Christ never saw a prostitute or a leper, He never saw someone who was worthless, He never saw a thief or an adulteress. All He ever saw were sons and daughters of God struggling to live up to their divine inheritance. When we can look at anyone and see the face of the God in whose image they were made then we can say we are seeing through the eyes of Jesus.
"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This
they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus
stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he
heard them not.
7 So
when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto
them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And
they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out
one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was
left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When
Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto
her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
12 Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." John 8:3-12
Following Jesus means to act as He did, to see others as He did and in doing so we will have the light of life burning within us. And we will be like a lighthouse in a storm guiding those struggling in the storm that this world can so often be, just as Jesus was Himself to those He met.
Jesus did not condemn the adulteress, He forgave her and only asked that she sin no more and do more with the life He had spared. Jesus spared us all by giving us the gift of the atonement. This ever continuing gift means that we can leave our past in the past and move forward into an eternal future.
Jesus said we are in servitude to sin when we sin.
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:32-36
Jesus has made us free of our sins, so we are free indeed. Jesus dint just die for all of us, He died for each of us. We are free to build up the kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven. We are no longer in bondage to sin, no longer captive to it's whims. But Jesus did say a man cannot serve two masters so the question is which master do you wish to serve because whatever we do is in service to one or the other. The one who sent His son to set us free or the one who puts you in bondage to spite the true master?
24 No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love
the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24
Money belongs to mammon but the Earth and Heavens belong to God. His Temples are holy but the Earth is His first Temple and the people in it are all His children. The Roman coin Jesus said belongs to Ceasar bore his image yet every human being bears the image of The Lord. And when we can see that potential that Jesus saw in all He met we are on the path to being Christ-like.
Knowing that each person wants happiness, kindness and love is easy. Treating them with respect isn't always easy but it is part of what it is to see through Christ's eyes. No one is born evil, that is a learned behavior. I remember when my youngest brother was 3, ya know what he hated then? Naps and bedtime; end of list.
When people become hardened of heart or become self serving often it is because the only person they could rely on to be there for them was them no one else was there for them. The meanest people are the ones who need love and acceptance the most because they likely never experienced kindness themselves thus the bitterness.
Meeting hate with love is counter-intuitive to how most people think but that is exactly how Jesus wanted us to act when forced by someone to go one mile Jesus asks us to go the extra mile for them. Jesus asks us to turn the other cheek when struck. Both those actions are responding to hate with love like Jesus begging God to forgive the soldiers who beat and crucified Him. Jesus healed the soldier whose ear was cut off by Peter rather than striking that soldier to get away. Jesus practiced what He preached and He asks that we practice what He preached as well.
This behavior may take time to get right, you've got the rest of your life to get as far as you can and that's all anyone can ask of you but this behavior must emanate from the inside out because even if you can fake it, that would defeat the entire purpose.
6 Now
Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his
journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then
saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew,
askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no
dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it
is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of
him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The
woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well
is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:6-14
Once we fully take in this living water which I think is the Gospel, the teachings of Jesus, we all will have the living water springing up within us like a well that never runs dry. The teachings of Christ must do more than just be taught, they must be lived and when they are they light that eternal light within us and we will see only sons and daughters of God when we look at others. We will easily forgive those who wrong us, we will turn the other cheek when slighted, we will go the extra mile for those who force us. We will act like Christ because we will be Christ-like.Seeing the hope and the hurt, seeing the highs and lows a person has gone through in their lives when you look in their eyes and to see their potential greatness, to see the divine spark buried under the grime of this messy life is to see through His eyes. I think that is a glimpse of how Jesus saw each and every person He met in His time. Isn't that how you want to be seen and don't all the other children of God deserve the same?