The J Word 8 & Final: See Jesus Clearly

Last week, I read an e-mail containing the blog post of Abraham Piper, son (prodigal son) of renowned pastor John Piper. If you have a prodigal or are ministering to someone with a prodigal, this blog post is worthreading,

Abraham Piper writes this: “Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or porn or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk band. The real problem is that your child doesn’t see Jesus clearly.”

Is Piper writing that in relation to our children or to God in relation to His children (us)? Because I agree. We so often times over-focus on the symptoms of poor decisions and living in valleys that we miss our real problem. We fail to see Jesus clearly.

In John 4, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, and their exchange dances around several issues through which the woman fails to see Jesus for who He is. Then, finally, she wants to chase a rabbit, discussing worship differences between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus answers that, and opens her eyes in verse 26 by saying, “I AM (caps) the Messiah.” I believe He was also letting her know, in a way that got her attention, that He was God (I AM). I believe she saw a clarity of God that cut her to the core. What does she do? She drops everything and runs to the village, telling everyone to come see Jesus. He ends up ministering there for two days, and many more heard his message and believed.

You see, Jesus looked straight through her problems and issues, including adultery, and brought her to see Him clearly.

In sharing Jesus with another person, that’s my ultimate goal: To help people see Jesus, clearly. It’s not to dwell on their inconsistencies and problems, but to say, “Where is Jesus in this?”

In Mark 8, 22-26, Jesus heals a blind man. And, in the healing process we see three stages of sight: (1) The man was blind; (2) The man had a blurry vision (v.24); and then (3) The man had a clear vision of Jesus.

You and I are surrounded by people who have a blind and blurry vision of Jesus, and we believers toggle back and forth between blurry and clear.
Blind people don’t know Jesus. Their lives indicate as much. They believe Jesus was a great man, a prophet, and a magician.

People with a blurred vision perhaps see Jesus as Savior, but have not surrendered to Him as Lord of their lives. Many of these good people are “Sunday morning Christians,” confusing church attendance with salvation; confusing church involvement with following Jesus. They say (we say), “I want Jesus for an eternity, but I don’t want Him complicating my life right now.” Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this – not fully understanding Jesus until after the Resurrection.

And, then there are those of us who have come to a place of seeing Jesus clearly, or at least we get there and hold the position until we slip backwards into a comfortable blurry state for a time. The Holy Spirit then convicts us to wipe away our eyes and see clearly again. What does it mean to see Jesus clearly? How can I help others see Jesus’ clearly? As I minister to the blind and blurry-eyed, what can I tell them that will help them see Jesus clearly?

For me, here’s what I want people to know about my Jesus (no ranking).

1. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it; He came to save it. Throughout His life, Jesus built loving relationships with broken, bruised and hurting people, loved and served them, and encouraged them to follow Him instead of the world. (John 3:17). We can’t condemn others and help them discover Jesus at the same time.
2. Jesus is all God and Jesus is all man. (Isaiah 9:6) We need to remember that Jesus was God – all God – when He came to Earth. People who saw Jesus were in fact seeing Almighty God, Sovereign God. God is in three person – God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit. Jesus was also all man, and so He understands our range of emotions, how we are tempted, how we hurt for those we love, and why we fall down so often. As God is Love, Jesus is completely Love. (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son . . .” He gave Love. What does that Love look like? Think about the precious, precious moments when you love your children or you consider how you have been loved: Empathetic, sympathetic, patient, kind, gentle. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Love expressed and Love in action defines the believer, but not all who love are believers.
3. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In the deepest valleys of my life, I found unbelievable comfort in just closing my eyes and whispering, “Jesus, the Prince of Peace.” I would often ease into sleep repeating those words. Jesus brings peace to the lives of those willing to look in the mirror and cry out because they no longer love what they see – sinful, lonely, hurting, mistake-driven, relationally tortured, financially ruined, sick. Read Matthew 14:29. In a violent storm, Jesus called Peter to walk on water toward Him, and as Peter focused on Jesus the storm calmed. A focus on Jesus calms the storm. It may not go away, but Jesus holds it and brings peace in it.
4. Jesus is Grace in Motion (my words). His grace – forgiveness undeserved – is alive and active. For those who cry out for Him, Jesus sees past all the selfishness and says, “You are Mine.” For those following Him, Jesus forgives everything about our yesterday and even our today. Jesus reminds the woman about to be stoned that He does not condemn her, and He instructs her, “Go and sin  no more.” Oh, what grace.
5.  Jesus is the Only Way to restoration with God. Jesus is our only Savior from God’s wrath. As you talk to people about Jesus, you will be stunned to your core at how Satan has so confused people. Good people, smart people, have been confused and deceived into believing they can financially give their way into fellowship with God; that they can build resumes of church and community service, and secure relationship with God; and even that a ‘cloud of witnesses’ will testify in heaven that they should be allowed into the restoration with God. None of this is true. Following Jesus is the only way to escape God’s wrath on our sinfulness. How do I do that?
1. Publicly, among men and woman and children, confidently confess Jesus as your Savior. Romans 10:9. This marks your life. You do it often.
2. Pour yourself into the matters of faith: Bible Study (devotions, books anchored in Scripture – anything that opens your Bible and puts you in it – look for answers to life’s problems in Scripture).
3. Prayer (communicate with God. You may not know what to say, and that’s okay. Some of my best prayer time is just quietly coming before God, and focusing on Him. It’s not necessary to open your mouth; you will know when it’s time and what to say or cry out).
4.  The Fellowship of Believers (surround yourself with other believers for encouragement and correction).
5. Missional Involvement (in the name of Jesus, loving and serving others by putting feet to prayers).
6. Once You Follow Jesus, Nothing But Jesus Will Ever Do. You will not live a perfect life in a ruined world, but you will find love, peace and grace within it by walking with the Savior. The more you follow Jesus through Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service, the less things of the world will matter, and you will begin seeing more of the world as Jesus sees it and loving more people despite themselves.