‘Blessed are your eyes for they see.’ Matthew 13:16
In the Bible we are sometimes urged to use our eyes to see. But there are stories of seeing people just not seeing. This happened to Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane. She didn’t recognise her Master. Maybe His features were not clear in the morning light. Perhaps her eyes filled with tears were unable to focus. To see Jesus alive was not something she was expecting. This is a medical condition known as ‘inattentional blindness’. Not seeing because you were not expecting to see something.
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were also unable to recognise Jesus. Although they were followers of him, maybe they had never seen Him close up. Perhaps the evening light was too dim. Their blindness did mean that they had plenty of time to listen to the preaching of Jesus without being distracted. It seems when they saw His nail-pierced hands, what they thought couldn’t happen, had happened. Jesus was alive.
On one occasion Brother Andrew had his forbidden Bibles in an open suitcase on the back seat of the car. When the guards searched his car, they completely failed to see them. How did that happen? Maybe it was part of God’s plan.