From the Pulpit: What do you see?
The human eye is simply amazing. It is second only to the brain in terms of complexity, able to focus on 50 different objects in the span of one second, contracting in less than 1/100th of a second, and connected to the brain with an optic nerve, which contains more than a million nerve cells. Our eyes are incredible. Have you recently reflected with gratitude on the intricate, delicate, and amazing complexity of your eyes? If you are like me, you probably have not. Helen Keller once commented, “The only thing worse than being blind is to have sight with no vision.”
Wisdom literature of Proverbs warns us in a similar way, “Without vision, the people perish.”
Vision is more than one of our five senses; it is a metaphor for our spiritual lives. What is so interesting as we study the life of Jesus is that He often sees things that the rest of us just miss.So, what did Jesus see? He saw people.
Luke records an awkward moment Jesus had in the home of a religious leader.
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Luke 7:36-39
Simon the Pharisee, who invited Jesus into his home, is understandably shaken by what he sees. While the horror of human trafficking is no less real today than it was in the 1st century, it was equally as shocking. A prostitute, cleaning and anointing the feet of a Jewish teacher – it was as awkward then as it would be today. The optics were not good, and Simon knew it. What kind of prophet would allow this sort of sinner to even touch him?
Jesus sees what we do not.
Jesus is drawn to people like you and me. Jesus knows our issues, whether anyone else does or not. Jesus not only accepts this woman, but He forgives her. Jesus accepts you as well. Jesus sees through the hurt, the brokenness, the pain, and the prejudice. Jesus saw the woman. Jesus saw the heart of gratitude of a person who had been forgiven and set free. Would you allow me to pose a question? What does Jesus see when He looks at you? Of course, He sees your sin, but does He see your gratefulness? Does He see your sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving?
Earlier in chapter seven, we see Jesus comment to the crowd about the Roman centurion, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all of Israel!”
What could we learn from observing what Jesus sees? My prayer today is that you would begin to seek the one who sees you, beyond what you have done, but for who you are. Someone worth dying for.
