by: Obed Pineda
There was once a man who walked under the scorching sun in the sands of the mighty Saharan
Desert lost, not knowing how to return back home. The heat had been much hotter than usual and
his water supply had run out long ago. His exhaustion increased frighteningly fast, depleting his
energy, due to his urgent need for water. Thus, as he pushed himself to continue walking forward
he, too, vigilantly sought for an oasis that could provide for him the fresh water his body
desperately craved. After several days of promenading through the arid Saharan, he saw in the
distance what appeared to be a palm tree indicating the hopeful promise of water. Reenergized by
what his eyes beheld, the man began to move swiftly in the direction of where he saw the palm
tree. He vigorously hiked toward the oasis that offered the precious water that would quench his
dire thirst, but after several miles the palm tree still appeared to be too far for him to reach. It was
almost as if the palm tree purposely moved away from him whenever he would move toward it,
preventing him from closing the distance to the oasis. It was then that the realization of what was
actually taking place snuffed out his hope of survival; the palm tree was never there. His severe
state of dehydration was making him hallucinate, thus compromising his line of sight. The man’s
compromised vision was leading him further into the wilderness, and to his death. The sad
situation of the man from our story exemplifies King Solomon’s warning to mankind: “There is a
way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).
Regrettably this is the sad situation of those lost in a false religion, who believe they have found
the “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14b). The same can be said of
those who are convinced that their personal opinions of what pleases God can supersede what He
has commanded through His divine Word (cf. Jeremiah 27:13-17, Matthew 15:1-9). It is
valuable to note that this is the source of the illusory spring that false teachers offer the masses
who lend them their itching ears. Although it may seem that the current spiritual desert has just
begun, in reality it has been around since the fall of man at Eden (cf. Genesis 3:1-19). The
apostle Peter corroborates this truth as he warned, “there were also false prophets among the
people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 nd
Peter 2:1). Verily, considering that false doctrine is nothing more than a dreadful hallucination of
a spiritual blessing leading to eternal doom, it behooves us to pay very close attention to the
Master’s counsel saying, “take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness” (Luke 11:35).
Upon reading this Scripture the question arises of how can there be darkness in light? Let us
begin to unravel this sacred text by first comprehending the context in which it is found. Prior in
the chapter, the inspired Luke records that when the Lord cast out a demon that caused a man to
be made mute “the multitudes marveled” (Luke 11:14). The authority that Jesus wielded over
these unclean spirits, and when He taught God’s Word, had been a subject of awe among the
people because never before had anyone had command such as His (cf. Mark 1:21-28).
Naturally, some of those present (who were envious, jealous, and bitter because of the Lord’s
commanding presence) proceeded to attack the integrity of His character by discrediting the pure
source of His power (cf. Luke 11:15). Others demanded an unreasonable and irrational “sign
from heaven,” denying and rejecting every miraculous sign He had already done before them
(including Him having just cast out a demon from a man) as unacceptable because of their
absurd incredulity (Luke 11:16). Observe that both groups of opposition reached conclusions
that they believed to be a “logical” explanation that denounced Jesus as coming from God. Their
hatred and disdain for the Lord clouded their judgment and denied them the blessing of seeing
Jesus for Who He really is; the only begotten Son of the living God (cf. John 3:16-21). The
apostle Paul, by inspiration, declares of those who refuse to believe in Jesus, that “their minds
are blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament,
because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on
their heart” (2 nd Corinthians 3:14-16, cf. 4:3-4). The apostle to the Gentiles in the context
speaks about those Jews who refused to accept that the Law of Moses had been replaced by the
Law of Christ because they rejected Him as God’s chosen One (cf. Romans 9:1ff). Additionally,
pay attention to the fact that the Redeemer’s words are directed to the same people who sought to
denigrate His works by demanding a sign directly from heaven (cf. Luke 11:29-32). Jesus had
already exposed their unbelief publicly by boldly proclaiming that “the queen of the South will
rise up in 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 indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they
repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here” (Luke 11:31-32).
The Master was disclosing the hardness of their hearts by comparing it to the believing hearts of
the queen of Sheba and the city of Nineveh, exhibited by their actions that followed when they
heard of God’s works (cf. 1 st Kings 10:1, Jonah 3:5-9). Their refusal to accept that Jesus was
sent by God confirmed that their eyesight was compromised by self-deception. Holy Writ
validates this as it states, “although He had done so many signs before them, they did not
believe in Him” (John 12:37). Like the man from our story earlier, they willingly chose to
continue to chase the illusion of an oasis that Satan had to offer and spurned the “times of
refreshing…come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Thus, the darkness that Jesus
teaches can supplant light, speaks to a compromised vision that may deceptively see what is not
there. In other words, the Lord is urging humanity to beware that we are not seeing what we want
to see, and voluntarily ignoring what is actually in front of us. May we heed the Master’s
warning, lest our compromised vision leads us to our eternal death.