05/12/2023
“THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM” are obviously those who had a hand in His death. The text declares they shall see Him, employing for seeing the verb optomai, already noticed, as not limited to ocular seeing.
Though those who pierced Him saw not His person after His ascension, yet they saw His power bringing judgment on them, and making His cause prevail in despite of their persecution, and they speedily saw their kingdom terminated.
Equating “SEEING” with “UNDERSTANDING” is a common biblical metaphor. Paul wrote, “I PRAY THAT THE EYES OF YOUR HEART MAY BE ENLIGHTENED, so that YOU WILL KNOW what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18).
“EYES OF YOUR HEART” is a metaphor for UNDERSTANDING that is borrowed from the Old Testament:
Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. (Isa. 6:10; John 12:20)
To “SEE WITH THE EYES” refers to spiritual understanding that takes place with the heart, another metaphor.
To be blind is not to understand; to see is to understand and believe. The biblical writers used the expression “TO OPEN THEIR EYES” to describe RECOGNITION and UNDERSTANDING (Acts 26:18; cf. 1 Kings 8:29, 52; 2 Kings 6:20; 19:16; Isa. 35:5; 42:7, 18).
Jesus’ disciples saw His enthronement at His ascension (Acts 1:11); it was confirmed by Stephen at his death (Acts 7:56); and with the destruction of Jerusalem, “THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL” came to KNOW “for certain that God … made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom” they “crucified” (Acts 2:36).
Unfortunately it was too late for so many.
-GDM
