Social media has a plethora of dating advice. A common phrase that drops on most posts is, “He sees you.” Most articles on the internet relate that phrase to dating and how someone notices you beyond the initial first impressions, e.g., “15 signs He Sees You as Someone Special,” “12 Signs He Sees You as a Long Time Partner,” and “15 Lesser-Known Signs He Sees You as Someone Special.”
The phrase relies on someone who goes beyond appearances and focuses on an individual’s character. That is a rare trait. Most people today are looking for a connection based on the obvious.
Even so, Jesus sees us on an entirely different level. John 1:47-49 says, “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.” “How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “Before Phillip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” “Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
That is a phenomenal exchange. Not only did Nathanael know Jesus, but Jesus also knew Him. Scholars suggest that Jesus may have been able to understand a person based on their name. Nathanael means “gift of God, son of Tolmai.” Without deconstructing that name, we learn that the Tolmaians were a group devoted to studying the Scriptures.
So, it would not be surprising for Jesus to say, “He is a true Israelite. “However, Jesus says something more: “There is no deceit in Him.” That is a striking phrase because it requires Jesus to know the man’s heart. It was not superficial or obvious, but a statement of fact based on Jesus’ omniscience.
Then, Nathanael understood that Jesus was the Son of God, the King of Israel, due to His ability to see what was in Nathanael’s heart without talking to him.
For someone to truly see another person’s heart with all their faults and flaws takes time and effort. Yet, God does not need time, nor additional information. He is omniscient, all-knowing, and without limitations. 1 John 3:20 says, “God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” Also, Psalm 139:1-4 says, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.”
In his sermon, “Fully Known and Truly Loved,” John Piper says,
The person whose judgment is all-important knows all. Let that sink in. You are totally known — totally. You’ve never had a feeling, you’ve never had a thought, you’ve never done a deed, there’s not been a twitch in your brain or your heart or in your body, that he hasn’t known fully and completely — vastly more fully than you know.
Isn’t it scary to you that all your relationships are contingent on whether people don’t know certain things about you? So, you tremblingly walk through life, hiding yourself from one relationship to the other, because if you do or say certain things, it might ruin the relationship. But isn’t it sweet to know that if that happened to everybody in your life, it wouldn’t happen to Jesus? That’s a rock I live on.
There is a profound sense of freedom in seeking solace in God, especially during times of failure, solitude, or when our hearts overflow with joy and turn to Him in worship.
A Tree Firmly Planted 