Introduction

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in an obscure village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years he was an itinerant teacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never traveled, except in his infancy, more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself. While he was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth, his seamless robe. When he was dead, he was taken down from the cross and laid in a borrowed grave through the courtesy of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of all human progress. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever were built, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life.

There are numerous poems, and articles, etc., that try in some way to express the profound effect that Jesus had upon the world. There is no way in a sermon or a lifetime to express the greatness of Jesus. How is it that in three and a half years of His personal ministry He could have such a profound effect on the history of man? This morning, I want to focus our thoughts on one aspect of Jesus life: His eyes. And we must have some biblical concept of eyes.

Body

I. “Simon, do you see this woman?”

(Luke 7:44-48 NKJV) Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. {45} "You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. {46} "You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. {47} "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." {48} Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

A. “Yes, Lord, I see the woman! How can I keep from it!”

1.She is an embarrassment to me that she is here.

2.Lord, how can you stand to be around her? Don’t you know what kind of woman she is?

(Luke 7:39 NKJV) Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."

B. But Simon, do you see this woman?

1. As a person

a. With a soul

b. With real needs

c. With a heart searching for answers to her deepest needs.

2. As someone who needs you, but you passed her by.

3. You see her as a problem to you, and an embarrassment to you, but she needs help.

C. Simon had a case of blindness toward seeing the needs of people as Jesus saw them.

II. Our ears and hearts are tied together.

(Mat 13:15 NKJV) For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.'

A. Some had evil eyes.

{2 Pet 2:14} “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin.”

B. Some were basically blind, or worse.

(John 9:39-41 NKJV) And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." {40} Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" {41} Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.

III. Jesus is our example of how we should be able to see.

A. Jesus could see the blind man.

(John 9:1 NKJV) Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.

B. Jesus saw the man, and saw him as a man in need of his help.

(John 9:5-7 NKJV) "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." {6} When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. {7} And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

C. The disciples saw him as a question to debate.

(John 9:2 NKJV) And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

D. But it was Jesus who saw the man and gave him physical and spiritual sight.

(John 9:35-38 NKJV) Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" {36} He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" {37} And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." {38} Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him.

IV. Who could see the man who was beaten and left for dead?

(Luke 10:30-34 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. {31} "Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. {32} "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. {33} "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. {34} "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

A. The priest and the Levite saw, but didn’t see!

1. They saw a need, but it involved inconvenience.

2. It may have involved danger.

B. The Samaritan saw a man with a critical need and he responded.

C. It was the “wise men” who saw the star and came to worship Jesus.

(Mat 2:1-2 NKJV) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, {2} saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

1. Years later, the Jewish leaders crucified our Lord and Savior because they were blind to Who He was.

2. Spiritual sight is so important.

V. Jesus saw those who needed salvation.

(Mat 9:36-38 NKJV) But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. {37} Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. {38} "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

Conclusion

I. One reason Jesus changed the world is that He could see.

II. We need to ask God for “eye slave” that we might see, and have a heart that will respond to the needs that are all around us.

Bible Study with Harley Sermons I have Preached

insuranceusa.com