Have You Seen Jesus?

Yesterday’s sermon ended with the question, “Have you seen Jesus?  Do you know Him?”  I thought to myself.  Of course I see Him and yes, I do know Him.  But do I really see Him?  Do I really KNOW Him?

I will be the first to admit that life gets busy and I can easily make time for Him…sometimes rushed…just to check it off the “to do list”.  Priorities get all tangled up into one big mess and what was once most important takes a back seat while what has no business being labeled as urgent seems to take front and center.

Do you ever take inventory and shake your head in shame and wonder how you slowly let God become more like a faithful friend you know will always be there for you?  The kind of friend you don’t necessarily need to keep up with, but when things turn sour and overwhelming…you know without a doubt whatever time of day or night, whatever the circumstance may be they will drop everything and be there for you?

Well, guess what…yes, He is there, but oh how sweet to KNOW HIM.  To be able to share every thought, every fear, every miracle, everything with YOUR Heavenly Father who created you just the way that you are and who delights in YOU.

So, this week I am hoping that YOU will take time to LOOK for HIM and to KNOW Him…

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news:  “I have seen the Lord!”  And she told them that He had said these things to her.   John 20:18

 It was in 1912 that music publisher Dr. Adam Geibel asked author and composer C. Austin Miles to write a hymn text that would be “sympathetic in tone, breathing tenderness in every line; one that would bring hope to the hopeless, rest for the weary, and downy pillows to dying beds.”  Mr. Miles has left the following account of the writing of this hymn:

  One day in April, 1912, I was seated in the dark room, where I kept my photographic equipment and organ.  I drew my Bible toward me; it opened to my favorite chapter, John 20---whether by chance or inspiration let each reader decide.  That meeting of Jesus and Mary had lost none of its power and charm.

  As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene.  I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life, when she knelt before her Lord, and cried, “Rabboni!”

  My hands were resting on the Bible while I stared at the light blue wall.  As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches.  A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows.  It was Mary.  As she came to the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in, and hurried away.

  John, in flowing robe, appeared, looking at the tomb; then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John.

  As they departed, Mary reappeared; leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept.  Turning herself, she saw JESUS standing, so did I.  I knew it was He.  She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched and looking into His face cried, “Rabboni!”  I awakened in sun light, gripping the Bible, with muscles tense and nerves vibrating.  Under the inspiration of this vision I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared.  That same evening I wrote the music…

I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses,

And the voice I hear falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses . . .

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other, has ever, known!

He speaks and the sound of His voice,

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that he gave to me,

Within my heart is ringing . . .

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other, has ever, known!

SOURCE:  AMAZING GRACE by Kenneth W. OSBECK