Can You See Jesus?

Would you like to meet Jesus? What kind of Jesus would you like to meet? It sounds crazy to say it like that, but when you think of meeting Jesus, how do you imagine Jesus to be when you see him? Visually, there are several images of Jesus all over the world. Which one of the images that you have seen of Jesus would you like to experience if you could meet Jesus in person?

How would Jesus look racially or ethnically in your mind? Would he look Jewish/Middle Eastern, Black, Asian, Polynesian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latinx, Native/First Nations, Aboriginal, White, or Mixed-race? In what emotional state would you like to see Jesus? Would he be happy, thoughtful, laughing, amused, distressed, moody, angry?

Would you like to see Jesus explaining quantum mechanics using spiritual illustrations or telling a joke about church life? Or, would you like to see Jesus speaking about how to bring sustainable peace to the world at this time? Have you imagined seeing Jesus in a comfortable setting like your house or someone else's house, eating a meal, and playing a video game? Or maybe seeing Jesus standing in our nation's capital, or in other nations' capitals teaching the lawmakers and judicial leaders about how to end poverty and lead their nations to care for everyone living within each of their borders equally? Think about how you would like Jesus to be if you could meet Jesus in person today.

I ask that question because I would like you to consider Jesus on more than a historical level. I would like you to think of Jesus as a human, someone standing in front of you and talking to you, not somebody who lived and traveled in and around the ancient cities of Nazareth and Jerusalem.

Secondly, I have asked that question because most of us, at one point or another, may have thought about what it would be like to meet Jesus. In this week's Bible reading for Sunday, that question also was posed to two of Jesus' followers in John 12:20-33. Jesus gave those who asked to see him his understanding about what he is about and how he sees himself in relationship to this world and those who want to get to know him better.

What Jesus said after finding out that people wanted to see him should be taken in with great care! Take note of the imagery that Jesus uses to describe what is most important to him, and for those who want to "see" him. Amen.