I've Just Seen Jesus!

Luke 10:23-24 23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”

Dear Jesus,

I long to see You, to encounter You, to know You.  Through Your Holy Spirit I can.  I do.  But I anticipate that face to face encounter in heaven, when I see You.  Throughout the centuries my longing has been felt by others.  It was especially acute in the centuries spanning the garden to the manger. 

That is what the Advent season is all about.  It is a season in the church calendar to evoke longing within us--a longing for Jesus.  Throughout the Advent season we have just concluded, I seek You in a quest to rediscover the longing of the ages.  As I ponder the brokenness of my world, I find myself longing for your soon return.  In those moments, I begin to rediscover the longing of humanity from the garden to the manger. 

WB Godbey wrote: "Jehovah preached the first gospel sermon to Adam and Eve in the garden, before their expulsion out of paradise, whose salient truth, 'The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head,' assured them that a Deliverer should be born in their family, whose mighty arm would defeat Satan and regain paradise for them, which they should enjoy forever. Consequently they retreated out of Eden, their broken hearts cheered with the joyous anticipation of the coming deliverance and restoration. Such was their glowing enthusiasm that Mother Eve actually hailed her own first-born Son as the promised Messiah, exclaiming 'I have brought forth the man- Jehovah.' Now, when we remember that Jehovah is the Old Testament name of Christ, we see how they actually hailed Cain as the Redeemer promised in Eden. How crushing the disappointment when he turned out to be a murderer! 

"Thus the Old Testament saints lived in constant anticipation of the Messianic advent. The trend of things growing worse instead of better, evil predominating and constraining the Divine mercy to bring on the flood, in order to give grace a great victory over sin and perpetuate the hope of the world, then the post-diluvians continued to look for the promised Deliverer down through the patriarchal age. Through all the centuries of Judaism, the Scriptures, both the law and the prophets, unanimously holding up the Incarnate God, in type, symbol, and prophecy, the saints through the intervening centuries, from Moses down to John the Baptist, and especially the prophets, lived in longing anticipation to feast their eyes on the Shiloh of prophecy, and be permitted to behold with mortal vision the Redeemer of Israel, the Christ of God, and the Savior of the world. All these had lived and died in loving and longing anticipation to behold the Lord’s Christ, and ready, like old Simeon, to take the infant Redeemer in their arms and die of joy. 

"How beautifully here Jesus adverts to those thrilling facts characteristic of the saints of the last four thousand years! The same has been true ever since He ascended into glory, having filled and thrilled the hearts of His disciples with the positive assurance of His return. One of the most cheering omens in all the world today, is the wonderfully rapid development of this universal expectancy of our coming King, illustrating the consolatory assurance that He is even now bending from the skies, and whispering to His saints, 'Wash and dress My beloved, for I am coming.'" (WB Godbey on Luke 20:23-24).

So I long for Your return!  I want to see You.  Bill Gaither's song, I've Just Seen Jesus, expressed His disciple's joy upon discovering the reality of the resurrected Christ.

I've just seen Jesus, I tell you He's alive
I've just seen Jesus, our precious Lord alive
And I knew He really saw me too
As if till now I'd never lived
All that I'd done before won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus, I've just seen Jesus
I've just seen Jesus
(William Gaither)

The longing of the ages is to see Jesus! To see You face to face!  The same longing of humanity from the garden to the manger, is the same longing from Your ascension to the Father until Your return. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

In the Name of my Savior and soon-coming King, Jesus,

Amen.