Looking Unto Jesus
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb.2:1
The human eye can't focus on two objects at once. Try it. Pick two things in your purview and try to pay equal attention. It can't be done. The apostle in this chapter speaks of the Christian as a runner in a long-distance race. You can imagine a Spartan runner so focused on the uneven ground that he fails to see the tree right before him. Or so focused on the horizon that he doesn’t see the loose gravel below. An experienced runner tries to look equally at what’s around and what’s ahead. It is a mixture of the two.
"The race" Paul speaks of is the Christian life. The course is the life of conformity unto the image of Christ. And the goal line is the Author of the course, standing as the finish of our faith. And it's been Christ in the heart of that runner all along. Even when he couldn’t feel it, Christ permeated every step. So, looking to Jesus is seeing Him as the source of faith, the giver of faith, and the object of faith. To truly see the Lord Jesus spiritually is the vital object of our everlasting salvation. But to see Him clearly, we must turn our gaze away from all other things. And we must start with ourselves. We are the most dangerous and dominant thing standing between our eyes and Christ. When we fell in Adam, Self, removed God from our heart’s throne. Self has held onto that throne ever since.
We must look From Everything
We must look from ourselves. We need to look from our righteous self and from our unrighteous self. We have to look away from righteous self, meaning all self-commending works. From our community involvement to our religious observances, from prayer and fasting, to all the works of the law we stand upon to be justified. We must look from all our efforts to make ourselves holy in the sight of God. Paul used himself as an example when he said, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."
Just as importantly, we must also look from our unrighteous selves. Our sins, transgressions, and iniquities, scarlet in color, numerous as sand, and tall as the mountains, must not prevent us from looking unto Jesus. His name is Savior, after all. That means He came to free us from our sins. No matter how large or many. It is hard for us to look unto Jesus and experience the joy of his salvation while simultaneously looking at the quantity and heinousness of our sins. We cannot look equally at our sins and the Savior. Instead, we must look by faith at the One who "bore our sins in his own body on the tree," (1 Pet. 2:24) and was "made a sin-offering for us," being "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," who shed His precious blood so that the guiltiest may be cleansed, and the vilest saved. Do it properly. If you must look at your sins (and you must), look at them inscribed upon Christ’s pierced hands. (Col.2:14) When we see Jesus in this way, our sin’s quantity, darkness, and number, present no obstacles in our way. Your unworthiness must not be used as a defense to keep you from so great a salvation.
We must also look unto Jesus from our sins. When Jesus came into this world, all His actions, words, and suffering were done on behalf of sinners. Saving sinners is His work, His passion, and the jewel of His diadem. For this, He traded heaven for earth, giving up his Father's bosom for the cross' embrace. On earth, He was never known to turn away any who came to Him. He never declined to accept the one who sought protection from the law's judgment. He never refused to take any under His sheltering wing. "Whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (Jn 6:37) With such a promise, who can refuse the extinction of their sins!? Who can turn away from the majesty of His love, the greatness of His grace, and the strength of his salvation? Only those who hate the light. (Jn. 3:19)
Then again, we must look unto Jesus from man. No church on earth holds the corner on the salvation market. The LORD has decreed that only through the His Son may one find redemption. Therefore, it would be fatal to substitute the church of God for the Christ of God; or to replace the church, with the Savior of the church. The church of Christ is a poor, powerless, and fallen thing in herself. There is only one holy and glorious Head in whom she can find the strength to believe, forgiveness, justification, and acceptance. "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Therefore, whoever looks to any church or church privileges for salvation is lost. Regardless of the church's name, how much power it asserts, or how vast its numbers are, it will undoubtedly perish forever. So, leave every other refuge, and look unto Jesus.
Look unto Jesus In Everything
The law is righteous condemnation. Jesus is a fitting object for the trembling soul to look through. Are thoughts of your own filth and the spotless righteousness of God troubling you? Do you shudder to think of God's promise pushed aside? In the face of that storm of conscience, dear one, look unto Jesus. Let your trembling fade into peace in Him. Because to all who believe, He is precious, and their Savior has become "the end of the law for righteousness." (Rom. 10:4) While simultaneously honoring the majesty of God's law, Christ's atonement wraps the sinner in a robe of righteousness, removing all wrath and enmity forever. Oh, the blessing of looking to Jesus by faith to escape the wrath of condemnation. In looking, to find my wrath and condemnation laid on Him. He who wept and bled in the garden, who lingered and died upon that tree, and rising again with the keys of all authority and power hanging from His belt, He closed up hell for us and opened heaven wide.
Dear one, when troubled by sin, solitude, and grief, when ideas of God's holiness and your sins mix, oh, your trembling soul will be soothed in looking unto Jesus. It’s not because God hates you that you are troubled, tossed, and wracked by grief. You are such because God loves you. And in that discovery, you've stumbled upon an accidental grace. Your fears do not live in the unbelieving.
Look to Jesus Through Everything
No situation—humble or exalted—that God puts us in prevents us from turning to Christ for the guidance, strength, and grace the situation demands. Knowing that God condescends to every different case of his children. He's aware that His people's feet tend to slip when things are smooth and are easily pierced when things get rough. Jesus is to be the one thing to which sight is raised, upon which it rests, whether the race is pleasant or rough. If He humbles you, as He frequently does when dealing with His people, from the depths of humiliation, cast your eyes upon Jesus. He descended to a level of shame infinitely lower than your own. Therefore, He can descend into your circumstances and give you the grace required. As a result, you will understand how to experience satisfaction in abundance and need. Who can we look to more appropriately during times of sorrow than Jesus? He was known as the first man of sorrows. Tell Him. If you want to tell your grief to someone who has experienced grief unmatched; if you want to weep on a shoulder wide and strong; if you want to whisper your sorrow to one who has experienced suffering unimaginable; if you want to reveal your wound to someone who has been wounded unlike anyone else; then turn away from everyone else and look unto Jesus to the end.
And when the world is fading away, and every living, loving thing dissolves, only one person now captures the believer's heart, Jesus. He is Immanuel, the God who became flesh. He is the Captain of our salvation, the Victor over death, and the Destroyer of the destroyer. He is also our Friend, our Elder brother, our better Joseph, our better Joshua, our better Moses, and our better Aaron all in one.
Look unto Jesus For Everything.
The church only has one Treasure. The Father has one Treasure too. (Mat. 3:17) Jesus is the meeting place of both. (1 Tim. 2:5) Because all fullness dwells in Him: God, and man, the law and gospel, salvation and righteous condemnation. Looking to Jesus for everything means our standing before God and men, for each day's need, for each moment's supply. God has made the life of faith in his beloved Son simpler this way. For Christ to be all and in all, He would isolate us from all other saviors, draw us away from all other reliance, and wean us from all self-confidence. (Hosea 1,2)
The half-blind man only saw men as trees walking. (Mk. 8:24) Christ has adequately provided for the weakness of faith's eye. His concern for and sympathy toward those with little grace, experience, knowledge, and faith are renowned. For the eye to see and to see more clearly, He has vowed to give His means of grace for your strengthening: His Word, the sacraments, His Church, and preaching. Look unto Jesus through His means. His reflection is everywhere.
The eye of faith looks to none other than Jesus. Think, dear one, of that brazen serpent lifted up on that pole. (Numb. 21:9) Nothing was written about how vivid or clear anyone's vision was that day. Some vision might have been blurred. Other people may have stood in their way. Yet the command was to look. Turn your eyes. Believe with the heart. Look at the lifted curse. The eye faith works precisely that way.