Do you ever feel like you are being spied on? Jesus must have continually felt eyes upon Him. He even knew what was behind those eyes – questioning minds and too often, hard hearts. Must have broken His own heart. In Mark 2 and 3, the Pharisees were following Jesus and watching His every move. When Jesus and His disciples did what the Pharisees considered unlawful on the Sabbath, Jesus asserted His divinity by saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Later, Jesus asked the Pharisees in the synagogue, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” They did not answer and Jesus healed a man right there in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Awesome power through Love Incarnate. Jesus infuriated the Pharisees. And the Savior grieved at their hardness of heart.
Jesus never changed to appease the eyes that sought Him. Loving eyes, fearful eyes, hopeful, hateful – all were met with Jesus’ faithful eyes. Son of Man, Lord of all, He did not change His actions based on who was watching. Some say Christians today are “Jesus with skin on.” The world would change faster if that were true of every Christian every day. Fallen, repentant, forgiven, empowered…that’s our frequent lifecycle. God can work with that. Love Incarnate came to complete our lifecycle from this life to everlasting life. Let the world watch us strive to be like our Savior. Today, may our actions prove our devotion to Christ and may our eyes eagerly seek His. ~Tracy