Daily Archives: September 20, 2008

Those of us who have been believers for a number of years can sometimes glaze over when reading the Bible. Been there, read that, already know the intended application. But sometimes a familiar passage can pop right off the page and open wide your eyes. (I almost said put toothpicks in your eyes, but I didn’t want to scare recent recipients of eye injuries. You’re welcome.) This morning just such a thing happened to me.

I’ve been reading through the Gospels. Yesterday Ellie climbed up on our bed before I had finished my quiet time. She wanted to read with me, so I read aloud a few chapters of Luke. This morning I re-read them to catch the morsels I didn’t catch with a beautiful four-year-old burrowed in my armpit asking “What happened next, Mama?”

Verse 20: “And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say …” This is the introduction to The Beatitudes. We all love to focus on the beatitudes because they promise blessings. Everyone wants a blessing. But this little half a sentence caught my attention this morning.

Jesus had just finished healing heaps of people and then He turned His gaze on His disciples. No wonder Hagar called Him Elroi, the God who sees. The blessings he spoke of are not meant for everyone. If they were, then the woes wouldn’t follow immediately after. Some will be blessed and some will be pitied. The amazing thing is Jesus knew. He still knows because He still sees. He didn’t just look at His disciples and make a speech. He turned His gaze toward them. He looked into their hearts, their struggles, they triumphs and their selfishness. He saw their strengths and their weaknesses and He spoke to them with such compassion. He wants to bless those who are poor and weak and downtrodden. He aches for those who bring trouble upon themselves with their pride and arrogance.

He is the God who sees. He sees everything. Knowing this, will we praise Him or fear Him? Hopefully a little of both.