For months, I had been reflecting on this scripture, even written it on a note card placed on my desk as a constant reminder. Interestingly, eyes have also been a recurring theme in my recent paintings. The scripture reads, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).
During the Easter Live Art event at Hope Church, the sermon’s theme was “Ultimate Hero.” I asked my painting partner, my 7-year-old son, for his thoughts on what we should paint to relate to the sermon title. He suggested, “We should paint Jesus healing the blind beggar Bartimaeus. I think that shows Jesus’ power.” This instantly reminded me of Ephesians 1:18, and we decided to paint that. Our hearts have a spiritual eye that needs to be enlightened to fully understand the hope we’ve been called to and the richness of our inheritance.
Jesus spoke about eyes in Matthew 6:22-23, saying, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” It’s striking to realize that we can be blind to the light and mistake darkness for light. This is the default human condition since sin entered the world, resulting in utter darkness. However, God can enlighten that darkness. If He could heal a man born blind, He can also heal the blindness of our hearts. Jesus is the ultimate hero, opening blind eyes and blind hearts, bringing light into darkness. As the hymn goes, “I once was blind, now I can see.”
This original painting is available in my shop. Purchase this original painting here.