THROUGH JESUS’ EYES

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THROUGH JESUS EYES

The phrase ‘seeing through another person’s eyes’ is a figure of speech – an idiom. When someone sees or considers something through another person’s eyes, they consider it in the way that another person does; they see it from their perspective or their point of view.

Which leads me to ask, ‘why was Jesus so mysterious to so many people’? Why can’t we understand who He is and why He behaved the way he did? I believe the problem was that most people either have no concept of where Jesus’ comes from and have little idea of His mission – or choose not to believe it.

However, I believe that if a person would ‘see through Jesus’ eyes’, so to speak, they might better understand what He was saying and teaching. I believe we could better understand His intentions and His purpose. Then the question would be, or could we believe? (And this is especially true for professing Christians).

Jesus’ purpose, (His plan, ministry, methods and mission) was often misunderstood, even by those closest to Him. Perhaps it was because He would explain Himself through figures of speech, such as idioms, metaphors and similes, or perhaps it was because the miracles He performed were too fantastic to believe. Other times Jesus was very clear and exacting in His teachings and in His proclamations, but He was still misunderstood, or worse, He was rejected as a liar, a lunatic or a fraud by many.

Nonetheless, Jesus clearly stated that He was sent by God the Father. His home and domain is the Kingdom of Heaven and His mission is to defeat sin and its consequences and to seek and save those who are spiritually lost – this was and is Jesus total reason. This is how Jesus sees our world. Everything He said and did was in response to this one mission.

John 5:37-38, “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. Also, you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.”

John 6:38-40, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

John 5:30, “I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”

John 16:25-31, “These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.  On that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;  for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and are not using any figure of speech. Now we know that You know all things, and that You have no need for anyone to question You; this is why we believe that You came forth from God.”  Jesus replied to them, “Do you now believe?”

If you or I do not see this world (and the world which is to come), as Jesus sees it – if we do not have the mind and attitude of Christ – we do not understand even the first thing about Jesus, His mission, His methods, His promises, His claims or His Word.

I know this is a bold statement. I can hear the Bible student’s mind whirring right now! “That can’t possibly be true”, they might say. But I stand in this statement, as narrow as it sounds.

Listen to the words of James as he says, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.” (see James 4:2b-3). James is adamant that using the promises and power of God for things other than the Mission of Christ Jesus leads to ungodly behavior, greed, selfishness, vanity and division. It is a sad misunderstanding of the teachings and calling of Jesus at best, and a mockery of the Gospel at worst. (You should read the entire chapter to get the full context of what James is teaching.)

Furthermore, no matter how well-intentioned we may be, Jesus has warned, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

On the flip side, if you are willing, there is nothing that compares to following Jesus. You will never regret the results! Then you may ask what you will and it will be done for you!

 

Seeing through Jesus’ Eyes should radically alter most Christian’s view of everything they think they know, especially in matters of one’s own salvation and what should follow.

What we Christians should now be facing, I pray, is making the second most monumental decision following our decision to follow Jesus, and that is to actually follow Him, which requires that we “see through the Eyes of Jesus”.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

(If you think this sounds harsh or too narrow, please know that I have felt the same way. But, please believe me, salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus is neither cheap nor easy – no matter how it is being sold. Please consider this short series: “It Ain’t Easy”.)