Looking to See

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LOOKING TO SEE

Luke 7:31-35

31  "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'

33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." '  35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children." 

NIV

When we consider what Jesus said to the Pharisees and the experts in the law concerning myself and John the Baptist, we see the problem with mankind. What this problem is that we, the people, look at the outside and make misjudgments which is another problem with us, we the people, we judge each other based on what we see and have no clue who the real person is. When we make a misjudgment based on appearance or even an outside behavior, such as when John and Jesus were being misjudged, we are only acting out of self-defense for we know in our heart that we are neither perfect nor rightly qualified to make any judgment. This self-defense is all about wanting to think that we are better the whoever we are making this misjudgment about. We are going to get to the part of this gospel when Jesus tells the Pharisees they want to look clean on the outside, but on the inside, they are full of greed and wickedness. Man sees only the outside, but God looks into our hearts. Who cares if a person decides not to eat or drink certain things or if they decide to eat or drink certain things, that is the misjudgment the Pharisees made about John and Jesus. But wisdom is proved right by all her children. If we are a child of wisdom, we will know what is right and never make a misjudgment based on a person’s appearance or their choice of food and drink. Who among us can rightly call another a sinner, without first looking in the mirror? Then we can call us all sinners saved by grace. Jesus tells us to love each other, no matter who we appear to be based on the outside. Jesus loves us no matter who we are on the inside, although as we step into the grace of God, accepting the love of Jesus, we do go through the metanoia, that transition on the inside, changing from that caterpillar, consumed with satisfying only our own appetite, to a beautiful butterfly, spiritually flying in the grace of God. Let us sing a sweet song in our hearts to Jesus, and when we do that, perhaps people will see someone else on the outside than just us.