One morning Ian arrives at the Dancing Zorba’s restaurant to meet his friend for coffee. Toula, serving tables, has just endured overhearing a conversation between her father, Gus and her Aunt Voula and Uncle Theo. They had been discussing sending Toula to Greece to find a husband. They were talking about her as if she is invisible.
But suddenly Ian sees her.
Ian looks at Toula in a way that makes her wish she was invisible. In fact, she is so uncomfortable that she cannot move, speak or think straight. She pours coffee into Ian’s cup when it is his friend who has asked for it. She feels so self-conscious that she sinks down below counter level in order to avoid his gaze.
What caused her paralysis of body, tongue, and mind? She might have asked herself what she looked like from his perspective. Perhaps she examined herself and saw what we saw; stringy unkempt hair, non-descript shapeless clothing, and a countenance of hopelessness and despair.
Similarly, when Jesus looks at us, we cannot escape his gaze even if we want to. He sees everything, whether we are comfortable with it or not.
Jesus once saw a little short man climbing a sycamore-fig tree. Jesus saw right through the man’s skin and into his heart. It is in Luke chapter 19 we read about Jesus meeting Zacchaeus, a tax collector. After Jesus sees Zacchaeus up in the tree, He calls him by name and invites Himself over for dinner. When Zacchaeus realizes he’s been seen, it changes him. Zacchaeus immediately declares,
In the same way, when we realize that Jesus sees us, we are compelled to consider what we look like from Christ’s perspective. We may do a double-take as well.
Jesus does not, however, look on the outward appearance. He looks upon the heart. Looking into the deep recesses of our heart can be considerably more upsetting than seeing ourselves on our worst hair day, with acne, during a wardrobe crisis.
And everything that is in our hearts is laid bare before Him.
If we have guilt or shame in our hearts, then we may not want to be seen. But, it is not always uncomfortable to be seen. In fact, sometimes just the opposite is true.
Ian looks at Toula in a way that makes her wish she was invisible. In fact, she is so uncomfortable that she cannot move, speak or think straight. She pours coffee into Ian’s cup when it is his friend who has asked for it. She feels so self-conscious that she sinks down below counter level in order to avoid his gaze.
What caused her paralysis of body, tongue, and mind? She might have asked herself what she looked like from his perspective. Perhaps she examined herself and saw what we saw; stringy unkempt hair, non-descript shapeless clothing, and a countenance of hopelessness and despair.
I believe being seen is what sparked her transformation.
Similarly, when Jesus looks at us, we cannot escape his gaze even if we want to. He sees everything, whether we are comfortable with it or not.
Jesus once saw a little short man climbing a sycamore-fig tree. Jesus saw right through the man’s skin and into his heart. It is in Luke chapter 19 we read about Jesus meeting Zacchaeus, a tax collector. After Jesus sees Zacchaeus up in the tree, He calls him by name and invites Himself over for dinner. When Zacchaeus realizes he’s been seen, it changes him. Zacchaeus immediately declares,
“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Luke 19:8
In the same way, when we realize that Jesus sees us, we are compelled to consider what we look like from Christ’s perspective. We may do a double-take as well.
Jesus does not, however, look on the outward appearance. He looks upon the heart. Looking into the deep recesses of our heart can be considerably more upsetting than seeing ourselves on our worst hair day, with acne, during a wardrobe crisis.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”
Jeremiah 17:9
And everything that is in our hearts is laid bare before Him.
“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”
Proverbs 15:3
If we have guilt or shame in our hearts, then we may not want to be seen. But, it is not always uncomfortable to be seen. In fact, sometimes just the opposite is true.
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