Seeing Christ in John
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
It is not difficult for us to find the Lord Jesus in the Book of John. We have always been told that John, by the Holy Ghost, sets forth the Deity of our Lord, and yet, we have taken for our verse an expression found in John 19:5, "Behold the Man!"
This expression has been made famous by the painting known as Ecce Homo. The picture portrays Christ crowned with thorns. We can see Him now bowed down with shame and spitting. We can catch the vision of the Blood as it dripped from His thorn pressed brow. How can we help but love Him!
1. Behold the Man in His birth. John describes Him as coming into the world, but as not being known by the world; as coming to His own, but as not being received by His own. He was the God Child, and that is perhaps, above all other reasons, the cause for His being despised and rejected of men.
2. Behold the Man as He went about doing good. He never thought of Himself, but of others. He sought not His own. The birds had their nests, and the foxes their holes, but the Son of Man had not where to lay His head. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, and yet, they knew Him not. Everything He wrought bespoke His Deity, and yet, they counted Him no more than a man worthy of death.
3. Behold the Man as the rabble increased in hatred against Him. It seemed that every one was leaving Him. From the beginning the scribes and the Pharisees knew Him not, but now the populace seemed to join in decrying the Son of God. He loved them but they loved Him not. He was light but their darkened souls comprehended Him not.
4. Behold the Man as He died. The story of the crucifixion in the Book of John is the story of a rejected King. They platted the crown for His brow, they clothed Him with a purple robe, they cried out, "Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote Him with their hands." It was then that Pilate said: "Behold the Man!" It was then, as the chief priests cried out, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him," that Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him."
Thus it was that Jesus was crucified, delivered unto death. He was the Lamb of God giving His life for the sheep. He was the Just dying for the unjust.
5. Behold the Man in His resurrection. John does not fail to tell us the story of the empty tomb. He gives the details of the stone rolled way, and of how Peter and John ran, and stooping down and looking in, and of how they saw the linen clothes lying, and the napkin that was about His head wrapped together in a place by itself. Thus they went in, they saw, and they believed.
The whole story of John seems to have one great objective, and that is that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing we might have life through His Name.
It will be an interesting study to follow the story of "seeing Christ" in this wonderful Gospel.
I. BEHOLD THE MAN AS THE LIGHT OF MEN (John 1:4)
As we enter the Book of John, we discover Jesus Christ in the beginning with God. He was not only with God, but He was God. We behold Him coming into the world as the incarnate God, God tabernacling with us. We behold Him, the Light of the world.
Far back in the beginning, when the earth was shrouded in blackness, God said, "Let there be light." As the light shone forth, darkness took its flight.
1. Jesus Christ is our sun. He shone into the darkness, but alas the darkness which shrouded the hearts of men refused to walk in the light.
Alas, alas, that the physical earth rejoiced in the light; while the men who inhabited it loved darkness rather than light. Would that the Light Divine, might break through and scatter every mist which beclouds their souls.
2. The meaning of light. Light stands for illumination, for knowledge, for joy, for everything that is beautiful, and pure, and holy, and revealing. How glorious then is the Scripture which speaks thus of Christ: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, or can see."
Just as the human eye cannot stand full faced and gaze at the noonday sun, even so men cannot bear the light of His countenance. When Jesus permitted the light of the glory of His face to shine upon Saul of Tarsus, he fell on the Damascus road stricken with blindness.
How wonderful it will be to dwell in that City of Gold where the Lamb is the light thereof!
II. BEHOLD THE MAN AS COMING FORTH FROM THE FATHER (John 16:28)
1. The Gospel of John does not fail to emphasize the fact that Jesus Christ was one with the Father. The 5th chapter presents Christ's own claims. He said: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jews, therefore, began to stone Him because He called God His Father making Himself equal with God.
In the 5th chapter Christ also said: "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." With this statement being made, Christ explained that the Father showed unto the Son whatsoever He did. Then He added: "As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will."
Again He said, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." John ascribes Christ's claim to inherent life, with absolute authority to execute judgment.
2. The Gospel of John constantly sets forth the One who did the will of the Father. He spoke the Words of the Father, and fulfilled the works of the Father, because He had come forth from the Father.
Christ said, "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world." He also said: "I leave the world, and go to the Father." He also said: "I do always those things which please [the Father]." Then He said: "I must work the works of Him that sent Me." Finally, when He was ready to die, He said: "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do."
3. The Gospel of John sets forth that Jesus was the very expression or manifestation of the Father. In the 1st chapter it is written: "(And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." In the same chapter we read: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."
It was for this reason that Jesus said unto Philip, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."
III. BEHOLD THE MAN, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE (John 14:6)
When Jesus had spoken of going to the Father, Thomas said unto Him: "Lord we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto Him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
1. The Lord Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Way. Which way shall I take? is the question which is oft upon our lips. We speak as though there were two ways. However, Christ said: "I am THE WAY," not a way. He also added: "No man cometh to the Father, but by Me." There is but one door and Christ is the Door. There is but one way and Christ is the Way. If any man climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is but one foundation and Christ is the Foundation, He said: "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid."
2. The Lord Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Truth. If you ask, What is truth? He says, "I am * * the Truth." The word "Truth" stands for all of those eternal verities which had to do with salvation, and Heaven, and Home.
If we want to know the truth we must cling to Christ who is the Truth. There are some who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. To such God will send blindness of eyes, that they may believe a lie.
3. The Lord Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Life. Christ is the Life and therefore He is the Giver of life. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."
IV. BEHOLD THE MAN FROM WHOM THE LIVING WATERS FLOW (John 7:37-38)
1. In John 4:1-54 Christ talks of a well of water. The woman of Samaria was thirsty and had come to Jacob's well for water. Jesus Christ told her that if she would ask of Him, He would give her the Living Water. In reply, she said: "From whence then hast Thou that Living Water?" Christ replied, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life."
2. In John 6:1-71 Jesus said: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you." Then He added: "My flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him."
3. In John 7:1-53 Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." How wonderful is all of this! There is a Fountain from which we may drink, and from which drinking we shall never die.
4. In John 7:1-53 again Christ gave an enlarged picture. He added: "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water." That is as much as to say, if we drink from His Fountain we ourselves shall prove a fountain. We may impart that which we receive. We may live out, that which He lives in. How wonderful, how blessed it is to know that from us may flow rivers of water, not rivers generated within us, but rivers flowing from the throne from Him, and through us. This is the story of a Spirit-filled life.
Alas, how many Christians are clouds without rain, cisterns without water, fountains without depth!
V. BEHOLD THE MAN WHO LOVED UNTO THE END (John 13:1)
Who can measure His love? In the Book of Ephesians we are told how the Apostle prayed that the saints might be able to comprehend what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Wonderful love! The love of Christ is beyond human ken, and yet that very love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. If the rivers of water which flow from the risen, exalted Lord may flow through us; then the love which is His may also flow through us.
We know of no better way to love than to love as He loves; we likewise know we can never love as He loves, except we have His love shed abroad in us.
We dare not try to force an expression of love out of a loveless heart. What we need to do is to drink deeply of the fountain of His love, and then we will be able to love.
What we heed to do is to be a channel, through which His love can flow.
O, holy love,
Thou product of the Father's breast,
And through the Son all manifest;
Come, dwell within this heart of mine!
Let die in me this reign of self,
This passion for some sordid pelf;
Come, fill me with Thy love Divine,
Breathe from above.
It is when we love one another that all men will know that we are His disciples. It is when we love lost sinners that we will hasten unto them and tell them of how Christ died to save them. A life barren of love will be a life barren of service. A life filled with love will be a life filled with joy and peace and all the glorious fruit of the Spirit.
First, then let us know His love; secondly, let us show it. Love is too precious to be hoarded. In order to increase it, it must be shed abroad.
VI. BEHOLD THE MAN SEEKING OUR LOVE (John 21:16-17)
It was after the resurrection that the Master became hungry for love and expressed His hunger by saying unto Peter, "Lovest thou Me?"
1. He who poured out His love for us, wanted to be loved. To us, the story of the Church at Ephesus carries a pathetic lack. Jesus Christ said to that Church: "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and thou hast borne, and hast patience, for My Name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted." Blessed were the saints of Ephesus. The Lord recognized the much they had done, and yet how plaintively He added: "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."
We believe it was Robert Louis Stevenson who said: "Oh, my Friend, teach me to be Thine!" Thus would we lift our face Godward, and say to Christ, "Oh, Thou Lover of my soul, teach me to love Thee!"
May all our words and actions prove the throbbings of His love. May all we do, and say, reveal to Christ the pulsings which our spirits feel the throes of His love.
2. A marvelous expression of love. "Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His mother, * * Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene." If we love Him, we will surely stand outside the camp with Him, bearing His reproach. If we love Him, we will suffer with Him, and share with Him His shame and His spitting.
The women went out to the tomb while it was yet dark. They who had stood by Him at the Cross, now sought Him in His sepulcher. God give to us a love that will not let Him go, a love that will follow on when all the world forsakes.
"O love, that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul on Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe;
That in its richer, fuller flow
My life may purer be."
VII. BEHOLD THE MAN SEEKING IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE (John 21:22)
1. He gave all that He was for us. Should He not, therefore, expect all that we are for Him? We remember the story of how Christ said to Peter, "When thou shalt be old, * * another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." He spake this concerning the death by which Peter should glorify God. Then Christ said, "Follow thou Me." In response Simon said, as he turned to John: "And what shall this man do?" The Lord quickly replied: "What is that to thee? follow thou Me."
Shall we stop to ask the question, Why? Shall we hesitate in our obedience, and look around to see if some other saint is walking in the path where we are called to trod? Nay, we should follow the Lord Jesus and do His will no matter what others may do. We should never stop to weigh the cost, or to measure the sorrow which obedience may entail. No matter what others may do, we will follow on.
2. He tells us that we shall know hereafter. We may not now understand the why of His call, but we shall know in God's great by and by. We should not even seek to pierce the clouds, to investigate the call of His voice. We should sweetly trust Him. If we do not know the way He leadeth, we do at least know our Guide.
Now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see face to face. So whatever He saith unto us, we will do it. We will not stop to hesitate, to deliberate, to vacillate. We will simply begin to act out His will. We will never say, "By and by." We will never say, "We will try." We will start along His commanded road, until the goal we gain.
"Thus saith the Lord," shall remain to us a sufficient and a final call.
When God tells you where to go,
Don't forego it;
Do not wait till more you know,
God will show it;
Grace and help He will bestow,
All you are to Him you owe,
Why not show it?
AN ILLUSTRATION
In John's Gospel we find Christ, both God the Son and Son of God as the Christian's great need. One morning a number of years ago a group of people had gathered in a small auction shop in London for an advertised sale of fine old antiques and curios. The auctioneer brought out an old, blackened, dirty-looking violin. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, here is a remarkable old instrument I have the great privilege of offering to you. It is a genuine Cremona, made by the famous Antonius Stradivarius himself. It is very rare, and worth its weight in gold. What am I bid?"
The people present looked at it critically and some doubted the accuracy of the auctioneer's statements. They saw that it did not have the Stradivarius name cut in. And he explained that some of the earliest ones did not have the name, and that some that had the name cut in were not genuine. But he could assure them that it was genuine. Still the buyers doubted and criticized, as buyers have always done. Five guineas in gold were bid, but no more. The auctioneer perspired and pleaded, "It is ridiculous to think of selling such a rare violin for such a small sum." But the bidding seemed hopelessly stuck there.
Meanwhile a man had entered the shop from the street. He was very tall and very slender, with very black hair, middle-aged, wearing a velvet coat. He walked up to the corner with a peculiar sidewise step, and without noticing anybody in the shop, picked up the violin and was at once absorbed in it. He dusted it tenderly with his handkerchief, changed the tension of the strings, and held it up to his ear, lingeringly, as though hearing something. Then, putting the end of it up in position,, he reached for the bow, while a murmur ran through the little audience, "Paganini." The bow seemed hardly to have touched the strings when a soft exquisite note came out, filling the shop and holding the people spellbound. And as he played, the listeners laughed for very delight, and then wept for the fullness of their emotion. The men's hats were off and they all stood in rapt reverence, as though in a place of worship. He played upon their emotions, as he played upon the old, soil-begrimed violin.
By and by he stopped. And as they were released from the spell of the music, the people began clamoring for the violin. "Fifty guineas!" "Sixty!" "Seventy!" "Eighty!" they bid, in hot haste. And, at last it was knocked down to the famous player himself for one hundred guineas in gold, and that evening he held a vast audience of thousands breathless under the spell of the music he drew from the old, dirty, blackened, despised violin.
The master's touch revealed the rare value and brought out the hidden harmonies. May I say, softly, some of us have been despising the worth of the Man within. We have been bidding five guineas, when the real value is immeasurable above that because of the Master. The violin needed dusting and readjusting of its strings before the music came. Shall we not each of us yield this rarest instrument, his own personality, to the Master's hand and touch?
S. D. Gordon.