http://rss.desiringgod.org/link/10732/15068951/we-wish-to-see-jesus
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Little did they know how well they spoke — not only for themselves, but for the whole human race.
John 12:20 reports that “some Greeks” had come to worship in Jerusalem for that fateful Passover leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion. They approached his disciple Philip, who told another disciple, Andrew. Together, the two came to their Master with the request of the Greeks “to see Jesus” — to which Jesus gave this spectacularly unexpected response:
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
That was not the answer they were expecting — the disciples or the Greeks. But their wish to see Jesus was not rejected but redirected. It was an admirable wish, profoundly so — and if they remain in Jerusalem for the week, they will soon see the most important sight of him, crushing as it at first will be. His time has come to be “glorified” — which will not mean leading a charge to overthrow Rome and seize the crown, but laying down his life. Like a grain of wheat, he will not bear much fruit unless he first dies.
These Greeks will indeed see him, and glimpse a sight far greater than they could have anticipated or imagined — far more horrible, and far more wonderful. They will witness the depths of his humiliation that will prove to be the very height of the glory of the one who truly
is David’s long-promised heir to the throne, as shocking and unexpected as it will be.
And as they see him — in his divine and human excellencies, united in one person, and
culminating in the cross and its aftermath — they will have all they wished and more in the request they made expressing the deepest longing of every human heart.
Infinite Abyss
Famously, Blaise Pascal wrote in his Pensees of “the infinite abyss” in the human soul that we try to fill with all the wonders and the worst this world has to offer.
There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate,
because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.
So also the great Augustine, more than twelve centuries before Pascal, had spoken of the great, undeniable restlessness of the human heart, until finding its rest in God: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Moses, seeking to leverage God’s remarkable favor on him, was so bold as to ask to see God’s glory. God permitted him a glimpse of the afterglow of divine beauty, not his face, and Moses made no complaints. Yet redemptive history was not done at Sinai. Centuries would follow. The kingdom would be established in the land, and decline. Human kings would rise and fall, and the nation with them. And the same Gospel in which the Greeks expressed their wish to see Jesus opens with one of the most stunning claims possible:
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The desire to see Jesus was far more profound than these Greeks could have guessed. They wished for amazement in the presence of someone great. And what they got instead anticipated the heavenly vision the apostle John would receive while in exile on the isle of Patmos.
Behold the Lion
In John’s vision, none in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, is at first found worthy to open the scroll of God’s divine decrees of judgment (for his enemies) and salvation (for his people). Sensing the weight and importance of the moment, John begins to weep — perhaps even wondering if his Lord, the one who discipled him, the one to whom he’s dedicated his life as a witness, is not worthy. One of heaven’s elders then turns to him, and declares, in Revelation 5:5,
Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.
Having heard the good news, John turns to look — and what does he see? Not a lion. He says in verse 6:
I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes . . . .
We might mistakenly assume this was a disappointment, that John, hearing “Lion,” experienced some letdown to see a Lamb. But that is not how John reports it. This Lamb is no loss. The Lamb is gain. The one who was just declared to be the only one worthy is no less the Lion of Judah. He is also the Lamb who was slain. The Lion became Lamb without ceasing to be Lion. He did not jettison his lionlike glories, but added to his greatness the excellences of the Lamb. He is a Lamb standing — not dead, not slumped over, not kneeling, but alive and ready — with fullness of power (“seven horns”), seeing and reigning over all (“and seven eyes”).
So too for the Greeks in John 12 who wished to take counsel with the purported Messiah and Lion of Judah. Whatever disappointment they experienced in the moment in not having their immediate request fulfilled, and whatever devastations they endured on Good Friday as they watched in horror, it all changed on the third day. Then their wish, and perceptive inquiry, was answered beyond their greatest dreams — not just Messiah, but God himself, the very Lion of heaven. And not just divine, but the added lamblike glory of our own human flesh and blood,
and that same blood spilled to not only show us glory but invite us into it — Jew and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian.
Looking to Jesus
Plain as it may seem, the author of Hebrews provides profound direction for the human soul when he says, simply, “Consider Jesus”. This is not a one-time exhortation, but continuous counsel, for every day and at any moment. And again, at the height of his letter, drawing attention to the great cloud of witnesses, Hebrews charges us to “lay aside every weight and sin” and “run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). There is unmatched power in the Christward gaze.
As Jesus himself would soon say, in John 14:9, to the same Philip who relayed the Greeks’ request: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Paul too, in one blessed flourish in 2 Corinthians 4, would celebrate, and commend,
the unsurpassed glory of the Christward gaze: “beholding the glory of the Lord [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Unbelieving eyes have been blinded to “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,”
but we, by the mercy of God, have eyes of the heart opened to “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
We might here speak of the manifest Christocentrism of the New Testament, and a kind of healthy asymmetrical trinitarianism in the Christian faith — “contemplating the Trinity through a christological lens,” as Dane Ortlund writes, “and Christ through a trinitarian lens.”
We wish to see Jesus. He is the interpretative key to the Bible, the pinnacle of history, and central in Christian preaching, evangelism, and sanctification, and so we fix our eyes on him. Biblical trinitarianism doesn’t constrain us to symmetrically parcel out our attention and focus to each of the three divine Persons, according to modern notions of fairness, balance, and equality. The New Testament is far from “fair” in this way. Rather, as humans ourselves, we receive a peculiar centrality of the God-man, as the one Person of the Godhead who has drawn near in our own flesh, taking our own nature, to no diminishing of the Father or Spirit, but precisely according to their plan and work to direct attention to Jesus.
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus” would be a happy refrain to echo at key junctures in the Christian life. Before morning Bible meditation: “I wish to see Jesus.” Before conversations with the unbelieving: “I wish them to see Jesus.” For pastors, preparing to preach, to imagine these words on the lips of our people: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Made for Him
We were indeed made for God — with an infinite abyss only he can fill, with a restlessness of soul satisfied in nothing less than him. And even more particularly, we were made for the God-man — for the greatness of God himself who draws near, in our own flesh and circumstances, in the person of Christ. The lionlike greatness of God in his divine glory is sweetened, deepened, and accented by his lamblike nearness and human excellencies. And his glories as the humble, meek, self-giving Lamb are enriched and magnified in the register of lionlike poise and majesty.
We wish to see Jesus — to know him as both great and near, and enjoy him forever.
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The Wholehearted Pastor: Why Men of God Pursue Purity
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
Pastoral ministry is not something low we pastors settle for. It’s something lofty we keep reaching for — by faith in God’s grace, in repentance for our sins, and with courage always to believe God for his reviving power.
The high calling God has given us as pastors is obvious in the final word of our agenda-setting verse, 1 Timothy 4:12. That word is purity. It’s a sure way any young pastor can gain the respect of people of all ages in his congregation.
Purity Demanded and Created
Purity is a bold word, isn’t it? It’s blunt and strong, leaving no room for compromise. That’s why the word is in this verse for us pastors. We need this splash of cold water in our faces. The morally corrosive ethos of our times (so contrary to purity) is well stated by Marilynne Robinson in her insightful book The Death of Adam:
When a good man or woman stumbles, we say, “I knew it all along,” and when a bad one has a gracious moment, we sneer at the hypocrisy. It is as if there is nothing to mourn or admire, only a hidden narrative now and then apparent through the false, surface narrative. And the hidden narrative, because it is ugly and sinister, is therefore true. (The Death of Adam, 78)
That fashionable outlook is deeply corrupt. There is a difference between sin and corruption. For all his serious errors, Pope Francis helped me articulate the critical difference between the two. He argued that corruption is sin repeated and repeated until it deepens to such a point that sin doesn’t feel sinful anymore (“The Limits of Dialogue”). Corruption makes sin feel normal. As a result, the corrupted sinner is no longer open to grace. And how can that end well? Whole denominations can be thrust into anguish over corruption in their midst.
Brothers, we must never allow the darkness of our times to start feeling normal. Men of God know that purity is not a throwback to a bygone era. It is not an embarrassment. It is the beautiful image of Christ himself marking us and honoring us, so that every one of us can be “a vessel for honorable use” in the hands of the Lord (2 Timothy 2:20–21). Is that not what you and I earnestly desire — purity within us and among us?
So, let’s be decisive. Let’s emphatically reject all cynicism that scoffs at purity as if it were somehow posing. Let’s humble ourselves, swallow God’s word whole, and by God’s grace keep walking the path of authentic Christianity that all generations of faithful pastors before us have walked. That path includes purity. It demands purity. It creates purity.
The Many Facets of Purity
What then is pastoral purity? Obviously, it cannot be sinless perfection. The man who wrote this called himself, earlier in this same letter, “the foremost” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). There is, however, a real purity that everyone in our churches can rightly expect from us flawed but faithful pastors. The apostle considered purity essential to gospel ministry (2 Corinthians 6:6). Jesus considered purity of heart essential to kingdom identity (Matthew 5:8). Whatever purity is — it includes sexual integrity, but it is far more — we must deeply accept its all-encompassing authority over us.
Imagine with me that we could pick up this word translated purity like a beautiful gem, hold it up in the sunlight, and turn it over and over in our hands, looking at it from different angles, being dazzled by the splendors on its various facets. What would we see there? We would see the gem of purity sparkling with holiness, reverence, integrity, innocence, honesty, and sincerity — for starters.
Purity is wholeheartedness, dignifying every area of a pastor’s life. The Bible says, “Purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). It’s why Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” It is possible to minister the gospel with a divided heart (Philippians 1:17). It is possible to preach the truth, but not “in truth” (Philippians 1:18). You and I turn away from such a sight with grief and abhorrence. We turn back to Christ himself both as our message and as our motive.
Purity in the Wild
Sadly, our world today is no friend of a pastor’s purity. Anything like purity just isn’t cool. To this tragic world, the very word purity can sound quaint, phony, even offensive. But God delights in our purity. To him, all aspects of the purity he sees in us are beautiful, and beautiful with something of his own beauty.
What does a pastor of exemplary purity look like? He has no hidden agendas. He can be taken at face value. He proves true time after time. He can be safely trusted. He follows through and keeps his promises. He doesn’t use people, but actually loves people. He doesn’t assess others with a selfish cost-benefit analysis but gives his heart away and remains a steadfast friend over the long haul.
When he accepted the call from his church to minister the gospel there, he meant it, and he means it — even when he is tested by hardship. His congregation never has to wonder what he really wants or what he really cares about. They know that their pastor is “the real deal.” That’s what a man set apart by exemplary purity looks like. What a glorious privilege for every pastor!
Men Who Stand Out
So then, my brother pastor, here is what you must accept. In some circles, if you commit to purity, you won’t fit in. The Septuagint uses this word translated purity in Numbers 6:2–3. It says there, of the person who takes a Nazarite vow, “When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink . . .” And your purity will set you apart in our day.
I don’t mean you will stand aloof from people. I hope you won’t! But if you devote yourself to purity before the Lord and your church, you might not be perceived as “just one of the guys.” Instead of fitting in, you will stand out. And some people might not know how to respond. A few might even despise you. But more and more, over time, fair-minded people will see you as you truly are: a remarkable example of Christian authenticity.
By God’s grace alone, for his glory alone, you can fulfill the exemplary calling of 1 Timothy 4:12. You will be respected. Your people will be blessed. And the watching world will know that a man of God has walked among them.
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Are We Drained or Filled by Serving the Weak? 1 Thessalonians 5:12–22, Part 6
http://rss.desiringgod.org/link/10732/15781631/are-we-drained-or-filled-by-serving-the-weak
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Ethnic Harmony Is a Certainty: Three Good Resolves for the Church
Resolved, by God’s enabling grace, to persevere in prayer, love, and good deeds in the cause of experiencing ethnic harmony in the church.
As a pastor in Minneapolis for more than two decades, I have found that one of the most helpful biblical teachings regarding ethnic harmony in the church is that Christ has already secured it.
For those who are in Christ, ethnic harmony is our shared destiny. In God’s gracious and wise providence, he has designed the church to be made up of people from all ethnicities, tribes, and tongues. This he actually guaranteed by the death of Christ, who ransomed people for God “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). Therefore, our destiny as believers is to be united in the worship and enjoyment of God with people from every corner of the earth forever. That makes ethnic harmony in the church a certainty.
Divine Gift to Preserve
Ethnic harmony is also a gift to be preserved. I used to believe it was my task to create unity in the church among the ethnically diverse. But that thinking was little more than well-intentioned arrogance and unbelief. Ephesians 4 put me in my place. There, the apostle Paul urges believers “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3).
“For those who are in Christ, ethnic harmony is our shared destiny.”
So our task as Christians is not to create unity in the church, but to maintain it. Our calling is to preserve the unity God has already established for us in Christ by living in a manner worthy of the reconciling power of the gospel.
When we, in our passion for ethnic harmony, imagine that we are tasked to create unity in the church, we will inevitably build a pseudo-unity in competition with the unity God has already given us in Christ. Our strategies will devalue the power of our shared union with Christ, thereby destroying true unity in our quest for it.
Any group of unbelievers can unite around a shared ideology. That’s what happens in every social and political subgroup. That’s no big deal. The greater question is whether we, as Christians, will find agreement “in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2) that supersedes our earthly ideological differences and empowers us to diligently love one another.
Not Natural Love
Ethnic harmony calls for more than natural love. As even church history shows, diverse believers living together in unity is not natural. Our sinful nature will work hard against it — even among believers sharing the deep truths of the gospel. This struggle has been with us from the birth of the church, necessitating explicit teaching (such as Ephesians 4:1–7) that calls the church to the challenge of living out the Christ-created unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
In our present day, such ethnic divisions persist. Those divisions are entangled in political and ideological differences between believers. Over the past five to six years, further sharp divisions have been exposed. The murder of George Floyd here in 2020 increased the chasm between many evangelical believers.
“Doctrinal conviction is increasingly taking a back seat to ideological conviction.”
In line with the deepening and spreading polarization in our society, Christians have severed relationships — not over differences about Christ, but over differing views of ethnic harmony in the church and justice in the world. Churches have split. Friendships have evaporated. Partnerships have ended. Even Christian families have been divided. One recent study documented that many Christians are now choosing to belong to a church not because of the church’s theology, but because of its ideology. Doctrinal conviction is increasingly taking a back seat to ideological conviction.
Are we treating our earthly ideologies and political convictions as a greater worth, a greater treasure, than the inexpressible grace of our shared kinship in Christ Jesus himself? I pray not.
Supernatural Love Required
Ethnic harmony requires supernatural love. The collapse of love between Christians is a tragic failure. Such divisions among believers are evidence of our sinfulness and unbelief, and they are lost opportunities to display the glory of Christ’s reconciling power. If God has, by the death of his Son, reconciled us to himself while we were enemies (Romans 5:11), we dare not think ethnic harmony will require anything less than the sacrificial love, forbearance, and forgiveness of God that we have received in Christ (Ephesians 4:32–5:1).
The greater the disagreements, the greater the alienation, the greater the challenge of love. And the greater the challenge of love, the greater the opportunity to display the supernatural love and unity that is ours in the gospel of Christ.
Threefold Resolve
Christ has unified us in the gospel, reconciling us to himself and to one another (Ephesians 2:11–22). As the one people of God gathered from every tribe and language and people and nation, we share a common eternal destiny together (Revelation 5:9). Our challenge as brothers and sisters in Christ is to live out our unity with one another, treasuring Christ Jesus our Lord above all.
Toward that end, I offer this threefold resolution on this Martin Luther King Day:
Resolved, by God’s enabling grace, to persevere in prayer, love, and good deeds in the cause of experiencing ethnic harmony in the church.
This resolve expresses my heart’s desire and prayer. Perhaps it expresses yours too. If so, join me in this threefold prayer.
PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER
Father in heaven, we pray that your kingdom would come and your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven in regard to ethnic harmony in the church and racial justice in the world. Neither secular strategies of anti-racism nor color-blindness will yield lasting solutions for the world or the church. May we give ourselves to persistent prayer for harmony in the church day and night, as Jesus taught us in the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8). May we keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking, believing that you, God, will open the door in answer to our prayers (Matthew 7:7–11).
PERSEVERANCE IN LOVE
Lord Jesus, we pray that we might love one another as you have loved us and thereby advance authentic ethnic harmony in the church. Any “advances” in ethnic diversity or justice without Christlike love will gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3). There is no path toward Christian harmony in the church that sidesteps the call to love one another, forgive one another, and bear with one another. The path will inevitably demand that we love those who are difficult to love, and even those whom we might view as enemies (Matthew 5:44). Perseverance in loving one another “more and more” is not optional; it’s our calling (1 Thessalonians 4:9–10). Strengthen us to love like this, O God.
PERSEVERANCE IN DOING GOOD
Gracious God, we pray that you might grant us the power and wisdom to persistently do good to one another. Many are tired, saddened, and disillusioned regarding ethnic harmony. May we, enabled by your mercies, not grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9–10; 2 Thessalonians 3:13). And when we sense we have been wronged, may we “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
Lift Up Your Head
If you are saddened, take heart. If you are frustrated, don’t give up. If you are discouraged by the divisions in some churches, lift up your head and hope in God. Our future is sure. We will praise and worship our Lord Jesus together in the new creation as a multitude of diverse people, united in Christ Jesus forever and ever.
Resolve with me, then, by God’s enabling grace, to persevere in prayer, love, and good deeds in the cause of ethnic harmony.
