Bearing Burdens – First, Open Our Eyes

Bearing Burdens – First, Open Our Eyes.

“Continue bearing each other’s heavy burdens. In this way you will be fulfilling the Torah’s true meaning, which is upheld by the Messiah Christ. Keep carrying one another’s overwhelming loads, and you will be truly obeying Christ’s Royal Law of Love. By your ongoing offer to stoop down and help shoulder one another’s crushing burdens, you will be completely submitting to the way Christ expects us to live.” (Galatians 6:2).

Bear (Greek, “bastazo”) – to carry, to carry off; to take away, to take up with your hands; to shoulder or share a weight. This word is in the continuous present tense, which means to continue doing so, an ongoing effort and not a one-time activity.

Burden (Greek, “baros”) – a crushing load; an extremely heavy weight; an overwhelming burden; an oppressive weight too heavy for one person to carry alone.

Fulfill (Greek, “anapleroo”) – to accomplish in its entirety; to complete; to perform fully; to observe perfectly.

Law of Christ (Greek, “nomos”) – the teachings of the Messiah that highlight the intended meaning of the Law of Moses; Christ‘s words in the Gospels that clarifies the heart of Torah; the set of biblical expectations established by Jesus that reveals what the Lord had in mind in the Hebrew Scriptures; the spirit of the Law of Moses behind the letter of the Law, as expressed by Jesus Christ.

Bearing the Cross. Why was burden-bearing so near and dear to Paul’s heart, so much so as to believe that when one bears the burdens of others, one in fact is completing the expectations of Christ? Perhaps Paul focused on burden-bearing because this human act of love perfectly described what Christ did on the Cross for our salvation. The whole point of Christ’s burden-bearing was to heal and ransom us out of His profound love for us. Burden-bearing represents and demonstrates God’s love for us, and summarizes all that he did on Calvary. So when we bear the burdens of another, we are participating in the love Christ has for others. When we pick up our cross daily, we can’t help up but bear the burdens of others. “Surely it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows and our pain of punishment that weighed Him down. God has placed on Him the guilt and sin of us all… Through what He experienced, my Righteous Servant will make many righteous, in right standing before God, for my Servant bears the burdens of their sins.”  (Isaiah 53:4, 5, 11).

The Premise. Caring for others reflects the heart of God, and is grounded in the Biblical fact that all human life is sacred. There is a shared human dignity between all people, regardless of race, health, age, faith, status, station in life, the country of origin. Burden-bearing begins with those closest to us… our spouse, our children, our extended family, our church community, our neighbors in need, in that order. Any father or mother who, through a personal distance, or indifference, or overwork, or arrogant disdain, doesn’t bear the burdens of those closest to him/her in a personal and profound way, then that person is disobeying Christ. That person will not fulfill the law of Christ. That person does not reflect the heart of God.

“Pakad” (or “Paqad”): A complex Hebrew word that has many meanings, including the dual meaning of bringing one’s attention to something, for good or ill; to visit with either friendly or hostile intent; to pay attention to; to take notice of; to be aware of; to observe; to watch closely; to attend; to take care of; to show evidence of concern; to take note as to well-being; to be brought to someone’s attention. Both meanings were used by Jeremiah in his word of the Lord to the false shepherds in 23:2, “Because you have scattered my flock and have not shown care (“pakad”) for them, I will visit you (“pakad”) and punish you.” In other words, Yahweh is disgusted by the fact that the spiritual leaders of Israel didn’t pay any attention to the people, the leaders didn’t show any evidence of concern, and didn’t even bother to be aware of the needs of the people. So, Yahweh says, you didn’t visit the people with good intent or even give them any attention, so I am about to visit you with a lot of attention… Punishment!

The Main Idea: The first step in bearing each other’s burdens is to be aware of them in the first place. Believers in Christ are expected to pay attention to those around them, eyes wide open, fully noting the well-being of those in their orbit. The important ministry of burden-bearing doesn’t even get off the ground until believers have gained the habit of awareness, possessing attention spans adequate to caring for others. The Christians who are most effective in burden-bearing are those who desire to showcase Christ’s compassion by developing the eyesight of Jesus.

Eyes that are Open but Blind: Those who are blissfully unaware of the needs of others; those who choose to ignore the needy around them; those who are intentionally blindfolded; those who are thoughtless of others and negligent in their care for others; those who are apathetic and self-centered; those with a one-track mind who carelessly overlook others; those who think they are above it all, with a haughty or arrogant look instead of a humble and merciful look; those who choose to live in a small world; those who claim to be compassionate but are too busy or distracted to demonstrate it.

Examples of Blindness in Scripture:

1. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in Luke 16:19-31, in which the rich man literally had to walk right by the poor Lazarus at the front gate every day. The poor man was camped right there in full view of the rich man, but the rich man chose to ignore Lazarus, refusing to pay any attention even while practically tripping over Lazarus daily. The rich man’s eyes were closed, and so was his heart. Obviously, the rich man didn’t have the eyesight of Jesus. “The rich man didn’t go to hell because of his wealth, but because he was hard-hearted; Lazarus didn’t go to heaven because of his poverty, but because of his humble faith.” (Orthodox Study Bible).
2. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, in Matthew 25:31-46, in which Christ the King closes the door to Paradise to those who weren’t aware of the needs around them, and, if they did notice, didn’t do anything about it. The goats had never cured their blindness to the neediness around them, while the sheep were so habitually compassionate, it was so routine to them, they didn’t even remember when they were caring for others. Will we be judged by our awareness, our attention spans with those in need around us?
3. The False Shepherds, in Ezekiel 34:1-10, were judged by Yahweh for their inability to bear the burdens of the people of Israel. They didn’t pay the people any attention, didn’t care for them, were not even aware of them in the slightest. This lack of awareness was their downfall and brought them the Lord’s judgment. “Tell them what the Sovereign LORD says, ‘Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed the sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd. Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back!”

Divine Evidence of Perfect Eyesight. The qualities of Jesus as seen in the gospels will be perfectly consistent with what we read of Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible. They are one and the same Persons. Their union is complete. Jesus is Yahweh with flesh on, Yahweh incarnate. One overlooked ability by God is His wide-angle vision, His unfailing ability to notice anything and everything. It is impossible for God to be blind to the needs and joys of this world. He is always keeping a close eye on His creation, and is the very definition of awareness.

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to Yahweh, who had spoken to her… El-roi. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’”  (Genesis 16:13).

Hagar was desperate as she ran away from Abram and Sarai. Hagar was their Egyptian servant who merely complied with Sarai’s orders to conceive a baby with Abram. Sarai and Abram know that Sarai was barren, and they would never have descendants unless they did something drastic. So Sarai gave Hagar to Abram in order to have the bloodline God promised to them earlier. Sarai thought this would be the only way to have a child. Sure enough, Hagar found herself pregnant and filled with contempt for Sarai. And Sarai found herself jealous and angry about the whole situation. Sarai in turn mistreated Hagar to the extent that Hagar ran away to escape Sarai’s abuse. Hagar ran all the way into the distant wilderness, desolate, alone, miserable, and far away from anyone’s care. At her lowest, an angel of Yahweh appeared and called Hagar by name. The angel promised that her boy would have many descendants. As it turned out, her son Ishmael had 12 sons. The angel also asked Hagar to return to Sarai and work out the problems between them. Hagar was overwhelmed with this unexpected divine attention. So she gave Yahweh a very personal name, El-roi, “God who sees me.”

Hagar’s name for Yahweh is well-supported in Scripture: “The eyes of Yahweh search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9); “The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3); “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:13); “The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.” (Psalm 33:13-15); “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.”  (Psalm 139:13-16).

If there’s one truth that Scripture makes clear about our God, it is that He is a personal God. He is not a distant Supreme Being who is indifferent, uninvolved, or blind to what is happening on His earth. We are not invisible to God. The Lord is a God who sees. “The eyes of Yahweh search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Our God is the world’s eternal watchman. Like a compassionate shepherd, God tends His flock, the human race, and somehow gives all of us His personal, undivided attention. He not only sees but He responds. As David says in Psalm 68:19, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens.”

The Eyesight of Jesus. Just as with Yahweh God, nothing escapes the notice of Jesus. He has universal vision and particular vision. He can always see perfectly. He seems to have a special antenna always working for those in any kind of trouble, for any who are in need of God’s touch and attention. There are a number of passages in the gospels that prove this unerring ability of Jesus to see, to keep an eye on what is around Him. We read a number of passages like this… “When the Lord saw her…” (Luke 7:13); “When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up...” (Luke 19:5); “When Jesus saw him lying there...” (John 5:6); “When Jesus saw her weeping...” (John 11:33); “When He saw the multitude...” (Matt. 9:36); “When Jesus saw the large crowd...” (Matt. 14:14). Jesus saw everything there was to see, and then some. He saw the multitude, He saw the individual. Nothing escaped His attention. And Jesus had compassion for whomever He saw. This is what Jesus said as He looked over Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” (Matt. 23:37).

One reading of the four Gospels and the burden-bearing heart of Jesus would be inescapable. As gospel readers it is helpful if we keep asking ourselves… Was there anyone who escaped His notice? Upon whom did He tend to focus? Who always seemed to catch His attention?  The quick answer is that He never overlooked those who were bearing a heavy load of some sort in life. He was the friend of sinners, outcasts, the unclean, the prostitutes, the sick, those rejected by religion, the demon possessed. Jesus revealed the ultimate magnanimous heart, the heart of the Father. Jesus, quick to forgive, to embrace the worst of us, to bear burdens.

Yahweh’s eyes are always wide open. Jesus has the same set of eyes. Yahweh in the flesh is El Roi, the God who sees. And He wants us to develop that same divine eyesight.