Why did Jesus lift his eyes to heaven?

[lostANDfound]

John 17 :1  These things speaks Jesus, and lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, come has the hour..."

Why did He lift His eyes?  A way of showing that He is "under" God?  For someone like me who sometimes has trouble shaking away every last crumb of some old Christian concepts like heaven as a literal place, this seems a bit like parents making Santa tracks on the carpet to reinforce a false concept. 

[cheekie3]

lostANDfound:

You raise an interesting question:

John 17 :1  These things speaks Jesus, and lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, come has the hour..."

Why did He lift His eyes? A way of showing that He is "under" God?  For someone like me who sometimes has trouble shaking away every last crumb of some old Christian concepts like heaven as a literal place, this seems a bit like parents making Santa tracks on the carpet to reinforce a false concept.

Other versions state that 'He lifted up His eyes to the sky'.

I can only guess, as to why - but I would imagine, he was exhausted, and His head was drooped and His eyes were probably closed, as He was in a lot of pain.

He knew He was about to die, so He opened His Eyes and looked up to the sky / heaven, and spoke those words, as His Time had Come for Him to Die.

Warmest Regards.

George

[Extol]

Psalm 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

Psalm 123:1 To you lift I up my eyes, O you that dwell in the heavens.

"He who previously lifted his eyes unto the hills, now hath raised his heart's eyes to the Lord Himself"--The Venerable Bede (8th century English monk)

Even if heaven isn't a physical place in the sky, if one is going to "look" somewhere while praying, I think up to the sky is as good a place as any. It's certainly more awe-inspiring and grand than looking in a bowl of soup (though God can be there too.) I do it myself, especially if I'm outside on a starry night.

I think Bede makes a good point about the psalmist: it is the heart's eyes that are being raised to the Lord. There is a physical, outward expression of the eyes looking "up", but that's not the point of the exercise. The point is that it's an act of submission, an acknowledgment that God is the source of our being and our help. Maybe the writer included this for the reader's benefit more than anything. Jesus certainly knew the Father wasn't floating up in the sky, but it sounds better and more poetic to include lifting up his eyes to heaven...Or perhaps he lifted his eyes up (if he literally did so at all) for the benefit of his disciples, if they were still around.

[dave]

Psalm 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

Psalm 123:1 To you lift I up my eyes, O you that dwell in the heavens.

"He who previously lifted his eyes unto the hills, now hath raised his heart's eyes to the Lord Himself"--The Venerable Bede (8th century English monk)

Even if heaven isn't a physical place in the sky, if one is going to "look" somewhere while praying, I think up to the sky is as good a place as any. It's certainly more awe-inspiring and grand than looking in a bowl of soup (though God can be there too.) I do it myself, especially if I'm outside on a starry night.

I think Bede makes a good point about the psalmist: it is the heart's eyes that are being raised to the Lord. There is a physical, outward expression of the eyes looking "up", but that's not the point of the exercise. The point is that it's an act of submission, an acknowledgment that God is the source of our being and our help. Maybe the writer included this for the reader's benefit more than anything. Jesus certainly knew the Father wasn't floating up in the sky, but it sounds better and more poetic to include lifting up his eyes to heaven...Or perhaps he lifted his eyes up (if he literally did so at all) for the benefit of his disciples, if they were still around.

[jingle52]

thanks for that Extol
Jingle

[Pini56]

Hello,

As Ray has said: "Heaven is a Realm".

I believe that this 'Realm' is above us.

For reasons that I cannot go into, all I will say is search it out for yourself.

Love to you all. Regards Geoff.

[Flanagan]

The first scripture that came to mind is in Isa 66: 1 " Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool "
Hope that helps. Grace to you