Jesus Perceived

What Did Jesus Do?

But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them,
“Why put me to the test?”
Mark 12.15


Because I used to rise at five a.m. and shower, shave, dress, and eat breakfast without turning on any lights, my wife used to joke that I could see in the dark like a cat. Actually, I don’t even see very well in the daylight anymore, much less in the dark! But, at least in the familiar surroundings of our home, I am able to perceive, without actually seeing, where things stand. Jesus perceived where people stood. When it came to faith, hypocrisy, the thoughts of the mind, and the feelings of the heart, Jesus perceives with 20/20 “vision.”

Jesus saw right through the group of Pharisees and Herodians, who tried to slyly trap Him with a question they thought He could not answer without their being able to use it as evidence that He was either an anti-Roman insurrectionist or a traitor to the LORD. His answer shut them down so completely that the Sadducees had to take the next crack at Jesus. A question about the arcane laws of Levirate marriage, arising from the Sadducees belief that there is no afterlife, permitted Jesus to show that He perceived both their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures, and their lack of belief in the power of God. (Mark 12.18-27)

Lest we think that His insight was limited to the hearts and minds of His adversaries, it is important for us to note that Jesus “knew all people” and “what was in man.” (John 2.24-25) The Lord’s perceptive power is no less today than it was in the days when He walked this world during the Incarnation. Our every act He sees; but He also perceives our every intention, motive, and thought. He thoroughly “searches and knows” each one of us, “discerning our thoughts from afar.” (Psalm 139.1-2) Not even the deepest darkness, physical, or in the recesses of our heart, can turn away His searching gaze, for darkness is as light to Him. (PS 139.12)

Understanding this, we have two choices, we can follow the example of the Pharisees and Herodians and the Sadducees, and try to conceal from the Father and Son what is in our heart and mind; or we can, like the Psalmist, openly invite God to both search and try us, to expose any and all evil in us, that He might then lead us in the one everlasting way. (Psalm 139.23-24)

Jesus’ perception cautioned Him to not trust himself to man, even those who believed in His name. (John 2.24) The critical question is, are we perceptive enough to not just believe in His name, but to put our trust completely in Him? Even if we struggle with that question, and the mastering of our own heart and mind, Jesus perceives the truth about us which the Father has ordained from before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1.3-10) Only the Son, who truly perceives the Father’s will , who knows us, better than we know ourselves was willing to die for us. That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministrie.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4