Jesus Stared at Them
A reflection on authority and what we can do with our eyes.
Today is the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. Advent begins in three weeks.
We don’t have much of any clue what Jesus looked like. We can make some very general guesses in that he lived in a particular area during a particular time, lending to a brown skin and probably dark hair. But beyond that, the wisdom of the gospel writers is to not describe him whatsoever. In fact, as far as I can remember, the only description of physical appearances in the whole New Testament is the man we dealt with the other day - Zacchaeus, who was described as short.1
I do think it is the wisdom of the gospel and NT writers to do this. It was not uncommon in the time for Greco-Roman biographical sketches to describe how an individual looks. But the Christians who wrote scripture did no such thing.
However, the gospel writers are often telling us about Jesus’ eyes - what they were doing. Eyes are powerful in the means of communication. Their direction can imply intention, attention, anger, or care.
In today’s passage, we can feel a particular intentionality in Jesus’ posture. First, he’s done answering any more questions. You can feel his assertiveness as he answers a final one with a question of his own. And second, Luke tells us that he stared at the people who listened to his parable and declared it should never happen.
Luke doesn’t say it, but it’s almost as if Jesus’ stare is a bit of one of those blank ones, for like five seconds with a blink per second before he speaks, as if to say, “You can’t be serious…?”
The question is about authority. Who truly possesses authority? Here we can ask, is it the temple establishment or the one sent by God? Here Jesus redefines authority as participation in God’s mission rather than control over it. The parable tells of Israel’s long history of rejecting the prophets and now rejecting the Son…but now, that God’s purposes continue through the rejected one.
The Church and Christians today need the reminder. The Church does not inherit the vineyard as replacement; it stewards it through faithfulness and fruitfulness. Authority is derivative, never autonomous.
Christ is king. Surely he calls us to speak to his power, but never to wield it in ways beyond his character. His authority is not about control or dominance; it’s about vision, seeing as God sees, acting as God acts. The Son of Man does not lord things over people; he looks upon them, calls them, restores them. Even when we might infer that God’s anger is burning toward a situation, that does not mean that he has ever called us to reflect it through destructive action.
Back to the parable at hand, the Church’s task is not to seize the vineyard but to tend it with the same eyes. These are eyes that look with truth and mercy, eyes that see both sin and potential, eyes that stay fixed on God’s mission.
Like Jesus’.
Luke 20:1-19
On one of the days when Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders approached him. They said, “Tell us: What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”
He replied, “I have a question for you. Tell me: Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?”
They discussed among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘It’s of human origin,’ all the people will stone us to death because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” They answered that they didn’t know where it came from.
Then Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”
Jesus told the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, rented it to tenant farmers, and went on a trip for a long time. When it was time, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants sent him away, beaten and empty-handed. The man sent another servant. But they beat him, treated him disgracefully, and sent him away empty-handed as well. He sent a third servant. They wounded this servant and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I’ll send my son, whom I love dearly. Perhaps they will respect him.’ But when they saw him, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours.’ They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “May this never happen!”
Staring at them, Jesus said, “Then what is the meaning of this text of scripture: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? Everyone who falls on that stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on.” The legal experts and chief priests wanted to arrest him right then because they knew he had told this parable against them. But they feared the people.
The legal experts and chief priests were watching Jesus closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to trap him in his words so they could hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are correct in what you say and teach. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Since Jesus recognized their deception, he said to them, “Show me a coin. Whose image and inscription does it have on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
He said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They couldn’t trap him in his words in front of the people. Astonished by his answer, they were speechless.
Psalm 118:22-29
The stone rejected by the builders is now the main foundation stone! This has happened because of the Lord; it is astounding in our sight! This is the day the Lord acted; we will rejoice and celebrate in it!
Lord, please save us! Lord, please let us succeed!
The one who enters in the Lord’s name is blessed; we bless all of you from the Lord’s house. The Lord is God! He has shined a light on us! So lead the festival offering with ropes all the way to the horns of the altar. You are my God—I will give thanks to you! You are my God—I will lift you up high! Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his faithful love lasts forever.
Prayer
God,
We often pray and sing for you to open the eyes of our hearts. Do this, indeed.
But I want to personally pray today about how I use my eyes. I am not great with looking at people. I’m sure there’s some Freudian, childhood reason that I find eye contact uncomfortable. But I also find it powerful. I think I might try to excuse myself by saying that I am a person of a particular power and privilege and don’t want to assert authority in bad ways upon a person. Shoot…even as I typed that, I know it’s an excuse.
So help me to look upon people with love. Make my eyes caring and intentional. Help me to lift them up - my wife, my children, the people with whom I work. Those to whom I preach. Goodness, even Zoom conversations are hard for me!
Anyway, this doesn’t seem like the most important thing, God, but I feel it’s more important than I often know. So help me, God.
And today’s Sunday. Be with your Church everywhere, God. From Darfur to Gaza, Beijing to Mumbai, Louisville to Washington, DC. Be with your church everywhere. Including the church I’m worshiping with today here in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Make yourself known.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
There are inferences we can make about the physical appearance of many who were healed - the man with a withered hand, someone who was blind, with a skin disease, etc. But these, too, are a reach.