Here are 4 excerpts from the Gospel of Mark of people interacting with Jesus. How do you see each one of these people? I have found my answers to this question revealing as to how I see the people in my life…

1. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon & Andrew, the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (Mk 1:16)
2. And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” (Mk 1:40)
3. And they came bringing to him (Jesus) a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. (Mk 2:3-4)
4. And as he (Jesus) passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. (Mk 2:14)

Four brief encounters, four descriptions of people Jesus met in a typical day in His ministry. When I am completely honest with myself, here is what I would see if I had been with Jesus:

1. Working class men doing a smelly, dirty job. In a single word, I would have seen fishermen.
2. A man with an incurable & communicable disease. I would be worried about contracting the disease. In a single word, I would have seen a leper.
3. A poor helpless man who had 4 friends. In a single word, I would have seen a paralytic.
4. A collaborator with the Roman government to cheat me out of my hard-earned money. This guy is a traitor! In a single word, I would have seen a thief.

But what did Jesus see with spiritual eyesight? Jesus saw disciples rather than fishermen, a man rather than a leper, a sinner rather than a paralytic, and a treasurer in the church rather than a tax collector for Rome. Read the context of each of the above verses in Mark, and ask yourself how you can have spiritual eyesight this week!