When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. . . . (Mark 6:34)
An old proverb says that the eyes are the window to the soul. But it can also be said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, in the sense that we use our eyes to assess situations based on our own thoughts and feelings. What we see reveals the kind of person we are. And this is not necessarily a function of that person’s visual acuity.
What do our eyes see? Science would say that the physical eye is merely a channel, among other senses, through which external stimuli such as light is converted into electromagnetic impulses that travel through the nervous system to the brain. But is sight merely a physical phenomenon that dispassionately converts light into a series of neural signals? Is what I see exactly the same as what other people see? Through science, we now know that the brain somehow gives meaning to what I see. In this way, our eyes therefore are indeed “windows” by which we look out to and perceive the world. The purpose of perception is to represent information from the outside internally[i].
What we see therefore is not necessarily objective truth or reality but subjective interpretation. One person may look at a beggar on the sidewalk and see a lazy, good-for-nothing parasite. Another may come across that same beggar, and see a despondent, pitiful human being, who may not have had enough opportunities to live a better life. Someone else may not even “see” that beggar at all, even though he may be directly in his line of sight. For all intents and purposes, that beggar is “invisible” to him.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant distinguishes between an objective reality and our own representations of it, as experienced by our senses[ii]. The beggar on the sidewalk represents the objective reality. But how we interpret that scene and how it affects us is entirely subjective. What then is objective reality, or truth, and who determines it? The Bible says that God determines what truth is: “I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:17).
When Jesus landed and saw the crowds in Mark 6:34, “he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” It is not inconceivable to think that some of the apostles with him would have seen the crowds in a different way. The disciples would have been tired and hungry, having been sent by Jesus earlier to go preach and minister in towns and villages. As such, upon alighting from the boat with Jesus, they may have been dismayed instead, seeing a large crowd that “should be sent away” (Mark 6:36). But what Jesus saw instead were “harassed and helpless” (Matthew 9:36) people who needed his help and blessing at that very moment. He saw their condition with a different set of eyes.
Jesus did not see “crowds.” He saw individuals with physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and felt the compassion and conviction to minister to them. This is our challenge then - to see every man and woman and child how Jesus sees them, and to act accordingly. G.K. Chesterton wrote of St. Francis of Assisi:
"What distinguishes this very genuine democrat (St. Francis) from any mere demagogue is that he never either deceived or was deceived by the illusion of mass-suggestion. Whatever his taste in monsters, he never saw before him a many-headed beast. He only saw the image of God multiplied but never monotonous. To him a man was always a man and did not disappear in a dense crowd any more than in a desert. He honored all men; that is, he not only loved but respected them all. What gave him his extraordinary personal power was this; that from the Pope to the beggar, from the sultan of Syria in his pavilion to the ragged robbers crawling out of the wood, there was never a man who looked into those brown burning eyes without being certain that Francis Bernardone was really interested in him; in his own inner individual life from the cradle to the grave; that he himself was being valued and taken seriously, and not merely added to the spoils of some social policy or the names in some clerical document."
That is why Jesus told his apostles, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). When Jesus tells us to “open our eyes,” he is telling us to look at people and situations the way he would see them. What Jesus sees is what God sees, because “he came from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 17).
How then do we “open our eyes?” How can we look at people – all people – with Jesus’ eyes? That is, to look at individuals with compassion, empathy, goodwill, and forgiveness, instead of envy, indifference, suspicion or disdain?
The “Single Eye”
The Bible gives us a useful rule for getting our eyes to see the world as Jesus sees it. Matthew 6:22 says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” The eye in this verse is used figuratively to describe one’s spiritual understanding or perspective.[iii] The King James Version mentions a “single” eye, which refers to a singular focus on God. What this verse says is that if our life is centered on God, then our perspective will likewise be aligned to God’s perspective.
However, if we are distracted by worldly concerns (the verse particularly refers to our penchant for being engrossed in the accumulation of material wealth) then we will see all things from that spiritually distorted point of view. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Perception is a function of many things. Both scientists and philosophers tell us that how we perceive the world is determined by our knowledge and beliefs. Science also tells us that perception is determined by what we pay attention to and our familiarity with such stimuli. This in turn is influenced by our motivation and interest.[iv] Experience also affects our perception as they serve as a context for perceiving and interpreting new situations.[v] In this sense, a singular focus on Christ then, on understanding and knowing Him through his Word, on constantly obeying him and experiencing his presence, will gear our minds and hearts, and consequently, our “eyes” to see things the way Jesus sees them.
Our eyes are really just a channel. What we see is really determined by what 5th century writers call the “heart’s eye,” our center for thinking and feeling, our very essence as individuals. Author and professor Laurel Lee said with some insight, “I know I’m not seeing things as they are, I’m seeing things as I am.” Therefore, if we want to see things exactly the way Jesus sees them, we would have to be like Christ in every way. And to be more like Christ, we have to emulate him, patterning our lives after him, in obedience and dedication to God’s will. Jesus says in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” John Cassian, a 5th century monk and writer knew this when he said, “When our gaze has wandered even a little from Christ let us immediately turn the eyes of our heart back to him and let our vision be directed to him as though along the straightest line.”
A Christ-centered person would see the crowd at that Galilee shore described in Mark 6:34, not as a crowd to be dispersed, but exactly the way Jesus saw them, as “sheep without a shepherd.” A Christ-centered person would see Matthew the tax collector, not as a Roman lackey that should be despised, but as Jesus saw him, a person with the humble heart of a disciple (Matthew 9:9). He would see Zaccheus, not as other people saw him - a sinner - but as Jesus saw him, someone who was repentant and willing to share whatever he had to the poor (Like 19:5-8). He would see an adulteress, not as someone to be condemned, but someone who needed forgiveness and renewal (John 8:3-11). He would see the Samaritan woman at the well, not as some foreigner to be suspected and avoided, but as a person who was thirsty for truth (John 4:4-29). He would look at a rich, young man, and not judge him as proud or arrogant, but simply, to look at him and just love him (Mark 10:21).
Eyes of Faith
Philip Yancey believes that the Christian life does not primarily center on ethics or rules but rather involves a new way of seeing. It consists of looking at the world, he says, through "grace-tinted" glasses. He quoted Helmut Thielicke who wrote: “Jesus gained the power to love harlots, bullies and ruffians . . . he was able to do this only because he saw through the filth and crust of degeneration, because his eye caught the divine original which is hidden in every way – in every man! . . . First and foremost, he gives us new eyes . . .”[vi]
Our faith in God shapes our perspective. A man of little or no faith will see situations in a mostly practical, material, or selfish sense. He will see the beggar on the sidewalk and may sense an opportunity to either garner praise from his fellow man, to assuage some guilt, or to merely perform a social obligation. A man of faith will see in that beggar, a divine creation, a brother, even the very face of Jesus.
What we see, and more importantly, how we put meaning to what we see, are not merely products of physiological or psychological processes. There is a faith aspect to how we perceive people, things and situations. How explain the perspective of Jesus in John 11:38-44? When Martha and Mary saw a dead man (Lazarus), Jesus saw a miracle waiting to happen and an opportunity to gain glory for God. Likewise, was it just a random firing of nerve impulses in the brain or some scientifically predictable cognitive process that made Peter proclaim to Jesus in all conviction, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16), when others saw Jesus as only a man? Kant had a point when he said that he had ruled out knowledge in order to make room for faith[vii].
How does one have eyes of faith? Faith is just like any grace, something God gives on his own volition. For some, “he has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts” (John 12:40), but for some, Like Paul, he has “poured out grace abundantly, along with the faith and love in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). If we are to start the process of faith however, we are first commanded to ask for it. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Asking for eyes of faith is in itself a sign of faith, for faith begets faith.
Secondly, we also need to develop a certain openness to see the world differently - as Jesus figuratively put it, to “open our eyes.” Our past experiences and influences may result in preconceived notions that cloud our perception. This may further lead to a cycle of framing what we observe in a way that reinforces what we already believe. Psychologists have a word for this tendency to search for and use observations that support our ideas while avoiding or filtering away those that contradict them: confirmation bias[viii]. John Lubbock, the English scientist and parliamentarian said, “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”
We need to change our perspective to change our perception. If we have always viewed things from a valley, we need to then start viewing them from a mountaintop, that is, from God’s perspective. This does not only require an awareness of our woefully different perspective from God’s, but also requires courage and conviction. Alexander Solzhenitzyn said, “We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable.”
Christian Eyes
Jesus calls us to “open our eyes,” to see the world as he sees it. Our perception of what we see in this world is where it all starts. Whatever we perceive leads to certain behaviors or actions. As we see that beggar on the sidewalk, let us see that person with a different set of eyes – Christian eyes. We not only ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do,“ but also ask, “What would Jesus see?”
A.G. Astudillo, 2008
[i] Psychology”, 7th edition. John W. Santrock, McGraw Hill, International Edition, 2003
[ii] The Story of Philosophy, Bryan Magee, Dorling-Kindersley, London, 2001, p. 133-135
[iii] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary; Charles F. Pfieffer andEverett F. Harrison, Editors, Moody Press, Chicago 1990.
[iv] Psychology, 7th edition.
[v] MSN Encarta On-line Encyclopedia, Perception (Psychology), 2007.
[vi] What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey, Zondervan Publishing House (through OMF Literature Inc. in the Philippines), 1998, p. 175
[vii] The Story of Philosophy, p. 137
[viii] Psychology, 7th edition.
An old proverb says that the eyes are the window to the soul. But it can also be said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, in the sense that we use our eyes to assess situations based on our own thoughts and feelings. What we see reveals the kind of person we are. And this is not necessarily a function of that person’s visual acuity.
What do our eyes see? Science would say that the physical eye is merely a channel, among other senses, through which external stimuli such as light is converted into electromagnetic impulses that travel through the nervous system to the brain. But is sight merely a physical phenomenon that dispassionately converts light into a series of neural signals? Is what I see exactly the same as what other people see? Through science, we now know that the brain somehow gives meaning to what I see. In this way, our eyes therefore are indeed “windows” by which we look out to and perceive the world. The purpose of perception is to represent information from the outside internally[i].
What we see therefore is not necessarily objective truth or reality but subjective interpretation. One person may look at a beggar on the sidewalk and see a lazy, good-for-nothing parasite. Another may come across that same beggar, and see a despondent, pitiful human being, who may not have had enough opportunities to live a better life. Someone else may not even “see” that beggar at all, even though he may be directly in his line of sight. For all intents and purposes, that beggar is “invisible” to him.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant distinguishes between an objective reality and our own representations of it, as experienced by our senses[ii]. The beggar on the sidewalk represents the objective reality. But how we interpret that scene and how it affects us is entirely subjective. What then is objective reality, or truth, and who determines it? The Bible says that God determines what truth is: “I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:17).
When Jesus landed and saw the crowds in Mark 6:34, “he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” It is not inconceivable to think that some of the apostles with him would have seen the crowds in a different way. The disciples would have been tired and hungry, having been sent by Jesus earlier to go preach and minister in towns and villages. As such, upon alighting from the boat with Jesus, they may have been dismayed instead, seeing a large crowd that “should be sent away” (Mark 6:36). But what Jesus saw instead were “harassed and helpless” (Matthew 9:36) people who needed his help and blessing at that very moment. He saw their condition with a different set of eyes.
Jesus did not see “crowds.” He saw individuals with physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and felt the compassion and conviction to minister to them. This is our challenge then - to see every man and woman and child how Jesus sees them, and to act accordingly. G.K. Chesterton wrote of St. Francis of Assisi:
"What distinguishes this very genuine democrat (St. Francis) from any mere demagogue is that he never either deceived or was deceived by the illusion of mass-suggestion. Whatever his taste in monsters, he never saw before him a many-headed beast. He only saw the image of God multiplied but never monotonous. To him a man was always a man and did not disappear in a dense crowd any more than in a desert. He honored all men; that is, he not only loved but respected them all. What gave him his extraordinary personal power was this; that from the Pope to the beggar, from the sultan of Syria in his pavilion to the ragged robbers crawling out of the wood, there was never a man who looked into those brown burning eyes without being certain that Francis Bernardone was really interested in him; in his own inner individual life from the cradle to the grave; that he himself was being valued and taken seriously, and not merely added to the spoils of some social policy or the names in some clerical document."
That is why Jesus told his apostles, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). When Jesus tells us to “open our eyes,” he is telling us to look at people and situations the way he would see them. What Jesus sees is what God sees, because “he came from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 17).
How then do we “open our eyes?” How can we look at people – all people – with Jesus’ eyes? That is, to look at individuals with compassion, empathy, goodwill, and forgiveness, instead of envy, indifference, suspicion or disdain?
The “Single Eye”
The Bible gives us a useful rule for getting our eyes to see the world as Jesus sees it. Matthew 6:22 says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” The eye in this verse is used figuratively to describe one’s spiritual understanding or perspective.[iii] The King James Version mentions a “single” eye, which refers to a singular focus on God. What this verse says is that if our life is centered on God, then our perspective will likewise be aligned to God’s perspective.
However, if we are distracted by worldly concerns (the verse particularly refers to our penchant for being engrossed in the accumulation of material wealth) then we will see all things from that spiritually distorted point of view. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Perception is a function of many things. Both scientists and philosophers tell us that how we perceive the world is determined by our knowledge and beliefs. Science also tells us that perception is determined by what we pay attention to and our familiarity with such stimuli. This in turn is influenced by our motivation and interest.[iv] Experience also affects our perception as they serve as a context for perceiving and interpreting new situations.[v] In this sense, a singular focus on Christ then, on understanding and knowing Him through his Word, on constantly obeying him and experiencing his presence, will gear our minds and hearts, and consequently, our “eyes” to see things the way Jesus sees them.
Our eyes are really just a channel. What we see is really determined by what 5th century writers call the “heart’s eye,” our center for thinking and feeling, our very essence as individuals. Author and professor Laurel Lee said with some insight, “I know I’m not seeing things as they are, I’m seeing things as I am.” Therefore, if we want to see things exactly the way Jesus sees them, we would have to be like Christ in every way. And to be more like Christ, we have to emulate him, patterning our lives after him, in obedience and dedication to God’s will. Jesus says in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” John Cassian, a 5th century monk and writer knew this when he said, “When our gaze has wandered even a little from Christ let us immediately turn the eyes of our heart back to him and let our vision be directed to him as though along the straightest line.”
A Christ-centered person would see the crowd at that Galilee shore described in Mark 6:34, not as a crowd to be dispersed, but exactly the way Jesus saw them, as “sheep without a shepherd.” A Christ-centered person would see Matthew the tax collector, not as a Roman lackey that should be despised, but as Jesus saw him, a person with the humble heart of a disciple (Matthew 9:9). He would see Zaccheus, not as other people saw him - a sinner - but as Jesus saw him, someone who was repentant and willing to share whatever he had to the poor (Like 19:5-8). He would see an adulteress, not as someone to be condemned, but someone who needed forgiveness and renewal (John 8:3-11). He would see the Samaritan woman at the well, not as some foreigner to be suspected and avoided, but as a person who was thirsty for truth (John 4:4-29). He would look at a rich, young man, and not judge him as proud or arrogant, but simply, to look at him and just love him (Mark 10:21).
Eyes of Faith
Philip Yancey believes that the Christian life does not primarily center on ethics or rules but rather involves a new way of seeing. It consists of looking at the world, he says, through "grace-tinted" glasses. He quoted Helmut Thielicke who wrote: “Jesus gained the power to love harlots, bullies and ruffians . . . he was able to do this only because he saw through the filth and crust of degeneration, because his eye caught the divine original which is hidden in every way – in every man! . . . First and foremost, he gives us new eyes . . .”[vi]
Our faith in God shapes our perspective. A man of little or no faith will see situations in a mostly practical, material, or selfish sense. He will see the beggar on the sidewalk and may sense an opportunity to either garner praise from his fellow man, to assuage some guilt, or to merely perform a social obligation. A man of faith will see in that beggar, a divine creation, a brother, even the very face of Jesus.
What we see, and more importantly, how we put meaning to what we see, are not merely products of physiological or psychological processes. There is a faith aspect to how we perceive people, things and situations. How explain the perspective of Jesus in John 11:38-44? When Martha and Mary saw a dead man (Lazarus), Jesus saw a miracle waiting to happen and an opportunity to gain glory for God. Likewise, was it just a random firing of nerve impulses in the brain or some scientifically predictable cognitive process that made Peter proclaim to Jesus in all conviction, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16), when others saw Jesus as only a man? Kant had a point when he said that he had ruled out knowledge in order to make room for faith[vii].
How does one have eyes of faith? Faith is just like any grace, something God gives on his own volition. For some, “he has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts” (John 12:40), but for some, Like Paul, he has “poured out grace abundantly, along with the faith and love in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). If we are to start the process of faith however, we are first commanded to ask for it. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Asking for eyes of faith is in itself a sign of faith, for faith begets faith.
Secondly, we also need to develop a certain openness to see the world differently - as Jesus figuratively put it, to “open our eyes.” Our past experiences and influences may result in preconceived notions that cloud our perception. This may further lead to a cycle of framing what we observe in a way that reinforces what we already believe. Psychologists have a word for this tendency to search for and use observations that support our ideas while avoiding or filtering away those that contradict them: confirmation bias[viii]. John Lubbock, the English scientist and parliamentarian said, “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”
We need to change our perspective to change our perception. If we have always viewed things from a valley, we need to then start viewing them from a mountaintop, that is, from God’s perspective. This does not only require an awareness of our woefully different perspective from God’s, but also requires courage and conviction. Alexander Solzhenitzyn said, “We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable.”
Christian Eyes
Jesus calls us to “open our eyes,” to see the world as he sees it. Our perception of what we see in this world is where it all starts. Whatever we perceive leads to certain behaviors or actions. As we see that beggar on the sidewalk, let us see that person with a different set of eyes – Christian eyes. We not only ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do,“ but also ask, “What would Jesus see?”
A.G. Astudillo, 2008
[i] Psychology”, 7th edition. John W. Santrock, McGraw Hill, International Edition, 2003
[ii] The Story of Philosophy, Bryan Magee, Dorling-Kindersley, London, 2001, p. 133-135
[iii] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary; Charles F. Pfieffer andEverett F. Harrison, Editors, Moody Press, Chicago 1990.
[iv] Psychology, 7th edition.
[v] MSN Encarta On-line Encyclopedia, Perception (Psychology), 2007.
[vi] What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey, Zondervan Publishing House (through OMF Literature Inc. in the Philippines), 1998, p. 175
[vii] The Story of Philosophy, p. 137
[viii] Psychology, 7th edition.