Love Sees Differently: Learning to See People the Way Jesus Does
Most of us size people up long before we really know them, and those first impressions can shape how we treat them for years. When we experience the love of Jesus, he starts to change that, and we begin to see and love others differently. That matters on an ordinary weekday, especially with the people we'd rather keep at arm's length.
In Luke 7:36-50, a Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to dinner, and a woman known around town for her sinful life comes in with an alabaster jar of perfume. She weeps at Jesus's feet, wipes them with her hair, and pours the perfume over them. Simon sees her reputation and quietly writes off both her and Jesus. Jesus answers with a story about two forgiven debts, then turns to the woman and asks the question at the center of it all: "Do you see this woman?"
Love Sees
Jesus never pretended the woman's sin wasn't real, but he refused to let it define her. He saw Simon clearly too, a man whose sin was hidden behind respectability, and he loved him enough to tell him the truth. At Calvary we describe worship as seeing God accurately and responding appropriately, and seeing other people accurately grows out of that.
Try this: Think of one person you've quietly written off. Before you see them next, ask what Jesus sees when he looks at them, and let that answer shape the first thing you say.
Love Transforms
It's easy to read Jesus's story as if the person with more sin gets more love, but the point is that neither person could repay what they owed. Simon hadn't sinned less, he had understood his sin less. J.C. Ryle put it soberly in Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: "It is possible to have a decent form of religion yet know nothing of the gospel." The woman's tears weren't her way of earning forgiveness. They showed what forgiveness had already done in her.
Reflect: When did you last let yourself feel how much you've been forgiven? If grace has started to feel ordinary, take a few minutes to name what Jesus has already carried for you.
Love Responds
The woman never says a word, yet her worship speaks loudly. Our response to grace runs in two directions, toward Jesus with gratitude and worship, and toward others with his kind of love, the kind that reaches the obvious sinner and the respectable one alike.
Try this: Notice which person in the story you naturally pull away from, the woman who knows she's an outcast or Simon who doesn't yet see his need, and then think about who that looks like in your own life.
Take It Into Your Week
These are worth sitting with on your own, and even better talked through with your group or a few honest friends.
Where are you in this story right now: overwhelmed by grace like the woman, close to Jesus but not really seeing him like Simon, or on the outside wondering who he is?
Who have you stopped seeing accurately?
Who do you naturally move away from, and what would it look like to see them the way Jesus does?
A Prayer for This Week
As often as you need to this week, pray two bold prayers: "Jesus, help me see like you," and "Jesus, help me love like you." Pray them with that person in mind, the one you'd normally steer around.
We'd love to have you with us Sunday as we keep walking through Luke. Souderton meets at 9:00 and 10:30am, Quakertown meets at 9:30am, and you can catch up on the series anytime at calvary-church.com/messages.