Seeing clearly leads to a better life for everyone.

Sight problems!

Has anyone seen those adverts ‘should have gone to spec-savers’? You know the ones I mean don’t you? The one i remember is when the vet is desperately trying to resuscitate a cat when his assistant comes in hands him his glasses and we all see that it is a wig.

This guy had a sight problem and the advert is saying ‘you should have come to us to sort it’.

There are so many ways we can see things in today's world aren't there. So many people live their life through the lens of someone else’s camera.

You know I heard someone describe Facebook as ‘the showcase for the best bits of our lives’. Only the pictures we like go there, only the things that show us in a positive light.

Facebook doesn’t show reality, it shows our Edit of reality.

People look at Facebook and think to themselves ‘their life is amazing, my life is rubbish’ ‘ oh look they are going on holiday again’ ‘their kids are so great and well-behaved’.

It’s similar with the news, we don’t get un-edited reality and we only get the news they have chosen as important and even then it is edited. First by the reporter, then by the camera operator, then by the person who chooses what reports get in, then finally by the person who cuts it so it can fit.

What this means is that we eventually get the edited, edit of the edited edit of the news!

So often we think we are seeing things as they really are but the truth is that we’re not. We have a sight problem.

In our reading today Mark 11:1-11, we find a crowd who think they are seeing one thing, A king who has come to liberate them from the Romans, when really they are seeing something quite different. They have a sight problem.

Today we are going to see that the gospels agree with what we know from our own experience of Facebook and the News and tell us that we all have a sight problem that Jesus has come to fix.

They tell us that Jesus came so that we could see God clearly again for the first time since Adam and Eve rebelled against their creator.

How this means that all the problems in our world, every single one, come down to people not seeing things clearly because everyone now see things from their own edited perspective. Today we will see that we need God’s perspective because only God has the unedited originals.

Will the real Jesus please stand up!

Now was it just the crowd who didn’t see Jesus properly? Lets have a quick look at a few others.

First up we have the disciples who saw Jesus the most.

In the chapter just before our reading we have James and John not seeing properly by asking Jesus if they can sit at Jesus’ right and left in his glory. What is Jesus’ response? Mark 10:38

Mark 10:38 NIV

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

You don’t know what you are asking! You don’t see properly.

This tells us that the disciples didn’t see or understand Jesus’ mission

Next up we have the Jewish leaders. Mark 8:11-13

Mark 8:11–13 NIV

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

This tells us that the Pharisees saw Jesus as a problem

They saw Jesus as a religious problem, and as a threat to their traditions they wanted to test Jesus to see if He fitted into their agenda.

Next up we have the crowds and what better passage is there than the one we are looking at in Mark 11:1-11

Mark 11:8–10 NIV

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

The crowds saw Jesus as a political and military king

to lead them to freedom from the Romans. They cried Hosanna, ‘save us’ but they meant from the Romans.

let’s have a look at one more passage about seeing Jesus. Matthew 16:13-18

Matthew 16:13–18 NIV

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

This passage tells us that the people, the crowds, didn’t see Jesus properly and Peter could only see Jesus properly because of God revealing it, making it known.

It also tells us something else really important.

The foundation of the church is seeing Jesus as He truly is, the Saviour of the world and the Son of God.

So lets sum up everything we’ve looked at so far… That....

To see Jesus properly we need Jesus’ help

All the problems in our world come down to the fact that there is something wrong with our sight, we simply can’t see unedited reality properly unless Jesus fixes our sight.

Adam and Eve saw God clearly, they lived with God and it was amazing but since they decided not to listen to God, no-one could see God and live. Exodus 33:20

Exodus 33:20 NIV

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

God is a Holy God and anything sinful, anything which is not Holy can not exist in his presence, cannot see His face. This is the problem Jesus came to fix.

Because of sin we couldn’t see God

Sin is simply trying to do things our own way and not God’s way. It is seeing the world according to our own edit rather than as God’s original.

Sin means that everyone doesn’t see Jesus properly because everyone wants to make Jesus fit into their own way of thinking instead of letting Jesus be who He truly is.

You know you can get those camera apps which put your face in made up frame. Maybe a clowns body, or a really muscly person? You know what I mean?

That’s what we try to do with Jesus.

That is what the crowds tried to do in Mark 11:1-11 they tried to make Jesus fit into their own edit of seeing the world, they wanted ‘a warrior king, a political king’.

To see Jesus you have to let go of thinking that you know best, you have to let go of arrogance, pride.

You have to let Jesus be the captain of the ship of your life.

You have to let Jesus be the Lord of your life.

We see this with Thomas in John 20:25

John 20:25 NIV

So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas couldn’t believe that Jesus had come back to life because it didn’t fit into the way he saw the world. There was something wrong with Thomas’ sight.

Thomas thought that he knew best, Thomas thought that he was in control of the facts.

And when Jesus came revealing that Thomas was wrong what was Thomas’ response? John 20:27-29

John 20:27–29 NIV

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

My Lord and my God! Thomas let go of what he thought he knew and accepted the reality that was standing before him.

Thomas needed Jesus’ help in order to see Jesus for who he truly was and we need Jesus’ help in order to see Jesus for who He really is also.

Discipleship only begins when you see Jesus as your Lord and your God

Jesus spent three years in ministry and no-one could see him properly or obey His teaching properly, or do anything else properly until after Jesus had dealt with their sin on the cross because until then they couldn’t see God! They couldn’t see that God was standing right in front of them all the time!

To be a Christian is to be a disciple, because you can’t see Jesus properly as your Lord and your God unless you allow Jesus to deal with your sin. This is because sin is about you seeing things the way you want to see things. Sin is about you being in control. Sin is about your will being done on earth as it is in heaven not God’s.

There is no biblical difference in meaning between being a disciple and being a Christian, they mean the same thing!

Either you accept Him as your Lord and your God or you don’t. Either you are prepared to see Jesus as He truly is or you’re not. And the truth is that you can’t accept Him as your Lord and your God unless you are prepared to give Him control, to learn to obey Him.

Making Disciples who see Jesus properly is God’s plan to fix the world.

Matt 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Whats the plan to fix the problems in the middle east…make disciples who see Jesus properly and obey Him.

What’s the plan to fix the problems of environmental catastrophe... make disciples who see Jesus properly and obey Him.

The problems of the world can only be sorted out by listening to Jesus, seeing Jesus, following Jesus, obeying Jesus and Jesus is today asking you to join His team, to re-dedicate yourselves to being part of His team. Jesus is asking you to let go of what you thought you knew Just like Thomas did and just like the crowds and Pilate and Herod and most of the Pharisee’s couldn’t.

Jesus loves you but you can’t love Him unless you see Him as he truly is your Lord and your God.