October 25 I Monday

Jeremiah 6-8

1 Timothy 5

“Then [Jesus] turned towards the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman?’” —Luke 7:44 

Sometimes, we can see something, but not truly see what is really there. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus into his home for dinner. But halfway through the evening, a sinful woman crashes the party, starts weeping and uses her tears to wipe Jesus’s feet. In the midst of all that is happening, Simon secretly judges not only the woman, but also Jesus. 

       Knowing Simon’s heart, Jesus asks him, “Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44). This is a strange question to ask, because of course, Simon sees this woman. Yet, what Jesus is doing is calling the attention of Simon, and probably all of the guests, to fix their eyes on this woman. We may wonder what was the tone behind Jesus’s question. Did He say, “Do you see this woman?” or “Do you see this woman?”? Regardless of the inflection, what Jesus wanted to know from Simon was, “What do you see? How do you see? What eyes do you see with? Do you see correctly?” For Simon, he sees this woman, who lives a sinful life, as a piece of garbage who is not fit to even touch him, let alone be in his house. 

       Jesus tells a parable, “Two people owed money to a certain money-lender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” (Luke 7:41-42). The question that Jesus asks reveals a deeper problem in Simon’s life. Not only does Simon not see the woman correctly, he does not even see Jesus correctly. If Simon was to see God correctly, he would have been drawn to Jesus, because Jesus is the physical manifestation of the invisible God. 

       What is ironic is that Simon views himself as the morally superior one, but is the one who completely misses God in his midst. This text points to the alarming reality that we can know the Bible, like the Pharisees, and we can even live a moral upright life, but have Jesus in our homes, standing in front of us, and miss the purpose and work of God completely. The truth of the fact and matter is that, oftentimes, how we see others is an indicator of how we see God. It is not just an improper vision of others; it stems from an improper vision of who Jesus is and how He is at work in the world. May we ask God to give us a proper vision of Himself, so that we can see others as He sees them.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please humble my heart. Open my eyes to see You for who You truly are and to see others as You see them. Thank You, Lord.