Tunnel vision
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).
Retinitis Pigmentosa is a disease of the eye and a cause of tunnel vision. Sufferers lose their peripheral vision. I remember a sister who had this problem explaining to me how it limited what she could see. She said it was just like being inside a tunnel and only seeing what was at the end.
There are times in our lives when we need to focus on one thing. Our eyes enable us to do this, just as our normal hearing has the ability to concentrate our listening. In spiritual matters we do have priorities. In our verse this morning the Lord was focussed on fulfilling the work He had come into the world to accomplish. But as He took the journey to Jerusalem He continued to act in grace and love. When the cross and all that it meant was immediately before the Lord Jesus, He still had in view the spiritual welfare of His disciples; indeed, of us all. Whilst He was being mistreated by the spiritual leaders of Israel, He was able to look at Peter. And on the cross, dying for the sin of the world, He looked upon His mother, John and a dying thief.
We can be overcome by obsessive behaviour. This can affect us in our secular responsibilities. Our careers can absorb us and take up all our energies. Interests outside of work can be equally addictive. I loved playing rugby and our school had a very successful team. Some of my friends went on to play professionally and for Great Britain. There are faithful Christians who play international sport. I had the opportunity to continue to carry on playing, but I think the Lord knew that for me it would become all-absorbing, and I gave the sport up. The Lord knows our different characters and guides us to make the decisions which are right for us.
There is also the danger that we can become obsessive in spiritual matters. Worldliness is not confined to the secular world; it is overwhelmingly evident in the religious world. The Lord Jesus took a lot of time highlighting the obsessive legalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisees, priests and Levites. He knows how religion can distort the minds and actions of people. History and present events bear testimony to this behaviour.
We need vision. We need this personally and we need it as the people of God. It is in “Looking unto Jesus” that this vision is given. Our vision should never cause us to belittle or judge others: it should energise our service and embrace fellow believers in love and understanding. The ungodly Pharisees, and they were not all ungodly people, fell victim to wanting to be seen as more holy than others. They compared themselves to others and judged themselves to be better: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men’” (Luke 18:11). Our vision should never make us think and act in this way. We are sinners saved by grace and we need that same grace to make us more like the Saviour who loves us. It is in the presence of the Saviour that our spiritual sight is balanced and focussed, and we learn to worship, work and witness with hearts ruled by the love of God.
