Recently, I was moved to tears as I drove home from work. KLove played one of my favorite songs, sung by MercyMe, “Emmanuel, God with Us.” Although the words to the whole song are magnificent, two lines especially touched my heart:
“Who are we, that You would be mindful of us?
What do You see, that's worth looking our way?”
With Easter fast approaching, these words must hit you in your heart of hearts as it did me. Who are we that Christ would be mindful of us? What does he see, that’s worth looking our way? It is incomprehensible to think his love for us is so great that he would accept Judas’ kiss; that he would walk, without protest, alongside the soldiers out of the Garden of Gethsemane. Who are we that He would suffer this indignity for us?
When accused by the chief priests and the elders, Jesus gave no answer, no reply, not to a single charge. What did he see, looking our way, that was worth no defense of himself, assuring his certain death? When he was stripped, a crown of thorns placed on his head, beaten again and again, what did he see? He was mindful of us; he was looking our way.
As he hung on the cross, suffering so horribly, what did he see? He saw your face; he saw mine. He saw his children’s sinful nature, but he also saw his children’s hearts. Jesus’ Father’s will was for his death, so that you and I, as his children, might forever live. That’s what he saw. Simple, yet unimaginable.
And on Easter Sunday, emerging from a borrowed tomb, Jesus claimed power over death, giving His disciples and all believers the gift of the Holy Spirit. Who are we that he would do that? We are his beloved children whom He died for. What does he see as he looks our way? He sees his beloved children – he sees you and he sees me.
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1a
