“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19).
What the Father sees, the Son sees, and what the Father does, the Son does, for “I and My Father are one,” said the Lord Jesus (John 10:30). God sees everything, of course, for “the eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3), but it is noteworthy that there are just seven occasions where John’s gospel stresses specifically that Jesus saw a particular event and then took special action to do something about it.
At Jesus’ baptism, two seekers followed Him and “Jesus turned, and saw them following” (John 1:38). He invited them to come and they followed Him from that day on. Nathanael, a devout Jew, also followed Him when Jesus said: “When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee” (v.48).
There was an incurable cripple at a pool and “when Jesus saw him lie,” He said: “Rise, . . . and immediately the man was made whole” (5:8,9). There was a hungry multitude: “Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him,” and He prayed, and soon “they were filled” (6:5,12).
Next, Jesus “saw a man which was blind from his birth,” and soon the once-sightless man could testify, “whereas I was blind, now I see” (9:1,25). Not only the lame and blind, but also the grieving came to His attention. When Mary’s brother Lazarus died, Jesus “saw her weeping.” Then “Jesus wept” and soon “he that was dead came forth” (11:33,35,44). Finally, even while Christ was dying on the cross, He “saw His mother” and provided for her care (19:26).
Jesus sees those who hurt, or grieve, or hunger, and He cares. For, after all, He is our Father.
