Eyes on Jesus

When the characters in the Passion narrative look at Jesus, what do they see? Our Lenten series this year, based on the Gospel of St. Mark, will examine how the various people around Jesus viewed Him—and how we should view Him. We will fix our eyes on what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, and celebrate what God sees on account of His work: our justification for His sake.

Ash Wednesday, February 17, Misjudging Eyes In spite of Jesus' repeated predictions about His upcoming Passion, the disciples fail to recognize that soon He will not be with them, and they cannot see the anonymous woman's anointing of Jesus as preparation for His burial. But Jesus sees her actions as a beautiful deed that will be proclaimed throughout the world wherever the Gospel is heard.

Mid-week one, February 24, Betraying Eyes Through the eyes of Judas we recall his awful deed. Yet the behind-the-scenes-reality is that Jesus was handed over (another way of translating the verb for betray) by God the Father Himself, so that Jesus could die for the sin of the world.

Mid-week two, March 3, Sleepy Eyes is the theme. In Gethsemane, Jesus' inner circle of Peter, James, and John cannot keep their eyes open to watch and pray with Jesus for even an hour, while Jesus comes to see that His Father's will is that He drink the cup of God's wrath when He comes to the hour of His suffering.

Mid-week three, March 10, Denying Eyes Peter and the others could not see how they could ever fall away from Jesus. But after Jesus is betrayed by Judas, ten of them flee, and Peter—when he is spotted by a servant girl and sees that his own neck is on the line—sees fit to deny Jesus, which leads to his own eyes weeping in remorse. We sinners likewise deny our Lord in many ways, but Jesus denied Himself to take up the cross for our salvation.

Mid-week four, March 17, Murderous Eyes is the theme. The chief priests and scribes saw Jesus as an obstacle to be rid of by murdering Him through the Roman judicial system. Yet during the Passover festival, they would unwittingly bring about the Father's sacrifice of the ultimate Passover Lamb.

Mid-week five, March 24, we look through the Worldly Eyes of Pilate, the Jewish leaders, and the Roman soldiers. Pilate can only view matters in a worldly, pragmatic way, wishing to placate the worldly Jewish leaders and crowd, so he consents to handing Jesus over for crucifixion. The soldiers see the opposite of a worldly king, but their ironic hailing of Him as King of the Jews proclaims who He really is. The world looks for power and glory; God's way is suffering and the cross.

On Maundy Thursday, there is More Than Meets the Eye to the Lord's Supper. We will look into the Old Testament background of the Last Supper and rejoice in the mystery that Jesus, in and with, bread and wine, gives us His body and blood in order to deliver to us the benefits of His Passion. The guest preacher for this service will be Pr. Mark Girardin.

On Good Friday, we look through God's Eyes to see what is happening during the Passion: the once-for-all atonement for the sin of the whole world and the justification of all sinners on Ea

ster. Again our liturgy will be Tenebrae (service of darkness). Resting Eyes is the theme for Holy Saturday. Various disciples rested their eyes upon the dead Jesus, cared for His body, and buried it. As Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses rest their eyes upon the sealed tomb and contemplate further anointing of His body the next day, they cannot see that Jesus' own eyes are merely resting temporarily, and Easter morning will bring a dramatic reversal.

Finally, Easter Sunday gazes upon Angel Eyes. The angel in the tomb knows the whole story of Jesus' resurrection. When he sees the women, he proclaims the Gospel to them, shows them where Jesus' body had formerly lain, and tells them that they can see Jesus themselves in Galilee. Likewise, the angels or messengers of the Church in the apostolic ministry tell God's people where they can find Jesus and His salvation in the Means of Grace.

This year during Lent, EYES ON JESUS will continuously focus our eyes on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and risen for our justification. This is a vision that will never disappoint, for by trusting in Jesus, He promises that we will gaze upon His beautiful face now by faith and forever in heaven!

~ Pastor Kelly G. Mitteis