In the Eyes of Jesus

In Matthew 9:9, we read, "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, 'Follow Me.'  So he arose, and followed Him."  It's written by Matthew, about Matthew, so it's a little autobiographical note.

Matthew was sitting at the tax office.  He was a tax collector, or as the King James Bible puts it, a "publican."  Publicans, or tax collectors, were especially despised in Israel.  You read frequent references to "publicans and sinners", as though they are a category of sinners all on their own.

The Israelites hated the Romans, who ruled over them and oppressed them.  Even more, they despised the tax collectors, who were Jews who sold out to squeeze taxes out of their own people, on behalf of the governing Romans.  Not only did they collect taxes, but they added surcharges at will and lined their own pockets at the expense of their own people.  They were a sort of government-sponsored Mafia.  They were rich, greedy, and merciless.

If a Pharisee ever accidentally touched a publican, he would go straight home to wash his clothes and have a bath.  To avoid any such contact, it was a common practice to cross the street  to walk on the other side, away from the despicable tax collector.

So the looks Matthew would get from his own people were full of condemnation, hatred, revulsion, disgust, rejection, and also fear.  

The look Matthew got from Jesus, however, was one of love.  The Greek word for "saw" in that verse 9 is "eidon", which, besides being translated as "see"  or "saw", is also translated as "to behold, consider, know, look or look on, or perceive."  Jesus did not just casually glance at Matthew; He actually looked at him, considered him, knew him, perceived what was inside him.  He actually saw him.  He saw the real Matthew.  He recognized the needs in the man's life, how he knew misery, guilt and shame when he was alone, his loneliness, and fears.  It may have been the first time Matthew ever saw someone look at him with love since he took the position at the tax office.

This look was so powerful that it was sufficient motivation to leave his position, his source of income to follow Jesus.

This happened also to another tax collector named Zacchaeus.  He heard Jesus was coming to town, and he wanted to see this famous person.  Being short, he decided to climb a sycamore tree to get a good view.  Probably the fact that he was short wasn't the only reason he wouldn't have been able to see.  The people would not have made room for such a despicable person to get to the front of the crowd.

The story is in Luke 19.  Verse 5 says, "And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him..."  It's the same Greek word.  Jesus saw him, and it was with eyes of love.  At Jesus' invitation, Zacchaeus scrambled down from the tree, welcomed Him into his home, and was a changed man.

Peter experienced that love after Jesus' resurrection, even though he had denied his Lord three times.  I'm reminded of those lines in the song "He's Alive" by Don Francisco, where Peter says:

Back inside the house again, the guilt and anguish came.

Everything I'd promised Him just added to my shame.

When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name.

Even if He was alive, it would never be the same.

But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume.

Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.

And Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide.

And I fell down on my knees, and I just clung to Him and cried.

Then He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes,

Love was shining out from Him like sunlight from the skies.

Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release,

And every fear I’d ever had just melted into peace.

Let's take time to meditate on how Jesus looks at us.  There is no disgust, no disappointment, no frustration, no anger in His eyes as they rest on us.  Remember that He knew every sin, every failure, every mistake we would ever make, before He invited any of us into His family, but He invited us anyway.  So, leave all the distractions, worries, fears, guilt and self-condemnation behind, and spend time enjoying Him and letting Him enjoy you.  Let it be said of us that we responded to His invitation, "arose, and followed Him," like Matthew did.