Seeing Jesus

(Luke 9:7-9)

Herod the Tetrarch was the ruler at the time Jesus walked the earth. He heard of the many signs and wonders that Jesus had performed and desired to see Jesus. In due course this happened but when it did it was to cast judgement upon Jesus.

The World is Blind

However in the meantime Herod was much perplexed as to who Jesus was. He received all kinds of conflicting reports from his advisors, but no-one could give him a definitive answer.

Some said Jesus was one of the old prophets resurrected, some said he was Elijah come back and some said it was John the Baptist returned from the dead whom Herod had beheaded. None of them got it right for they were blind. We see this same situation quoted by Jesus who said, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare’a Philip’pi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli’jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Matthew 16:13-14)

They could not see who Jesus was because they were blind and furthermore they refused to accept that he was the Christ. The Jews had gone so far as to threaten anyone who suggested the Jesus was the Christ as we see here, “…for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22)

Thus they refused to accept the truth and the eyes and mind were closed.

Seeing the Truth about Jesus

Now to those who are seeking the Lord, God reveals the truth about Jesus. Anyone who desires to know God and is seeking will find Jesus Christ and God will reveal his son to them. As Jesus said to Peter and the disciples,

“15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-17)

The revelation of Jesus Christ in a persons life does not come through the knowledge gained in this world. It is gained by God opening the person’s eyes to see and understand who Jesus is.

Seeing Jesus Today

It is no different today. Although many people know about Jesus and they call him Christ, they do not understand who he really is. They do not recognise the power of God in Jesus Christ to save man from sin and to transform a person into the image of God. They still see Jesus through human eyes.

The typical depiction of Jesus today is that he was a good man who lived a long time ago and he started up a religion. They do not recognise him as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.

But when a person comes to the Lord and seeks to know the truth, they no longer look at Jesus from a human perspective but through the eyes of the Spirit. As Paul wrote, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer.” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

So in the same way let us all look at Jesus as the Saviour of the world and ourselves. He is “…the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) And as the Son of God he deserves the praise and worship of all mankind for he has provided us with the way of escape from this life and offers entry to a new life with God.

(Picture sourced from stock.xchng https://www.sxc.hu/ taken by Adrian van Leen)

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John

Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.