Have you ever had one of those moments where you are desperately looking for something and you just can’t seem to find it? It may be that you’re looking for your keys, wallet or even a pen. The harder you looked the more unsuccessful you are at finding it? These can be really frustrating moments!
I would have to admit that, more often than not, in my house, I’m the one who is always frantically looking for things like my car keys! When I find myself in this situation, amidst frantic searching there’s always a plaintive cry “‘Honey, have you seen my keys?’
Within moments, in walks Sue and inevitably she is able to instantly place her hand on my keys and hold them up for me to claim! In my family, this scenario is often followed up with the quip, “Having a bloke’s look, are we?”
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this term/condition, you may not realise that it actually isn’t gender exclusive. There is, however, an extremely high correlation between having a bloke’s look and being male!
This condition is basically where one can’t see for the sake of looking. It’s like a blind spot that prevents you from seeing the object being sought, even despite all the efforts taken to locate it. The concept of a ‘Bloke’s Look’ — being unable to see for looking — occurred to me as I was reading the following passage from the New Testament book of Matthew. Although this passage is often read at Christmas time, the fundamental problem that the religious leaders of the day had was not a problem only associated with Christmas. It could be suggested that they had a bout of bloke’s look!
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day knew that the Messiah would come. There were numerous passages in the Old Testament that told them where the Messiah would be born. As scholars of the scriptures, they knew that the arrival of the Messiah would be announced in a very special way. Yet knowing all of this they failed to see the star that the Wise Scholars had seen and followed. To me this sounds like a classic case of having ‘a bloke’s look’!
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory, a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, "Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signalled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to worship him."
The King gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly: It's you, Bethlehem, in Judah's land, no longer bringing up the rear. From you will come the leader who will shepherd, rule My people, My Israel."
Matthew 2:1-4 (The Message)
In this passage from Matthew there is the first reference to the word worship in the New Testament. We read of the Wise Men or Scholars, who had travelled from the east, having seen a strange star in the skies and recognising it as a sign that the Son of Man, the Messiah, had come to earth travelled and then to Jerusalem to worship Him.
It’s interesting to note that the ancient seers of Israel who knew and strained their eyes knowing that one day God’s Son would come to earth weren’t the ones to first tell of the fulfilment of this prophecy but some travellers from the east. It was if the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were unable to see for looking!
As one Bible commentator stated, ‘This time the men from the east forestalled Israel who possessed the clear prophetic word.’ We can only speculate as to what went on in the minds of the men from the east as they looked down on the Christ Child. Did they realise or even have any comprehension of who was before them and how He would change the course of history?
The religious leaders affirmed their belief in one living God, when they recite ‘Hear, O Israel’ they say over and over again, ‘The LORD is one.’ The birth of Jesus revealed that He was someone who is equal to God, who is like God, someone who is eternal and has been with Him from the beginning. Through Jesus' life we have come to learn that though Jesus became a person but never at any time did He became God. Jesus was always God. He was a man from the manger but God from all eternity. When we bow before Him and worship Him, we are worshipping God as the Nicene Creed states, ‘true God of true God.’
As we have the privilege and honour of sharing the good news of Jesus with our students, the heart of the staff and me is that our students won’t have a bloke’s look at Jesus. Rather as they continue to hear, learn about Jesus, they may be drawn to Him because they can see who they are looking at.
My desire for each member of our community is that as we look on Jesus we see Him as He truly is; our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Lord! As we look on Jesus and see who He truly is, may this shape us as individuals enabling us to be transformed into His image.