Briefing: Can you give an example of something you can know but not see with your eyes? Can you see love with your eyes? Can you see love with your heart?

Dispatch (Assignment): Read John 14:1-14.

On the Street: Have you ever been hungry for something but did not know what you were hungry for? Have you ever tried so hard to see something that you looked right past it? Have you ever seen something that wasn’t there, your eyes played tricks on your mind? On the other hand, have you ever had a revelation about something but did not know how you knew or got the information?

Humans are very visual. We have to see to believe. This is especially true in the criminal justice system. Have you ever had a “hunch” about someone and later found out that you were correct? Hunches are not admissible in court. Our legal system requires cold hard facts. No hunches, intuition or sixth sense.

God’s system is a little different, “for we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (HCSB). Trust in God is something that is essential to the Christian life. This is a big part of the call for Christians to be different from the world, to be recognizable as unworldly. To love the people who curse and hate us is not natural, normal behavior.

Being able to see with your heart is not a normal expression. Jesus is relating a message to His disciples here in John chapter 14. He is telling them things that they have to look at though a spiritual lens. First, He tells them to trust Him. Trusting someone is not natural, it is a learned behavior. It is a response that takes time and maturity to develop. Next, Jesus begins to speak of heavenly things. The deeper He gets into His explanation, the less the disciples seem to understand. He tells them, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:4 (NIV).

They know in their hearts but they don’t know it in their head. Usually it is the other way around; we can know something in our heads but not know it in our heart.

Have you ever been in a bad situation but you knew it was going to turn out ok? If you have been in the midst of a trail with someone and you have felt this, the conversation usually goes something like this:

(You) “It’s going to be ok.”

(The other person) “How do you know?”

(You) “I can’t explain it, I just know it’s going to be ok.”
You knew in your heart things were going to turn out ok but your brain could not explain it.

Jesus wants us to be able to see with our hearts, to trust Him, and have faith. These are not our natural responses. This is why we must be different from the world around us.

The greatest truth in this passage comes in John 14:6 (NIV) when Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We saw earlier in John where Jesus was the “gate”. He is the only way to heaven. This is truth and it will take faith and trust to believe it in your heart.

Investigational Resources: For a Biblical view on sight, look up Mark 4:12, Isaiah 6:9, and Acts 28:26.

Officer Safety Principle: Seeing things with your heart, or with spiritual eyes, takes practice. Can you imagine what the world would look like if law enforcement began seeing people with their hearts and not just their eyes?

from The Gospel of John Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
Click here to check out the entire Through the Eyes of a Cop series!