah, a prophet of God, was going to be captured and killed when he

got to Jerusalem? Jesus said to them that they didn’t understand what was going on. It

wouldn’t be until the resurrection, they fully grasp the situation.

Is there something that’s preventing you from truly seeing what Jesus wants us to do in

life? Do you have a veil over your head and covering your eyes that you cannot see what

it’s all about?

When I think about church people who say that they love Jesus and they treat each