What We See is What We Seek

John the Baptist, who was imprisoned, heard all about the things Jesus was doing.  So he sent his personal disciples to ask the Messiah if He was, indeed, the One they had been looking for.  Was He the predicted Son of Man, or should they be looking for someone else?

Jesus responds to the band of men sent to inquire of Him, “Tell John what you have heard and seen.  The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”  (Matt 11:4-5)

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking to the crowds and He says this, “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see?  Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?  Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes?”  (vss 7-8).  He continued in verse 9, “Were you looking for a prophet?  Yes, and he is more than a prophet.”

My Kenneth Wuest translation of the New Testament uses these phrases in place of the ones found in my NLT, “What did you go out into the uninhabited place to be contemplating as a spectacle… What did you go out to see… Why did you go out?”

He asks the crowd of onlookers, “What did you go out to see anyway?  What were you expecting to behold?  Who were you looking for?  What was the purpose for your seeking?

And I think He’s asking us the same thing.

When we attend to political debates and heated arguments concerning the condition of our nation - what is our motive?  A scuffle or a solution?
When we disagree with someone else’s viewpoint or oppose a decision made by another that doesn’t correspond with our standard of living - what is our intention?  Shame or solidarity?

Do we come in looking for a fight or do we come in seeking unification?

What we are looking for is just as important as what we see.
It tells a lot about where our focus lies and what kind of confidence we have in the One who desires to be sought out at all cost.

My commentary says this, “God requires no more from us than the right use of faculties He has given us.”

And so the question becomes the same for me, What am I expecting to see?  Why am I going?
The answers tell a lot about my personal character, and my spiritual condition.
What am I expecting will be the result of my searching and seeking and seeing?

What we are looking for matters.
What we see is the result of what we seek.