Seeing Jesus

Exodus 33; Proverbs 9; John 12; Ephesians 2

John’s gospel is precious to me because it reveals Jesus as the Word made flesh, God coming to us as a man. John 1:14 says that He “dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

Exodus seems to be a contradiction to John’s statement; it says that seeing God is deadly . . .

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18–23)

However, earlier Moses and others DID see God.

Moses, Aaron, his sons and seventy of the elders went up a mountain “and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God and ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:10–11)

The OT describes others who saw God including Jacob, Gideon, Manoah and his wife who were parents of Sampson. How can this be? Could this be referring to ‘a way of seeing’ rather than the idea of mere eyes being able to see? John 12 tells of some who wanted to ‘see’ Jesus. For them, seeing meant ‘having a visit’ with Him, but did they know what they were asking?

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20–21)

What does it mean to ‘see’ Jesus? Lots of people did view Him with their eyes, but He talked about a greater ‘seeing’ that changed the lives of those who saw Him that way . . .

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:44–46)

Jesus uses a different word for ‘see’ that is more about a closer look than the Greeks asked for. My Bible dictionaries indicate that this is more challenging to describe. It is like gazing at something that is so startling that the viewer sees nothing else. From my study and reading, looking at Jesus this way is about seeing who He really is and being transformed by that incredible vision.

What then is this “those who see Me will die” that God said to Moses? Sinners are said to be dead in sin but isn’t it true that we are not ‘dead enough’ to stop sinning? Isn’t seeing Jesus part of what is needed to die thoroughly to sin and be given new life? If that is so, then seeing Him does produce a death, a good kind of death that sets people free to live!

I know that my old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that I would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if I have died with Christ, I believe that I will also live with him. I know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So I also must consider myself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:6–11, personified)

Thank God this is the reality: seeing Jesus and fully believing in Him means death but also new life . . .

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

APPLY: I’m in awe at this. Singing songs about seeing Jesus take on new implications. What am I really asking if not to see Jesus — and die — to self, to wanting my way, to thinking I am the center of my world! Seeing Jesus face to face takes more than a ‘visit’ — it is about intentionally and deeply looking at Him and His saving work of putting to death all that is selfish that He might more fully live in me.

NOTE: Our church is doing podcast services. Today, the pastor suggested that Covid-19 is not the end of the world — but a dry-run for the church to bring out in us what God wants us to be for one another and for His glory. Amen!