The Revelation of Sight

Reflection on Matthew 15:1-2 — 11/8/2023

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” — Matthew 15:1-2

Rabbi Shemuel ben Nachmani is reported as saying, “We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.” In other words, the way we perceive the world reveals a lot about us.

When the Pharisees came to Jesus to inquire about the rules his disciples were breaking, it revealed a lot about them. They did not see hungry teenagers eager to get some food in their bellies, all they saw were rules being broken. It’s the same thing they saw in John 5 when, after Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, all they could say was, “it is not lawful for you to carry your mat!” — John 5:10

This is called a condemning eye. It is an eye that sees all that is wrong in another person, and it reveals a heart that is focused on the wrong kind of goodness or righteousness. Oswald Chambers said, “We can always see sin in another because we are sinners. The reason we see hypocrisy, fraud, and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts.”

This is why Jesus comes to live within us by his Spirit. He wants to remake us from within, which will transform us and the way we see the world around us. His Spirit is like a light bulb in a dark room, when it is turned on you can see everything clearly, and interact with them accordingly.

Jesus didn’t see people as sabbath breakers, unclean sinners, and degenerate tax collectors. Those labels come from the darkness. Seen from the light they reveal people in need of mercy, and enables one to respond mercifully.

Gracious God, enlighten the darkened places of our lives, that we might be as you are, see as you see, and be conduits of your mercy. For Jesus sake, our salvation, and the salvation of the world. Amen.

---