Eyes of the Lord, Part 2

Eyes of the Lord, Part 2

March 1st, 2016, Kichijouji Bible Study

Gotthold Beck

Psalms

32:7 You are my hiding place; you will deliver me from trouble and surround me with shouts of deliverance. Interlude.

32:8 I will instruct you and teach you concerning the path you should walk; I will direct you with my eye.

32:9 Don't be like a horse or mule, without understanding. They are held in check by a bit and bridle in their mouths; otherwise they will not remain near you.

32:10 The wicked have many sorrows, but gracious love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.

32:11 Righteous ones, be glad in the LORD and rejoice! Shout for joy, all of you who are upright in heart!

[International Standard Version]

I would like to continue the discussion regarding the eyes of the Lord Jesus today. In our previous meeting, we began to discuss what kind of eyes the eyes of Jesus are. What we learned was that the eyes Jesus are the eyes of love and the eyes of hope.

Let us continue to discuss what kind of eyes Jesus' eyes are. The next answer is that the eyes of Jesus are the eyes of compassion.

Luke

7:11 Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a city called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were going along with him.

7:12 As he approached the entrance to the city, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.

7:13 When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her. He told her, "You can stop crying."

7:14 Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

7:15 The man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

This was the supreme gift for her, wasn't it? This lady was a very pitiful woman who was exhausted because of the heavy burden she had been carrying throughout her life. She had already suffered the tragedy of losing her husband. Now, she had lost her son, who was her only source of joy and emotional support in a life of loneliness. 

And when Jesus saw this lady in sorrow, he sympathized deeply with her. Jesus came to this lady and told her to stop weeping. She did not answer to him in a word. She did not say, “yes, sir. I stop crying.”

Instead this lady looked up to Jesus, presumably with tears running down her face. Here, they looked at each other and she saw the eyes filled with deep compassion. Jesus did not talk much. Nor did he offer any empty words of consolation to her.

Instead, he only said to her young dead son, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man then arose and began to talk according to these verses. It was a wonderful miracle which was beyond imagination. It was a revelation of Jesus' power.

This lady, until she had looked into the sympathetic eyes of Jesus, had been devastated and had been living in a state of hopelessness. Therefore, on her way to, and during, the funeral ceremony, she was in an extreme situation where all hope seemed lost. 

From the human perspective, everything was too late, and there was nothing anyone could do to heal her. However, nothing is too late for Jesus. Even in the worst situations, when everything seems hopeless to us, Jesus is there as the one who can help us. 

Some people might feel that, from a human perspective, their life is on the edge and that all hope is gone. However, even in the most desperate of times, nothing is too late to handle for Jesus.

What is it that we absolutely need? It is nothing but Jesus’ eyes of compassion. No matter how awful our pains are now, there still are the Jesus’ eyes of love. His eyes that are full of love, full of hope and full of compassion are always there looking at us.

As we have just seen, the eyes of Jesus are the eyes of love, the eyes of hope and the eyes of compassion. But, these are not all. His eyes are also the eyes of admonition, which persuade lost people to head once again in the right direction and show them the way to proceed. We can find an example of the eyes of admonition in his relationship with Peter.

Luke

22:61 Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Matthew, chapter 26 describes how Peter was filled with confidence when he said these words:

Luke

26:33 But Peter told him, "Even if everyone else turns against you, I certainly won't!"

26:34 Jesus told him, "I tell you with certainty, before a rooster crows this very night, you will deny me three times."

26:35 Peter told him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!" And all the disciples said the same thing.

He was not lying this time, but he must truly believed that he would never ever deny the Lord. Peter was filled with confidence when he declared with these words in front of Jesus:

Matthew

26:33 Even if everyone else turns against you, I certainly won't!

26:35 Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!

Jesus warned his disciples to stay awake and to not stop praying so that they wouldn’t be tempted.

Peter was so confident in himself that he did not take these words seriously. Peter was in the courtyard of the house sitting with the guards. They were not believers of Jesus; actually, they were the ones who had participated in the arrest of Jesus and attempted to slaughter him. Peter was sitting with these people and had a fellowship with them. Peter was not like he was a few moments ago, when he was filled with confidence. Instead, he became so cowardly and denied knowing who Jesus was. Let us continue to read:

Matthew

26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him and said, "You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean."

26:70 But he denied it in front of them all, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

26:71 As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, "This man was with Jesus from Nazareth."

26:72 Again he denied it and swore with an oath, "I don't know the man!"

26:73 After a little while the people who were standing there came up and told Peter, "Obviously you're also one of them, because your accent gives you away."

26:74 Then he began to curse violently. "I don't know the man!" he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed.

26:75 Peter remembered the words of Jesus when he said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Then he went outside and cried bitterly.

When people are too confident about themselves, they become arrogant and the eyes of their hearts are dazzled. Consequently, Peter neglected the warning of Jesus. When we don't stand firm on the word of God and refuse to respect his words alone, we are actually giving the devil a chance to win. When we are overconfident and disregard the words from the Bible, we are likely to fall into the sin of having a fellowship with non-believers. 

2 Corinthians

6:14 Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? What fellowship can light have with darkness?

Jesus warns us to stay awake and to not stop praying in order to avoid the temptation of the devil. When we become overconfident of our own faith, we will likely fall into the devil's trap. This was exactly what happened to Peter. From a human’s perspective, Peter failed at this very moment. Jesus clearly said to him:

Luke

22:31 Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked permission to sift all of you like wheat,

22:32 but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail. When you have come back, you must strengthen your brothers.

When Satan wanted to try Peter, he asked for permission to Jesus and it was granted. Jesus then began to pray for Peter so that his faith would not fail. When Peter denied Jesus three times saying he did not know such person, Jesus turned around and stared at Peter.

The eyes of Jesus this time were exactly the eyes that rectify those who have stepped off the right path and guide them back on again. The eyes of admonition of Jesus penetrated Peter's heart and brought about his repentance instantly. 

Peter then went out of the courtyard, was separated from non-believers, and cried bitterly alone. Peter must have been in utter darkness for the next three days, and his mind was in a complete blank.

Peter clearly realized that when he denied Jesus, he betrayed the promised savior who was sent from the heaven. The eyes of Jesus were ingrained in his memory, a memory from which he would never be free forever.

When Peter heard about the resurrection of Jesus from women, he ran to the graveyard to see whether the tomb was really empty. They say it was Peter alone who met Jesus at this time. Unfortunately, the conversation held between them was not recorded in the Bible. However, there is no doubt that Peter was admonished by Jesus, who showed him the right direction to go in his life.

When Jesus asked Peter three times, “do you love me?” He answered wholeheartedly, “I do.” It is clear from the Acts of the Apostles and all his epistles that Peter completely recovered from his fail later in his life. A rigid anchor was cast from Peter's mind and it was rooted in the uninterrupted relationship with Jesus. His joy came from thoroughly trusting in Jesus. 

His entire life was characterized by remarkable dignity and strength. Peter, who was so weak and cowardly denied the Lord, changed into the most courageous witness of Jesus, and he became afraid of death no longer. It is recorded in history that he was martyred for his faith in Jesus. We too have to be very careful so that instead of relying on ourselves, we always act based upon the words of the Scripture, as Peter in his later life did. We must not compromise with others or conform to the opinions of non-believers.

What kind of eyes are the eyes of Jesus? As we have discussed so far, the eyes of Jesus are the eyes of love, the eyes of hope, the eyes of compassion and the eyes of admonition.

Finally, the eyes of Jesus are also the eyes of acceptance, those which accept everything as good.

John

1:45 Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

1:46 Nathaniel asked him, "Out of Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"

1:47 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, "Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!"

1:48 Nathaniel asked him, "How do you know me?"Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

1:49 Nathaniel replied to him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

1:50 Jesus told him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that."

1:51 Then he told him, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, you will see heaven standing open and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man."

Nathanael is characterized by his honesty, purity and sincerity. Jesus accepts and justifies whoever have these characteristics. Where can we find honesty, purity and sincerity in today's world?

The present time we are all living in is characterized by dishonesty, deceit, evilness, and impurity. It is at the polar opposite of the time he lived. Actually, Nathanael did not believe in Jesus instantly, but he was skeptical in the beginning.

This is why he said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” However, he approached the Lord finally to make him convinced that Jesus was truly the Son of God. Nathanael was bigoted in that the promised savior would rise from Bethlehem, and he could hardly believe that Jesus from Nazareth was the Messiah.

However, Nathanael decided to stop insisting on whether Jesus was from Nazareth or Bethlehem, instead to come to see for himself who Jesus really was. When he met Jesus, he obtained a firm conviction that the Lord Jesus was truly the Son of God.

Until he met Jesus, he had been absolutely skeptical and believed 100 percent that Jesus of Nazareth should never be the true savior. But, at the moment he met Jesus, he believed 100 percent that Jesus was the promised savior, the Son of God. 

Generally speaking, we do not innately have such faithfulness, purity, and sincerity. We all more or less have an unbelieving and hypocritical nature. However, an encounter with the Lord Jesus wipes away our dishonesty and the nature of deceiving.

Until you have a sincere heart, you will never obtain true hope and blessing. Those who have a sincere and pure heart will see heaven opened before them. To see heaven opened before you is to come to understand Jesus better by inspiration from above. It is only the cross of Jesus that can liberate us from all kinds of untruth and deception.

It was for this reason that Jesus demands us to accept the cross, bear it and follow the Lord. Paul was truly prepared to bear the cross and follow Jesus. He could testify filled with joy:

Galatians

2:19 I have been crucified with the Messiah.

2:20 I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me.

Thus, Paul testified. We too have to encounter Jesus and look into his eyes. What kind of eyes are they? As we have seen, the eyes of Jesus, which are filled with his deep love, are apparently telling us about the cross. 

Furthermore, Jesus' eyes of hope invite us to have fellowship with himself. Do we also have the strong desire to enter into a fellowship with Jesus? People are hopeless if they are indifferent to this precious fellowship.

The eyes of Jesus are full of compassion and they are even capable of bringing back the dead. In addition, the eyes of Jesus which rectify us are indispensable as they are the only eyes that can show us the right road to recovery.

There are so many things in our lives that need to be recovered. If you are indifferent about this recovery, your mind will be hardened and eventually you will be made blind. Finally, the eyes of Jesus, those of acceptance, are the promise of the Lord that we will see heaven opened before us. If you only look at yourself or other people you will eventually become occupied by an inferiority complex and become obsequious, or conversely, you will be filled with a feeling of superiority and begin to act arrogantly.

While your mind is in this kind of state, Jesus cannot use you; you actually will be an instrument of the devil unknowingly. Let us look at this testimony of David, which is truly amazing and remarkable; it is a source of all blessings.

Psalms

16:8 I have set the Lord before me continually; because he stands at my right hand, I will stand firm.

16:9 Therefore, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, and my body will dwell securely.

We always have to look up to Jesus alone, instead of looking to ourselves, other people or society. This is the secret to get to the path of blessing that leads to a life of victory. I would like to conclude this sermon with next few verses:

Isaiah

48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah

48:17 This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who directs you in the path by which you should go.

48:18 Now if only you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea.