“And He said unto him, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
(Luke 16:31)

There are at least two astounding things we can learn from this statement of Jesus. The complete darkness and hardness of the heart of men, and the powerful grace of God. The rich man being tormented after his death begged that some warning might be given to his brothers who were still alive, in hopes that they might not live as he lived and end up as he ended up. The above verse is the response of Jesus.

Sinful man has a heart so hard that even in the face of powerful evidence such as resurrection, he will not hear or submit to God. The Scripture calls natural man blind, hard, dead, under the dominion of darkness and even in love with darkness. After the resurrection of Christ, the Jews paid soldiers to concoct stories explaining the emptiness of the tomb rather than bowing in awe before King Jesus. This shows in clear detail the depths of human depravity.

But we can also learn from this verse the glorious grace of God. For, if we are believers in Christ Jesus from the heart, something powerful has happened inside of us. Spiritual blindness, hardness, death, and darkness has been overcome and radically changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are a lover of Jesus today, rejoice in worship and thanksgiving before God that He has given you a new heart. Praise Him that He has not left you like this rich man, but has made you eternally rich in His Son.

By Timothy Guess