Lord, Open Our Eyes

Lord, open our eyes to the transformative power of your miracles, calling us to
restoration and unity in Christ.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Luke 10:13-16

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Awakening to the Miracles: A Call to Return to God

Even miracles weary the jaded. Jesus’ lament against the Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum highlights the danger that spiritual pride, sloth, and indifference can play in weakening religious discernment. By contrast, the Gentiles in the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, known for their wealth and idolatry, would be awed by the message and miracles of the Messiah. Jesus suggests that if they had seen the same works as his Jewish brethren, they would have repented in “sackcloth and ashes” (mourned their waywardness and returned to God).

In the face of Christ’s holiness, awakened disciples undergo teshuva (a return to God) and metanoia (a change of heart and mind) as they yearn for transformation. In the context of Jesus’ sending of the seventy-two disciples into the towns (Luke 10:1-12), he envisions them as organically unified with himself and his Father: “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” May Christ’s disciples truly bear the face of their Lord and speak with his voice in their mission to gather his lost sheep into one fold.

Traditional Chinese Translation

《主啊，開我們的眼睛》
 主啊，求祢開我們的眼睛，得見祢的神蹟；
用永恆的原則照亮我們。