Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 14-16)

When you play any game involving a ball—whether it’s golf, tennis, baseball, soccer, football or basketball—you need to keep your eye on the ball.  You won’t be able to hit a golf ball, tennis ball or baseball if your eyes are not focused firmly on the ball.  Likewise, you won’t be able to kick a soccer ball down the field, or make a basket in a game of basketball if you don’t follow the ball closely while the game is being played.  That’s what God was telling the Israelites in next Sunday’s Old Testament text when they strayed from God and began complaining about being in the desert.  Keep your eye on the ball—on God.^[1]

The Israelites forgot about the miracles that God had performed to free them from the Egyptians.  They forgot about being rescued from slavery. They forgot that God had parted the Red Sea to allow them to pass through safely, then drowned their pursuers.  They forgot that Moses, God’s chosen servant, led them to safety and ensured their survival. Their focus drifted away from God. 

So God sent a plague of poisonous snakes to bring them back to the reality that God is their only hope.  They begged Moses to ask God to remove the plague. “So Moses prayed for the people . . . [and] the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole’” (Numbers 21: 7b-9a). Moses followed God’s instructions and made a bronze snake and put it on a pole for all to see.  Keeping their eyes on the bronze snake healed them from snake bites.   But it wasn’t the statue that healed them.  The statue was a reminder of God’s power. It was a reminder to keep the faith. It was their faith in God—keeping their eyes on him—that permitted them to live.

We can’t really blame the Israelites for taking their eyes off of God, can we? We are all among the walking wounded whose faith has been shaken or weakened when we stray from God’ path for us for one reason or another. It happens to every thinking adult from time to time. Doubts about our faith creep in and can cause deep despair. When that happens, God tells us to turn to him, the author of life.  Ask the author of life to finish writing your story.  Keep turning to him to ask him for his help.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  

That’s what Jesus told Nicodemus when he said, “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up –and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life” (John 3: 13-15). Jesus was explaining that just as the Israelites were saved dby faith fueled by the statue reminder of God’s power, so we are saved from our sin by keeping our eyes on Jesus.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  Trust him and know that he will help you. 

Paul continues the theme that we are not saved by what we have done, but by what Christ did when he died for us on the cross.  It was through Jesus’ death and his resurrection that we are brought to new life in Christ: “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions  . . .For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2: 4-9.  

While genuine faith is expressed by obedience to God’s mandates to love others as ourselves, it was Jesus’ act of taking on our sins that results in our being forgiven and being put right with God.  Keep your eyes on Jesus. 

Like me, I’m sure that you can think of many times when you turned to God in concern for yourself or loved ones, and God sat with you throughout your ordeal.  A few years ago, there was an avalanche on Mammoth Mountain in the Sierras while our son Bobby was skiing the mountain with a friend.  After I heard about the avalanche on March 3, 2018, I was praying for their safety, when I received a call from Bobby to let us know that they were safe.  The avalanche was close to where they were skiing, but they were unscathed.  They closed the mountain right after the avalanche.  I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed for the safety of one of our children, and have received a phone call or text letting me know that he or she was safe.  

We thank God for his deliverance of our loved ones to safety and for his presence through all of the ordeals of our lives.  Psalm 107 was written to celebrate the Israelite’s return from their exile in Babylon: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good; his love endures forever . . . Some wandered in the desert wastelands . . . they were hungry and thirsty and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (Psalm 107: 1, 4-6).  

But we don’t always get good news, do we? And that is when our faith is tested.  Even when you are overcome with despair, turn to the author of life and ask him to carry you. You can be assured that God is with you and will carry you through all of life’s avalanches.  Jesus knows your pain.  He suffered an agonizing death on our behalf. He will see you through.

As we draw closer to the Passion of Christ in the coming weeks, the stations of the cross are visual reminders to us of the power of God and how his Son suffered on our behalf. We see the completion of God’s work through his Son in the 12^th station depicting Jesus’ death on the cross. The metal sculpture depicted in the photograph above by Italian artist Gian Paolo Fantoni merges the healing bronze serpent of Moses with the crucified Jesus on the cross. This sculpture is located on the terrace at Mount Nebo, Jordan, where Moses was allowed to see the promised land before he died. 

Keep your eyes on the crucified Jesus when you are suffering from despair over the loss of a loved one, anxiety about your children, your illness or that of a loved one, financial uncertainties, or any other trial.  Draw closer to God as you remember Christ’s suffering for you and that he is with you in your suffering.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.  God doesn’t promise a problem-free life, but he promises to be there for you.  Keep your eyes fixed on the cross, and he will encourage you. He loves you more than you can know. He died for you.  He will comfort you.  He will see you through all of the trials of your life.

Prayer: Merciful Father, may our acts of penance this Lenten season bring us your forgiveness, open our hearts to your love, and prepare us for the upcoming feast of your resurrection. We thank and praise you for keeping our loved ones safe, and for sitting with us through all of life’s trials.  You are the author of life. Be with us as we try to follow the path that you have written for us on the pages of our lives. You know how our stories end, and we pray that it is with you for eternity. We ask these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. 

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

^[1] The Scripture texts for the Fourth Sunday in Lent are Numbers 21: 4-9; Psalm 107: 1-9; Ephesians 2: 1-10; John 3: 14-21.