WE WOULD SEE JESUS by W. N. Glenn

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 17, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 41.

“WE WOULD SEE JESUS.”

By W. N. Glenn

BY W. N. GLENN.

Among the throng of Jews who gathered at Jerusalem to attend the Passover feast, the last of these occasions in which our Lord participated, were some Grecians. The record says: “And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast; the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.” John 12:20, 21.

We are not told the object of this request, whether it was prompted by the characteristic Greek desire “to tell or to hear something new” (Acts 17:21), or to learn of Jesus some lesson of truth. It is a fact, however, that during his ministry, and especially after the resurrection of Lazarus, and during the few days from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem until his crucifixion, there was a general desire on the part of all classes to see Jesus. The purposes of this general desire were varied. On the part of many the motive was mere curiosity; of this class was Herod, governor of Galilee. Luke 23:8. Many others were prompted by the thought that perhaps he was the Messiah for whom they were looking, who would give them victory over their Roman masters, and they wanted to be in position to secure special favors. Others desired relief from physical suffering; others sought to entrap him by questions, and break his influence with the people; and still others were anxious to find occasion to accuse him before the authorities and have him put to death (John 11:47–57), while a few believed that he was really the Son of God.

However, to see Jesus literally, and to be with him, are prominent among the precious promises of the Gospel: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. So much to be desired is the fulfillment of this promise that “every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Verse 3.

In that comprehensive sermon on the mount we have these words: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” Matt. 5:8. And just at the close of his ministry the Lord added this comforting assurance: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3. Paul also gives an important testimony on this point: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we

ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. The importance of this promise is emphasized in the next verse: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” From the foregoing scriptures we learn that the promise to see Christ and be with him is not only an incentive to purity of life, but is also a special source of comfort in the sorrows and trials and afflictions incident to the Christian’s sojourn in this sinful world. This is not by any means all there is in this connection, but it will suffice for the present purpose.

Another prominent thought is that the fact of their having seen Christ in the flesh was a source of great faith and courage to the first apostles in proclaiming the Gospel. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon, and which our hands have handled, of the word of life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:1–4.

In chapter 4:14 the apostle adds, “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” Also in his Gospel record (chap. 1:14,) the same witness says, “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”

The apostle Peter shows how his confidence in proclaiming the word was strengthened by having seen the Lord in person: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty . . . when we were with him in the holy mount.” 2 Peter 1:16–18.

The apostle Paul bases his call to the apostleship upon the Lord’s having appeared to him, and his having received his ministry direct from Heaven. In the ninth chapter of Acts is the record of this man’s conversion while on the road to Damascus with a commission authorizing him to arrest the disciples of Christ and bring them to Jerusalem. He related this experience to an excited mob in Jerusalem (chapter 22), and again before Festus and Agrippa at Cæsarea (chapter 26). In writing to the Corinthians he asks, “Am I not an apostle? . . . have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” 1 Cor. 9:1. And in the fifteenth chapter, after citing various persons to whom the Lord had appeared after his resurrection, the apostle adds, “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”

But we would see Jesus. We are far this side of his personal advent to the earth, and away past the apostolic age. His appearing again is yet in the future. Is it possible for us to see Jesus now?—Yes, we may see him by faith; “faith is the substance of things hoped for.” By faith we have a far more comprehensive view of Christ than they had who saw him in person only. If we would see Jesus, we must see him by faith in his word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. Notwithstanding the personal presence and personal teaching of the Master, which his disciples had enjoyed for over three years, yet after his resurrection, when he would give them a more perfect knowledge of himself and his mission, he “opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45. He had before told the Jews that the Scriptures testified of him.

Then if we would see Jesus, we must turn to the word of God, the Scriptures of truth. In what scriptures shall we seek to see him? It is common amongst the masses of those who profess the Christian name to point to the New Testament as the part of the word that teaches of Christ. But when Christ would have his disciples understand the Gospel by means of the Scriptures, there were no New Testament Scriptures. And when only a portion of the New Testament had been written, the apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of the Spirit, said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim. 3:16. Then until we have searched all the Scriptures, and brought them within our understanding, we have not exhausted the means at our hands for seeing Jesus.

Christ in All the Scriptures.

For the purpose of magnifying our view of the world’s Redeemer, let us note a few prominent points as seen in the light of Scripture. In the first chapter of John we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Verses 1–3. That the Word here mentioned was Christ, is shown in verses 10 and 14: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” To this testimony may be added that of Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians (chapter 1:16, 17): “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

With the foregoing Scripture statements before us, we turn to the first statement in the Old Testament (Gen. 1:1), and read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In the thirty-third Psalm, sixth verse, we read again: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”

It seems clear, in the light of all these testimonies of the Spirit, that the very first verse in the Bible refers to Christ; and we see Jesus, “the firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15), as the Creator and Upholder of the universe. Being the Creator of the world, it was Christ who rested on the seventh day, after occupying six days in the work of creation. Therefore it was he who “blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Gen. 2:3. Thus in the very beginning Christ became Lord of the Sabbath day, which was made for man. See Mark 2:27, 28.

Nor did his work as redeemer begin with New Testament history, as is shown in the fact that he is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), and in the further fact that the righteous are to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34). In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a long list (reaching clear back to Abel) of those who saw Jesus by faith and were willing to submit to all manner of trials and persecutions in defense of the faith. These all obtained a good report through faith, and will eventually see their Lord in the everlasting kingdom. Enoch’s faith led him to walk so closely to God that he was translated without seeing death. Elijah’s faith brought to him a like blessing. Noah preached the last message of mercy to the world of his day, and built an ark for the temporal saving of all who would accept rescue, in which structure we see a type of Jesus, the everlasting Redeemer. Abraham saw the Lord in person, when with two other angels he came to the patriarch’s tent and partook of his hospitality, and afterward told him that Sarah should bear him a son. Then, on their leaving his tent, Abraham walked some distance with his guests, when the Lord told him of the impending destruction of Sodom. See Genesis 18. Abraham’s faith looked forward to a “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10); and Jesus said of him, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).

By faith we see Christ in the pillar of cloud and of fire, leading his people Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea, by way of the wilderness, to the promised land. They “were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them [margin, ‘went with them’]; and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:2–4. By faith we see Jesus, the Word of God, the active Agent in all things, standing in the majesty of his power on Mount Sinai, and we hear him rehearse the law in the hearing of the people. By faith we see Jesus, the “Captain of the host of the Lord,” stand in the plain of Jericho and give commandment to Joshua, the leader of Israel. See Joshua 5:13 to 6:5. By faith we read all the scriptures of the prophets and “holy men of old,” as the inspiration of “the Spirit of Christ which was in them.” True faith in Christ does not stop in its effort to see Jesus when it has gone back to the beginning of the New Testament. It sees him in Genesis as verily as in Matthew. Whether we see him speaking a world into place, or guiding his faithful servants over the flood of waters that destroyed the ungodly inhabitants in Noah’s time, or parting the Red Sea for the deliverance of his people from Egyptian bondage, or standing in the grandeur of his majesty on Mount Sinai, or going about in human flesh healing the sick and raising the dead, or giving his own life for sinners and taking it up again, or returning to his former home in heaven, or whether we see his servants doing great works by the power of his name,—it is the same faith, and he is the same Lord. And if we look forward and see him coming again in power and great glory to receive his people unto himself, it is the same faith in the same infallible word. In the light of this word all who will may see Jesus in all his varied capacities—as creator, as redeemer, as father, as friend, as preserver, as prophet, priest, and king, and “very present help in trouble.”