Looked Upon with Love

The Love That Sees Us as We Are

“Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” - Mark 10:21

Mark does not tell us that Jesus glared at him. Or that Jesus shook his head at him. Or that Jesus rolled his eyes at the rich young ruler standing before him. Jesus does not flip a table in anger or tell the man to get behind him.

No. Jesus looked at him and loved him.

There are a lot of things we can do to try to earn the love or favor of a family member, friend, or colleague. And most of the time, the things we try to do are more performative than substantive. But that is not how the love of God works.

God does not love after we’ve passed some spiritual competency test. God does not wait to see if we’re going to get it right before deciding if we’re worthy of his love. He looks at us—exactly as we are—and loves us.

But this is more that a feel-good Jesus moment. The gospels are always more than “Jesus just wants you to be happy.” After all, the Good News of the gospel is not merely good advice or self-help. Immediately after loving him, Jesus tells the man something he doesn’t want to hear: “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

And the man walks away.

It turns out, being seen and loved by Jesus does not mean we get to stay exactly as we are. It means we are called into transformation. Called into a life of following Jesus. And that is where things get difficult.

My congregation has heard me say, “God loves you too much to leave you just as you are,” more times than they can count. God changing us, through grace, moves us to places we think we cannot move to.

Lent is a season where we take a hard look at the things we cling to—our comfort, our security, our need to be right, our love of control—and hear Jesus tell us, “That thing? Let it go. Follow me instead.”

If I were that man, I would have walked away too. Maybe not because of my bank account, but because of the other things I hold too tightly. The grudges I nurture, the pride I refuse to let go of, the fear that if I trust Jesus too much, my life might actually change.

And yet.

The good news in this story is not just that Jesus loves us. The good news is that even when we struggle to follow, even when we walk away, that love does not leave us. The hope we carry into Lent, and into every season of discipleship, is that Jesus’ love is not contingent on our success. It is not dependent on our ability to get it right the first time. Jesus sees us. Jesus loves us. And Jesus calls us deeper.

And that, my friends, is the kind of love that changes everything.

A prayer for the day:

Most merciful God, we have learned to live in a world where love is transactional. We love those who love us, do good to those who do good to us, and reserve our forgiveness for the people we believe deserve it. But you, O Lord, look at us differently. You look at us with love, even when we struggle to love you back. Help us to see ourselves as you see us. Amen.