Sometimes the problem is not that Jesus is unclear. Sometimes something in us is distorting how we see Him.

In Mark 8:11–21, the Pharisees demanded another sign from Jesus, even though they had already seen Him heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse a leper, forgive sins, raise Jairus’s daughter, feed thousands, and more. Jesus had already revealed plenty about who He was.
Their problem was not a lack of evidence. Their problem was that what Jesus had already revealed did not fit what they had decided they wanted to see. That can happen to us, too.

If we want to see Jesus clearly, we have to ask an important question: What’s blurring your vision?

Sometimes our expectations affect how we see Jesus.

The Pharisees had religious expectations and theological assumptions about what the Messiah should look like. Jesus did not fit their prescription, so they questioned what they were seeing. We can do the same thing. We can create an image of who we think Jesus should be and then become frustrated when He does not fit it.

But Jesus cannot be the design of our own creation. If we want to know Jesus clearly, we have to allow Scripture to tell us who He is.

Our expectations should not become the lens through which we interpret Jesus. The Scriptures should shape our understanding of Him.

Disappointment can affect our spiritual vision.

There are moments when God does not respond the way we expected. When that happens, we can begin looking for another sign. We may start thinking, “I need to see something else. I need to see something different. I need to see something better.”

But sometimes the problem is not that God has failed to show us enough. Sometimes what God has shown us does not fit what we have already decided we want to see.

Disappointment can change what we look for. That is why we have to ask: Is my disappointment affecting how I see Jesus?

Pride can affect our vision. So can traditions and traditionalism.

The Pharisees had a particular understanding of what the Messiah ought to look like. Because Jesus did not fit their expectations, they struggled to recognize who He was.
We can become so attached to what we think Jesus should do, how He should work, or how things should look that we miss what He is actually revealing.

The answer is not to create our own version of Jesus. The answer is to go back to Scripture and know the Jesus revealed there.

The things we have experienced can also affect how we see Jesus.

Broken relationships, disappointment, pain, and everything we have experienced psychologically, emotionally, physically, and historically can become part of the lens through which we see God.

Sometimes something somebody else has done makes it difficult for us to see Jesus clearly. We may begin looking at Jesus through the lens of what happened to us rather than through the truth of who He is.

So ask yourself: What has happened in my past that may be affecting how I see Jesus today?

Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the
“leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
Leaven works quietly. A little bit spreads throughout the whole thing.

Jesus was warning His disciples about an influence that could get into them before they realized how deeply it had affected them. The same thing can happen with other people’s perceptions of Jesus.

Someone can put a little doubt in us. A little confusion. A little issue. Before long, we can start looking for problems everywhere. We can absorb somebody else’s issues with Jesus and begin seeing Him through their lens.

That is why Jesus tells us to be careful what gets into us and who we allow to have access to what God is doing in our lives.

The disciples had their own clarity problem. They were in a boat with Jesus, but they were worried because they only had one loaf of bread.

Jesus was talking about spiritual influence, but they were thinking about sandwiches. Sometimes we do the same thing. We become so consumed with what is happening immediately in our lives that we cannot hear what Jesus is trying to teach us.

We worry about money. We worry about our children. We worry about our families. We worry about our jobs. We worry about a diagnosis. We become so focused on what is happening right now that we lose sight of who is already with us.

Jesus reminded His disciples of what they had already experienced. He reminded them about the five loaves and the five thousand. He reminded them about the seven loaves and the four thousand. He asked them how many baskets of leftovers they had collected.
Twelve.
Seven.
Then Jesus asked:
“Do you not yet understand?”
They were worried about one loaf of bread while sitting in a boat with the One who had already proven what He was able to do.

That is the danger of blurred vision. You can become so focused on what is missing that you forget who is present. You can become so consumed by what you have that you forget what you have already seen God do. You can become so anxious about today's problem that you forget what God did yesterday.

Sometimes, if we are going to make it through tomorrow, we have to go back and remember what God has already done. Remember the times He made a way.
Remember the times you thought it was over and He stepped in. Remember the times you did not know how things would work out, but God provided.

But remembering what God has done is only part of how we gain clarity. We also have to make sure our depiction of Jesus comes from Scripture. We cannot create Jesus according to our expectations, our traditions, our disappointments, our pain, or somebody else's perception of Him. We have to know the Jesus revealed in the Word of God.

When our vision becomes blurred, we go back to Scripture. When our circumstances become overwhelming, we remember what God has already done. When our expectations begin shaping our view of Jesus, we let the Word of God correct our vision.

Remember what God has done. Know Jesus through Scripture. That is what gives us clarity.