4. Do You See It?
===
Jeremy: [00:00:00] Do you remember those Magic Eye books? If you squinted right, or blurred your eyes or held it the right distance, and I mean, all sorts of things you were supposed to do, you would see these other images emerge, and it'd be like a dinosaur or a tree or something.
I could never see these things and it would drive me nuts. I'd be in a class and they'd bring one out and all the kids would be like, Oh my goodness, it's a whatever. And I would sit there and just could not figure it out and it drove me nuts. I mean, can you imagine wanting to see something so badly and then not being able to see it?
That's actually what we're going to see as we dive in to John chapter one today. Now, as you get your Bibles ready to get in John, I want to read something about Moses in the old Testament. And this gives us a little bit of contrast to understand what John is explaining about Jesus today [00:01:00] in contrast to what they had historically experienced.
with God. So in Exodus chapter 33, here's what we find out about one of the most prominent leaders in the old Testament. A guy named Moses Moses responded, then show me your glorious presence. The Lord replied, I will make all my goodness pass before you. And I will call out my name Yahweh before you.
For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live. The Lord continued, look, stand near me on this rock, and as my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by, and then I will remove my hand [00:02:00] and let you see me from behind, but my face will not be seen.
So Moses essentially sees like a shadow of God or where God used to be. He doesn't get to see what he really wants to see is what does God look like? Moses has my experience with the magic eye book. I can't quite see it. And that, you know, that was Moses, this guy who got to see God do incredible things in his lifetime.
And then we get to John chapter one and we're going to begin reading in verse nine. Today, John writes this, the one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created. We've talked about that in previous weeks, but the world didn't recognize him.
He came to his own people and even they rejected him. [00:03:00] But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn, not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. Now, I think two of these verses that we just read are perhaps two of the saddest verses in the entire Bible.
And you may go, how, how can this be that sad? Notice what we just read in verses 10 and 11, that Jesus came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people and even they rejected him. This is like the ultimate heartbreak of a parent, you know, literally bringing someone into creation and then that relationship goes south.
And you know, maybe you've known that pain of, you've wanted your relationship with your kid to be different, but, but there's a tension there or a [00:04:00] rejection there. And maybe that helps you to understand a little bit of this feeling or Just think about when you were a kid and like you didn't get picked for something, I think about the proverbial kickball field and everybody lining up and then picking teams and just hoping that you get picked early on and not one of the last people standing there waiting to be selected for the kickball team.
It's that idea in a huge sense that Jesus literally creates all of this and then comes to his own creation and they don't recognize him. They don't acknowledge him. They reject him. What would that have felt like from Jesus point of view? To have literally brought into all this, into creation, and then to have your own creation look at you and say, I don't think that you're God.
I don't think that you're anything more than a man. And this is the reality John is describing and then they rejected him by [00:05:00] Killing him not just an intellectual rejectment of hey, we don't agree with you. But no, we're actually going to remove you from this Experience. I mean this is like the most Violent response to not seeing something, I read a magic eye book.
I don't get angry I don't get violent, but that's what happens when they don't see Jesus And because of that, Jesus is treated this way. And then in verse 14, John writes this. So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the father's one and only son.
See, John is stressing that there were people who could see. who, who recognize what Jesus really was and were able to see it. Now, this verse right here is a fulfillment of something we see all [00:06:00] throughout the old Testament that God had been promising to, to show up in a powerful way. In Ezekiel 43, nine, it says, I will live among them forever.
Zechariah 2 10. The Lord says, shout and rejoice. Oh, beautiful Jerusalem for I am coming to live among you. And literally the translation in John here is that God pitched his tent with them, that God set up shop. God's not just going to be somewhere out there or up in heaven or far away. God is now with us, literally in the body of Jesus.
Now this is incredible because notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say the word became an idea. No, it doesn't say the word became a text and you can read it. No, it doesn't even say the word took on a body or even appeared as one. [00:07:00] No, it says the word became human. God became one of us and there is a before and an after here.
This is a moment in time that changed everything. Now we have to think of God as outside of creation or outside of time But you can think of there was a moment when God wasn't in the flesh And then there's a moment when God was in the flesh So God did something miraculous, not just by showing up, but by truly becoming one of us. And here's what's easy to overlook as we start to think about what John is explaining about Jesus here is that God becoming like us is an invitation for us to become like God.
Now, this is a swap here, if you will, that God saying, Hey, I will be like you so that you get to experience. It's what it's like to be in communion in relationship with God. One of my favorite verses in [00:08:00] the New Testament. Second Peter one verses three and four says by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
We have received all of this by coming to know him. The one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory. And excellence and because of his glory and excellence. He has given us great and precious Promises and check this out. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature If you are a follower of jesus today, you get to share in the divine nature Of god, this is what we learn when we understand who jesus is So how much are you becoming?
Like God, how much are you sharing in this divine nature? Now, if you know the story of Moses, Moses was able to do incredible things for God. And yet [00:09:00] Moses never saw what God looks like. We have seen Jesus. See, Jesus is the opposite of a magic eye book. You don't have to squint. You don't have to get your eyes blurry.
You don't have to hold it a certain distance away. You just have to look. This is what God looks like. And if we can see God so clearly, so visibly, it's always around us. How much more should we participate in the divine nature today? I'll close with something that the author Megan Westra says.
God went so far as to come in the person of Jesus, binding together the human and the divine to show us the truest, fullest extent of God's nature, which is unconditional, self sacrificial love. And we get to participate in that today. We'll see you next week on Rebuilding Faith.
