…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:2 LEB
What do we see when we “fix our eyes on Jesus”?
It’s obviously not his physical appearance, for God provided no description in the inspired scriptures. And Isaiah 53:2 indicates that that was very intentional on God’s part.
“For he (the Messiah) went up like a shoot before him, and like a root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that we should see him, and no appearance that we should take pleasure in him.”
Neither is it his works that we should fix our eyes upon, although that gets us closer. For he told his listeners,
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if not, believe because of the works themselves. Joh 14:11 LEB
No, what we need to fix our eyes upon is what motivated those works – his spirit.
So, what do we see when we “fix our eyes on Jesus’ spirit”? The Bible, as always, will provide our answer.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ‘you will find rest for your souls.’ Mat 11:29
Yeshua tells them, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Joh 4:34 TLV
For God sent Him, and He speaks God’s words, since He gives the Spirit without measure. Joh 3:34 HCSB
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; Isa 61:1 HCSB
As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin. Mic 3:8 HCSB
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him (the Messiah)– a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears, Isa 11:2-3 HCSB
The following verses apply to men rather than directly to Jesus. But we couldn’t have a spirit that wasn’t first in him, as the next two verses illustrate.
For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father! Rom 8:15 MKJV
And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father; Gal 4:6 JUB
Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that God has given us. 1Cor 2:12 JUB
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. 2Ti 1:7 HCSB
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 LEB
These few paragraphs nicely illustrate the value of regularly reading our Bible. If we do that on a consistent basis, we are more likely to remember the specific quality in Jesus that we need to be looking for when we pray about how to handle a sticky situation.
Have you been developing your ability to fix your eyes on Jesus?
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