Through the eyes of Jesus!

Luke 21:5-11

One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, 6 "All this you're admiring so much-- the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble." 7 They asked him, "Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it's about to take place?" 8 He said, "Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, 'I'm the One,' or, 'The end is near.' Don't fall for any of that. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end." 10 He went on, "Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. 11 Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You'll think at times that the very sky is falling.

Food for Thought!

In the gospel reading of today, Jesus and the people were all looking at the same temple, but seeing different things. The people were seeing beauty, Jesus was seeing destruction; the people were seeing the present moment, Jesus was seeing the future moment, when the temple would crumble down; they were as close as you can imagine, looking at the same temple, but seeing different things. Why is this possible? Because no two people can occupy the same place; no two people can see the same things; no two people can live in the same world. You may stay with someone and yet both live in completely distant and distinct worlds.

The Temple was a marvel by all standards, for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. From a distance, the Temple appeared like a mountain covered with snow, for, as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceedingly white. To the Jews it was unthinkable that such glory could one day ever be shattered to dust.

Jesus could and can see both history and future; he can see the past, the present and the future. Others were seeing the present, Jesus the future; they were blind to the approaching disaster but Jesus was seeing the avalanche about to descend on that temple. It is only when we see things through the eyes of Jesus that we too can see them clearly; it is only when we see through the eyes of Jesus that we see life clearly and all in it; it is only when we see through the eyes of Jesus that we see people in their true colours; it is by seeing our problems through the eyes of Jesus that we understand them.

We must, therefore, endeavor to see through the eyes of Jesus, with his consciousness and his understanding, if we are to see in this world and in this life what he saw. Because he sees differently, Jesus called people like Matthew and Paul and Magdalene to be his companions. Jesus does not only see disasters, he sees our potential too. Seeing like Jesus is not a presumptuous thing; it is a necessary thing if we are to grow into his image and likeness, like Paul did when he wrote these words:

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash — along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant — dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. (Phil 3:7-9)