What Do the Eyes of Jesus See?

The ways of Satan should never surprise us for he walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour and one of the tools he uses is temptation to draw us away from God and into sin. James reminds us of this principle and its stages of development. First we are lured, then enticed, sin is born, and finally this sin leads to death. Satan may have desired to devour but God had two points that He wanted to reveal in this chapter: the true heart of the religious leaders and God’s heart of compassion for the poor and needy.

Like many atheists today, the religious leaders in Jesus’ day really did understand that he was the Son of God. But with superimposed religious hypocrisy they came to “worship” but were really judges with evil motives. James asked: “Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom…” which is the reason why God intended for this divine appointment. It was so that this man might leave giving glory to God and present Him as his defense to the world: Jesus is who he said he was.

Now as to the religious leaders we have this addition to the story “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?” And so then not hearing a response Jesus asked: “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” Hampton Keathley IV points out: “He is trying to save life and they are trying to destroy life (His to be precise.)” Oh the depth to which men’s hearts have fallen: “The human mind is more deceitful than anything else….I, the Lord, [alone] probe into people’s minds. I examine people’s hearts.” [Jer 17] And this gives us the backdrop of why Jesus looked about upon them with anger (righteous indignation).

The silence is deafening, the hearts begin to palpitate, and the faces turn crimson red as He posed questions. Jesus said stand up and the man stands alone as if a slave on the auction block. But as grieved as Jesus was for the religious leaders his heart of compassion poured out with a simple command: stretch out your hand. It is then that one can run, hide or obey. He chose the latter and found he has been restored whole!

And where are the supposedly righteous worshipers, those who had been given the right and privilege to teach the very Word of God? They left immediately the holy place where God’s Word and the Word Himself was proclaimed to counsel how to break the commandment “thou shalt not murder.” Pascal said, ‘Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

Beloved, what do the eyes of Jesus see when he looks at you? Does he see righteous indignation because you have been lured by the entrapment of the evil one and care more for the spotted owl than the needy next door to you? Or are you the needy next door in need of hearing the Word stretch out your hand …I will heal you? What do His eyes see?

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The Time is Now!!!

Clara Scott authored the hymn “Open my eyes that I May See”. The first stanza reads as : “Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me…” As we read Revelation 6 more than ever we need to see with spiritual eyes for the truth within is almost more than one can digest. In reading this chapter one verse keeps coming back to mind: John 3:16 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” It is when we view God’s love in sharp contrast to the hate of Satan, which is sovereignly allowed upon men in this chapter, that we bow the knee and are overwhelmed with gratitude of God’s gift of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and our salvation.

John 3:16 says that the gift God has for those who will bow the knee is eternal life. However, in this chapter we find that just as the Israel and the religious leaders during the time of Jesus rejected the evidence: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them, so too men in the last stages of the clock of time, men will not cry out to God for His peace, love and salvation but will continue to reject.  That is a frightening thought which should drive us to share the good news of salvation to everyone who is divinely brought across our path that they may not have to face the judgment of God. 

In Chapter 6, John shows us what God revealed. It will not be His grace but horror upon horror to show men the power of evil and hate in the form of war, famine, death, disease. They respond by calling out  to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” In reading this another verse came flooding back to this author: Rom  1:32 “Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die..” Isn’t it ironic that these men fully understand God’s judgment and his wrath but choose mountains and rocks to  the path of goodness, love and peace which only God can provide? We stop and ask “why?” Why do men reject God? Again we turn to the words of John: John 3:19 “people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.”

Beloved, if you have not done so I implore you now to open your eyes and allow the Holy Spirit to illumine you and bring God’s love and peace to your heart. It is not too late—but do not delay, we do not know when God will choose to allow the events of chapter 6 to unfold in all of their reality. Keep in mind God’s clock is running down; have you called upon Him?