Can you see but not know?

Mark 2:7

The teachers and leaders said, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Funny that they should ask that question and not have the revelation that Christ was God. They were concerned with the packaging. Christ didn't look or act like their expected Messiah. When they saw the miracles and heard, "Son, your sins are forgiven," they were scandalized instead of being stirred to faith. They had no revelation.

Weird that in their minds their lives were lived for God. They devoted hours to studying the Scriptures, doing the right religious things but totally and completely missed God in the Flesh right under their noses. They didn't even recognize him or stop to think that it could be the Messiah they wanted. There was not a single flag raised in their minds when they asked, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" It didn't startle them into belief or cause them to say, "Oh!" in sudden belief that what they were saying was the truth. Who can forgive sins but God alone? No one. That is God forgiving sins.

If that revelation would have come to the religious leaders, there would have been a stampede to Jesus, a clamor of excitement to fall at his feet and worship him. How fulfilled would those men have been to realize their life devoted studies had manifest in flesh right in front of them? All their deep theological questions could have been answered because the Creator of the Universe was standing right in front of them.

But the only thing their vision could see was a blasphemer where God was standing.

In my seeking out God's face, where does my religion hold me captive and turn blind to God when he is right in front of me? Have I ever had God standing before me and I mistook him for the opposite thing? Did I confuse God with sin or darkness?

Lord, allow me to have soft heart towards you. Please don't ever allow me to not be able to recognize you in my life or think I have You figured out that when you show up in some unexpected way that I would look at you and say, "That's not God." Help me to know it is you at work around me.

I yearn to see God move, to be delivered. I wonder if they did too? Or did they just want to wear the robes and sit in a place of honor so badly that it was preferred over seeing God in the flesh if it meant they would no longer have a place of honor in the religious world and system.

People worship the system, the religion instead of the God that was in it. So adjusted to the rules and rote that nothing else can move them. When God moves, they would prefer staying comfortable instead of seeking.