Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone). (John 1:42)

John’s Gospel tells us that when Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus, He looked at Simon. I find it interesting that the word looked used here could be translated “He saw right through him.”

Have you ever had someone look at you that way? Mothers seem to have this special ability. But Jesus didn’t have this ability in only a figurative way. He literally could look into a person’s soul, see what was going on, and know everything about him or her.

So Jesus looked at Simon and said, “Your name is Simon. But I’m giving you a new name. It’s Peter.” I wonder what Andrew and John were thinking when Jesus said this. They knew Simon. And if there was one thing Simon was not, it was a rock. The name “Simon” means “listener or hearer.” So Jesus was saying, “You are no longer going to be a listener or a hearer. You will become a rock.” Jesus had looked right through him and not only saw Simon for what he was, but saw him for what he could be.

In the same way, Jesus knows the real you—not the “you” that you’ve created for yourself, the persona or mask that you hide behind. Jesus knows what you think about late at night…what you dream about…what troubles you…what you hope for and wish for. And He knows what needs to happen in your life to make you the person He wants you to be.

That’s the key, isn’t it? He not only knows you, He knows how to complete you. The best thing any of us could ever do is to commit our lives into His hands.