“looks to” (NIV) “seeth” (KJV) = theoreo = to view attentively, to survey so as to discern, to find out by seeing. Bailey says that it “implies not mere vision but grasping the significance of a thing, and so it is the precursor of faith.” (qt’d in Morris 368) Note that Jesus here links seeing with believing. It is not good enough to just see, even with the discerning that this word implies. Even the demons “see” Jesus in this manner. Faith must be added to seeing before the ingredients for salvation are complete.

There are two promises here for those who put their trust in Jesus, and both are the will of God. One is that all, everyone without exclusion, who looks to and believes in Christ will receive eternal life. The second is that those same people will be raised up by Christ Himself on the last day to live forever in God’s presence. How certain are these promises? Jesus is so concerned that we know this beyond a shadow of a doubt that He says them twice, both in the preceding verse and here. This truth is for us. When we trust in Christ, we receive eternal life and the certainty of being resurrected when He returns for those who are His own.

Once there was a hungry Arab on the desert who was searching for a spring he knew of and he came upon a bag dropped by some traveler. He exclaimed “A bag of food!” and joyfully tore open the bag, only to say, in bitter disappointment, “Alas, it is only pearls.” Nothing can feed the soul but Christ. To the hungry soul, He is more precious than all the pearls in the world. (adapted from B.W. Johnson)