The Eyes of the Lord Jesus

Christians have many sources of strength for everyday life. One of them is to look at the Lord Jesus in glory. Another is to contemplate Him during His life on earth. We would like to do this in a short series, looking at the members of His physical body. What do we learn from His eyes, hands, and feet?

• Matthew 9:36 – a compassionate look: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” The Lord Jesus not only saw the people in front of Him but looked deeper into His heart. There He saw: nothing. Complete emptiness. People on the road to destruction. This situation did not leave Him indifferent; no, it pained Him to the core. He was never indifferent when He saw the (spiritual) misery of His fellow human beings. We can take two things with us: Firstly, we want to be grateful that He also saw us with this gaze—and then saved us. Secondly, we also want to have this view of our lost fellow human beings and not be indifferent.
• A tearful look:

(a) Luke 19:41: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it.”: The pain that Lord Jesus feels in the previous passage can be seen of Him outwardly here: He weeps. Tears flow down His cheeks because He sees the rejection of the people. It breaks His heart, so to speak, to think about their path to hell"Place" prepared for the devil and his angels (demons) (Mt 25:41), but into which everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life will also be thrown (Rev... More.

(b) John 11:33-36: “Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him!’” The Lord Jesus stands at the tomb of His good friend Lazarus and weeps (even though He knows, of course, that Lazarus will be back among the living in a few minutes). He thus enters into the distress that the mourners are going through. Because He has experienced every imaginable suffering on this earth Himself (apart from sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More), He can now “have compassion” on us (Hebrews 4:15). Simply put: He knows how you feel. His tearful eyes at the tomb bear witness to this.

(c) Hebrews 5:7: “who… had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears.” The Lord Jesus weeps a third time. This time, tears flow because He sees the terrible suffering on the cross before Him; it is less about the torture of the crucifixion but about the “dismay” and “anguish” of His soul because of God's judgment. We see here how difficult the path to Golgotha was—He by no means walked it inwardly detached. No, He went on despite all the difficulties out of love for the Father and for us.

• Mark 5:38 – an “overlooking” look: “Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogueAt the time of the New Testament, the synagogue was a place where people gathered to hear the law. The beginnings of synagogues probably date back to the time of... More, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.”: The Lord Jesus is the master of every situation; He surveys everything; nothing escapes His control. He sees the tearful turmoil before Him. It is similar a little later when He “saw His disciples straining at rowing” (Mark 6:48). Here we also think of Exodus 3:7: “And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.’” and Revelation 2:9: “I know your worksAnother word for deeds or actions. God's works are perfect (Gen 1:31), men's can be good works (Matt 5:16) or dead (Heb 6:1). On the basis of his works, unbelieving... More, tribulationIn the Bible, tribulation stands for oppression and persecution, such as the first Christians had to go through (2 Thes 1:4) and in particular the earthly people of God, Israel,... More, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogueAt the time of the New Testament, the synagogue was a place where people gathered to hear the law. The beginnings of synagogues probably date back to the time of... More of SatanThe Bible introduces us to the great adversary of God in Rev 20:2 under four terms: • Dragon • Old Serpent • Devil • Satan Under the term 'Satan,' the... More.” We also read about the paralytic who had been lying helplessly in front of the pool for 38 years: “When Jesus saw him lying there...”. The Lord also sees our needs—and has everything under control.
• Matthew 9:2 – a scrutinizing look: “Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’” Unfortunately, believing is often an up-and-down experience, more like a roller coaster instead of being calm and constant. The Lord sees our “level of faith” (this is by no means about saving faith and, therefore, not about the question of certainty and assurance of salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More, but about the daily confidence of faith). In Mark 4:40, the Lord Jesus asks the anxious disciples why they have “no faith”; in Matthew 14:31, He calls doubting Peter, “O you of little faith.” In contrast, the verse above shows us great faith, which the Lord rewards. He also tests our faith and rewards it. And if it is not 100%? Then we can pray: “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
• Luke 22:61-62 – a restorative look: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly.” There are certainly several stages on the path to Peter's restorationWhen a believer turns away from God, He works on them so that they turn back to God through repentance and confession. Then, the believer can once again honor God... More, but one important step was definitely the gaze of the Lord Jesus. It was enough to bring the unfaithful discipleDisciples are students and followers. Examples are disciples of the Lord (Mt 8:23), of John (Mt 11:2), and of the Pharisees (Mt 22:16). A disciple learns from his teacher, abides... More to repentanceWhile remorse (Greek metamellomai) means to regret a previous act or behavior and to have a different way of thinking about it, Repentance (Greek metanoia) goes further than that: It... More. When we distance ourselves from the Lord, become lukewarm, or even live in sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More, He also looks at us—to bring us back into fellowship with Him.
• Mark 12:41 – an appreciative look: “Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.” First of all, the Lord Jesus only looks at the treasury, but He looks deeper. He sees the devotion of the heart (which very often shows itself in the purse) and appreciates it. The fact that the widow gave 100% of her heart (and wealth) to God is recorded for all eternity in the Word of God. Even today, the Lord sits opposite our heart and treasure chest and sees how our devotion is doing. He values that.

Finally, we add a look from the Old Testament, from 2 Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”: a rewarding look. The Lord is looking for undivided hearts, where He alone has first place. The result is a reward.