Acts 10:38 – “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.”  NASB

When Jesus saw a person, He saw them as separated from God, bent and twisted, but rather than looking at what they did and their outward presentation, He saw their potential.  He saw them as ‘persons.’  He was not focused on what they did or were doing but the inner man.  He was focused on who they were in their bentness, distortion, separation from God and man.  He looked beyond their faults and saw their need.

What did that do?  If you can receive it, that mindset is one step away from manifesting compassion.  Compassion is a very strong word in the Greek.  It is a combination of “anger” and “love.”  It is not just Love it is more.  It carries in it, almost a pounding of the fists and a stomping of the feet.  When you look upon another human being no matter their state or condition you are saying, “There is a human being.”

This is the view that the person you are looking at, regardless of what they are doing is a human being created in the image of God and you see them not what they are doing.  It is here that the anger rises up and says, “In the Name of Jesus, this shall not be their reality, because they are worth the Blood of God.”  That is compassion!  It says, “I Love you too much to leave you in this condition.”  It says, “I cannot live with leaving you as I have found you, you are worth too much to God and therefore to me.”

When Jesus looked at people and when He looks on us, He is not hung up on what we do, the outward presentation.  We are, but He is not!  He is moved with compassion and focuses on who they and we are, through God’s Grace!  He sees someone who is made in the Image of God and they are separated from themselves.  They don’t even know who they are.  They are separated from fellow humans.  What a Waste!

A person was created to contain God.  A person was created to radiate God’s Glory.  But, through sin and the fall, they have become a waste.  The ones meant to walk in the Radiant Light of God are walking in darkness.  That’s what Jesus sees and what we need to see!

That is evidenced and articulated in the parables, especially Luke 15.  Jesus talked about human beings in contrast to the Pharisees who saw people as “Sinners!”  I find it amazing that as I read through the Gospels, I never find Jesus calling anybody a sinner.  They were but His focus was on what they could be not what they were.  Jesus saw them as Lost rather than focusing them as Sinners! 

Jesus, to the disgust of the Pharisees, ate with Tax Collectors and Sinners.  The meal was probably in an open courtyard because the Pharisees were gathered close enough to see and they were mumbling that this was Scandalous.  How dare he do that?  In their minds and words, I can hear the disgust, “He is eating with THOSE kinds OF PEOPLE.”  To them, it was bad enough that He even talked to them, but now He is eating with them. 

The Pharisees always looked at what people DID and viewed what people did as what people are.  They contrasted them to what they (Pharisees) were doing.  To them, those people were SINNERS and because they are not like us, we cannot associate with them.  Jesus, on the other hand, looked beyond what people did to who they were and who they were intended to be.  The Pharisees looked at the outward appearance and Jesus looked at the heart.

Hear me carefully.  He was not saying they were not lost and in a sinful condition.  He concentrated on who they were intended to be.  He said, “They are Lost!”  He was not accusing them, as were the Pharisees, He was describing their condition and need.

The word Lost is a powerful and important word and understanding.  I was given a Mont Blanc pen, but I use cheap pens most of the time.  I have never lost a cheap pen.  They have gone missing by the dozens, but if my Mont Blanc came up missing, I would turn the office and house upside down to find it, it would be LOST!  The reason, you only lose something of great value to you.  Jesus designated these people as Lost, and in that designation, He was ascribing great value to them.  He was saying, “They have significance, worth, and value to Me.”

It was an announcement that an alert has been issued in the spirit realm – You Are Lost and must be Found!  He was saying, “I Value These People!”  I hope I am not spending too much time on this, but it is important that we learn how Jesus viewed people so we can change our vision of them and thereby become more effective in reaching them for God.

I want to pause here and take this up again in the next devotional.  God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!