When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is - that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
"Tell me, teacher," he said. -Luke 7:39-40 (NIV)
I find these verses are a key paradigm shift for most people. Most of us think exactly the way Simon does - that hearing from God means seeing someone’s sin. That if you see with God’s eyes, then we are dirty, filthy, and dreadfully sinful. They are afraid of getting too close to God for exactly this reason. However, God is standing in the room, and he has different thoughts. Yes he sees the sin but he sees much more than that. He sees beyond the sin and into her transformation and love.
Simon thinks exactly like most people do today - that God sees us principally with our sin. That it takes God to see our sin. However, it doesn’t take a prophet to see sin - in fact, most people can see it and everyone in that room knew the kind of woman that was there. What does take God’s perspective for is to see deeper into the person, to see what God’s plans for them are and to call them to it.
This is my favorite part of being a believer - in Christ, we can pray and see things that do not yet exist in the physical. We can see what God is calling people to, not just what they are or what they’ve done. We can see with the eyes of heaven and have hope where others have none.
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