Jesus Looked Inside

What Did Jesus Do?

...he himself knew what was in man.
John 2.25

Jesus signed on (see WDJD for 2/3/11), and many who beheld the signs he was doing accepted the testimony of their eyes and believed in his name (John 2.23). But signs themselves are an uncertain foundation for faith. Sure, of the great crowd in Jerusalem for the Passover, many were exhibiting no little excitement over the works being performed by the rabbi from Nazareth. The problem with all the buzz that is generated by a crowd, is that crowds can, and usually are, fickle things. People were beginning to believe in Jesus, to put their trust in him, but the Lord did not reciprocate; Jesus did not put his trust in people (2.24). Why? Because Jesus looks inside us.

I remember when I was in graduate school, one of my professors brought some delicious looking little bite-sized cookies, all covered with confectioner's sugar, to class. When the time came I eagerly popped one into my mouth, and chomped down on the driest and most tasteless baked good I have ever experienced. It turned out the appearance of the cookie did not hold up when what was on the inside was revealed. Actually, even the outside of the cookie proved to be deceiving. The powdered “sugar” was actually just white flour (Ugh!). And the cookie itself was absolutely sugarless, just flour and water baked to far from perfection (Yuck!). I learned that day that cookies should never be judged by their looks, it's what's on the inside that counts. We have all heard the same about books, whose covers don't always indicate the quality of what one will read. It is no different with people, what we see may well not end up being what we get. Unlike us, Jesus looks inside, and knows what is in us.

Science has invented all manner of machines to look inside people. X-rays take wonderful pictures of our bones. CAT-scans, and EEGs, and EKGs, and PET-scans, and MRIs offer incredible insights into what is going on inside of us. Yet even all these do not tell the whole story. People do all kinds of amazing and surprising things every day. People also do all kinds of disappointing and unexpected things every day. All too often, people do shocking, hurtful, even destructive and deadly things. And none of this has ever been revealed by either medical technology or psychological study. Much of what is inside a person remains an absolute mystery. But not to Jesus, “for he himself knows what is in man.” Jesus looks inside, and sees everything, even much that we don't even know about ourselves.

While we might squirm a bit at the thought of being so completely transparent before God, there is nothing we can do about it. We cannot hide anything from the Father, for the Son has come and looked inside, and by the Holy Spirit all is revealed. The LORD has searched us and known us; any and all efforts to deceive and evade him are useless. So we would all do well to acknowledge this, and invite the closest possible scrutiny, that he might lead us in his everlasting way (see Psalm 139).

In truth, we have already been totally searched out and fully known. Amazingly, in spite of what was known about us, and EVERYTHING was known, the Father sent the Son. And, incredibly, the Son, though he knew better than to entrust himself to us, gave himself for us. This is because when God made us, so fearfully and wonderfully (see Psalm 139.14), it was a labor of love. And, perceiving us with eyes of love, as it were, the Father sees something no human eye can perceive, no machine can detect, something we cannot fully comprehend this side of eternity: that we are worth saving, even at the cost of the life of the Son.

I do not believe there is any more awesome truth in all the universe than this—Jesus looked inside and, even knowing what is in us, loved us. That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus does. That's what Jesus forever shall do—know us and love us.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4