We Would See Jesus

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ I didn’t know Him, but I came baptizing with water so that He might be revealed to Israel.” – John 1:29-31

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, that is, indicative of repentance. The Baptist knew what he was called to do. He had a prophetic understanding of the times in which he had been placed. He realized that an Anointed One was coming, yet he did not know who it was. When Jesus appeared, John immediately recognized that He was what it was all about.

Sometimes it is the same way in my life. I know what I need to do, but I don’t necessarily know why I am doing it or what it means. The Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel often acted out or portrayed things of great significance. Isaiah named his children according to the word that came to him. Jeremiah bought a new linen belt and hid it under a rock by the Euphrates until it rotted. Ezekiel used an iron griddle signify the unbreakable nature of the siege of Jerusalem.

Like those actions, baptism is a symbol of repentance. The water removes no sin, but obedience to the ritual is a visible statement of one’s willingness to change. John is described as the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the king’s highway, smooth it out and make it inviting for Him. Jesus is seen when the way has been prepared. The Groom is revealed to the Bride after she has made herself ready.

I wonder about the view of such a message in these seeker-sensitive days. Certainly Jesus invites all who will to drink freely of the water of life. The Lamb of God has taken away all the sin of the world by the blood He shed.

I think, though, if I find myself believing yet unsatisfied it may be because He has not been revealed to me. Like John, I am doing what I can, but I do not know Him. I must ask myself if there are things of which I need to repent, things I need to give up, to put away.

Do I need to be washed with the water of repentance before I am cleansed by the Blood?

A Bed, A Table, A Chair and A Lamp

Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If not, I would have told you. I am going to away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. – John 14:1-3

This is a famously misunderstood verse from the KJV “in My Father’s house are many mansions”. Though it has spawned countless references in hymns and gospel songs, the correct concept is not of some English manor or a home in Beverly Hills. Rather Jesus is talking about a resting place of travelers. It is related to the idea of ‘abiding’ or ‘dwelling’ so prominent in John’s Gospel.

Also, the meaning is not predominantly about death or heaven. Becoming a child of God, a son of the Father gives us admittance to the Father’s “house” – e.g., the house of David, meaning someone in the family.

When I am done with this world, or when God is done with me in this world, I will leave this physical body behind. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul compares the body to a tent, subject to destruction. He reassures us that should it be destroyed we need not fear or worry as we have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” He is expanding the metaphor of the tent or tabernacle – recalling the move of the Ark of the Covenant from a tent to a temple.

Not only is there no reason for my heart to be troubled, it is imperative that I not allow the things that happen in this world to trouble me. Reading through the Proverbs, I see that diligence, integrity, and prudence are commended, but not unending toil and struggle. “The Lord’s blessing enriches, and struggle adds nothing to it” (Proverbs 10:22). To fret and fear, to be troubled in heart are indications that I do not fully trust God. “Believe in God,” Jesus says, “Believe also in Me.” Knowing Jesus, I can believe and enter into a place of rest and peace.

It is good, I think, to be reminded that we are strangers in a strange land.

This world is not my home,
I’m just a’passin’ through.
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.

We are in this world but not of it.

My mistake is often to put that rest and reward ahead – in the sweet by-and-by. Jesus, though, promised it in the present. Sure, heaven will be a place where the “wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest”, but it is not the traveler’s rest of which the Lord spoke in John 14.

One day Elisha went to Shunem. A prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to eat some food. So whenever he passed by, he stopped there to eat. Then she said to her husband, "I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God, so let's make a little room upstairs and put a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there." 2 Kings 4:8-10

It's not a vast mansion, just a place to stop and rest, to be refreshed. It is a place where I am welcomed and loved. I find it a refuge of contentment and security along the way.

Hillbilly Heaven

From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way we no longer know Him like that. 2 Cor. 5:16

I am not a big Alan Jackson fan. I only buy his CD’s to help him out. The poor guy drives old cars and his house is a running joke around Nashville. Well, that’s one thing. The other is my wife loves him. One of the songs on his latest CD says, “If Jesus walked the world today, He’d probably be a hillbilly.” I wonder.

If you are looking for God to step into this world in some dramatic way, you could be waiting awhile. Someone said the other day they would be satisfied with a “Damascus Road” experience, like Paul. I suggest before you request what Paul got, you might want to find out what it entailed. The Lord said right at the outset that Paul was going to suffer for His sake. The Apostle had a pretty impressive resume if you count imprisonment, being shipwrecked, beaten, whipped, stoned, and going hungry.

As C.S. Lewis once said, thinking of Christ as a great teacher but only human is not an option for us. He either uniquely the Son of God -- as He claimed -- or He was a damned liar. Hebrews calls Jesus the exact expression of God’s nature and the radiance of God’s glory. We can understand why Paul would say he might once have thought of Christ as purely human but now no longer considers Him as such. Paul had seen the Risen Christ – Jesus glorified, His Majesty revealed.

Yet Paul knew Christ the way we must all know Him, by the Spirit.

All this is not what starts the thought, however. He begins by saying “we do not know anyone in a purely human way.” We are temples of the Holy Spirit. We can know others by the Spirit – as the Spirit enables us to discern truth. We can know another person in the Spirit – as our communication and interactions take place at a different level with understanding that transcend the words we speak. We can know God through another person -- and not always the ones we might expect.

Sometimes when another troubles us, we need to realize we do not war against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness and spirits of darkness. There are other spirits in the world than God’s. Some will suck the life right out of you if you are not on your guard. In spite of the pain and the danger, we need to remember that God allows evil to exist and turns it, ultimately, for His own purpose. Not all things are good, but all things work together for good, so says Romans 8:28.

When we find difficulties in our lives, we are encouraged to pray. Prayer brings us into the presence of God – reminds us that He is right here, right now. Sometimes the answer to prayer comes when we have a revelation of God in the problem. I don’t mean that a solution to the problem is suddenly revealed – though that happens. I mean God is revealed. We see Him in the midst of our troubles and trials. We see what He is doing in us and through us.

God wanted to make known ... the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory Colossians 1:27

Seeing Jesus in a hillbilly is a real possibility.