BASIC WORD: HAVING A PERSONAL,INTIMATE,AFFECTIONATE, TENDER, AND LOVING CONTACT WITH THE LORD JESUS

HAVING A PERSONAL, INTIMATE,AFFECTIONATE, TENDER, AND LOVING CONTACT WITH THE LORD JESUS

Scripture Reading: John 1:1 ; 2:23—3:1 , 16 ; 5:39-40 ; 9:25 , 35-38 ; 12:3-8 ; 21:15-17

The Gospel of John does not emphasize doctrinal teachings. Instead, it shows us how the Lord Jesus presented Himself to people and how people contacted Him.

LOVING THE LORD JESUS FOR WHO HE IS

The end of chapter 2 records that many people believed in Jesus not because of Jesus Himself but because of the miracles that He did. However, Jesus did not entrust Himself to those appreciators of miracles, for He knew all men and what was in man (vv. 23-25). The heart of the miracle appreciators was not pure and sincere. A woman should love her husband because of her husband himself, not because of what he has or can do. In the same way, we must love the Lord Jesus because of what He is, not because of what He can do for us.

We must not forget the lesson of verses 23 through 25 . As the end of this age approaches, people will appreciate miracles more and more. Because of this, people will be cheated and deceived by miracles (Matt. 24:24 ; Rev. 13:13-14). As long as we do not care for miracles, no one can use miracles to deceive us. We must care for the Lord Jesus more than for miracles. We should be able to say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. Even if You do no miracles for me, I still love You. I love You simply because of Yourself.” No one can fully define the person of Christ. He is the One who is both divine and human, who was incarnated and lived on the earth, was crucified, resurrected, ascended to the heavens, and came down as the Spirit with all that He is and all that He accomplished. He is a wonderful person.

GOD’S GIFT TO US BEING A WONDERFUL PERSON,JESUS THE SON OF GOD

John 3 begins with the word but, indicating that chapter 3 is a continuation of chapter 2 and is in contrast to it. Jesus did not entrust Himself to the appreciators of miracles, but there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to the Lord for teachings, saying, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher” (3:2). Verses 3 through 21 are Jesus’ reply to him. According to verse 16 , the Lord Jesus is not a common rabbi but the Son of God whom God gave to us. God loved us and gave to us a person, His Son; He did not give us knowledge, miracles, or anything else. We need to believe into this dear Son of God. According to 1:12 , to believe into Him is to receive Him. God gives us His Son, and we receive Him by believing into Him. The gift given by God is not a thing or matter but a person—Jesus Himself, the Son of God.

COMING TO JESUS IN THE SCRIPTURES

In chapter 5 Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (vv. 39-40). The Jews were seeking something that was good, but what they sought was not the Lord Jesus Himself. Apart from Jesus, even to search the Scriptures is not adequate. We need to seek the Lord Jesus Himself. Many today are preoccupied with outward knowledge. They claim to love the Bible, but they are seeking something in the Scriptures without contacting Christ. We can never separate the Bible from Jesus. When we come to the Bible, we must come to Jesus. The Lord Jesus’ rebuke to the Jews was that they would not come to Him as a living person.

The Bible is God’s word, His word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is Christ Himself (Eph. 6:17 ; 2 Cor. 3:17). On every page of the Bible, Christ is the center. We can find Christ in every book and on every page of the Bible. We may not know the systematic teachings and theology of Christianity, but we have Christ as the living One within us (Rom. 8:10 ; 2 Cor. 13:5 ; Col. 1:27). We are one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17), and we love Him (1 Pet. 1:8).

CONTACTING THE LIVING PERSON OF JESUS IN ORDER TO BE SAVED

In John 9 we find the case of a man who was blind from birth (v. 1). This man had almost no knowledge of the Lord Jesus. After the Lord gave him sight, the Jews asked the man how he had received his sight. After the man confessed the Lord Jesus, the Jews cast him out of the synagogue (v. 34). Verses 35 and 36 say, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and He found him and said, Do you believe into the Son of God? He answered and said, And who is He, Lord, that I may believe into Him?” Even though the man had little knowledge, based on the Lord’s brief word to him, he believed in the Lord Jesus (vv. 37-38). Some feel that we must have a certain amount of knowledge before we can be saved, but here is one who was saved with almost no knowledge, simply because he contacted Jesus. Whether or not we have the knowledge of electricity, if we touch it, we will be affected by it. A person may claim to know the Lord, but his knowledge means nothing unless he contacts the Lord. On the way to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Jesus, had no intention to know Him. However, when the wonderful Jesus appeared to him, Saul fell on the ground and said, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:3-5). With almost no knowledge of Jesus, Saul, who later was called Paul, was saved by calling Him Lord. What matters is not how much we know but our contact with the person of Jesus.

LOVING THE LORD AND POURING OUT EVERYTHING ON HIM

John 12:3 says, “Then Mary took a pound of ointment, of very valuable pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.” This verse does not say that Mary did something to serve the Lord Jesus. She simply loved Him and poured out upon Him all that she had. Verses 4 and 5 say, “But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was about to betray Him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” The Lord Jesus appreciated Mary’s love and said, “Leave her alone; she has reserved it for the day of My burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me” (vv. 7-8). Christianity as a religion emphasizes charity to the poor, but here the Lord Jesus, who is contrary to religion, cared more for His disciples’ love for Him than for their charity toward the poor.

The book of John presents a wonderful person and illustrates the way for us to contact Him. We should not appreciate His teachings, His miracles, the things that He does for us, or the Scriptures apart from Himself. Rather, we must appreciate Jesus for Himself. The way to do this is by loving Him. In chapter 21 Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (v. 15). In His recovery the Lord is bringing us out of the world, sin, and religion back to Himself. In this way the recovery is a foretaste of the coming New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there will not be doctrinal teachings, gifts, and miracles. There will be only Jesus as the river of water of life and the tree of life for our enjoyment in eternity (Rev. 22:1-2). First Corinthians 13 tells us that prophecies and knowledge will be rendered useless, and tongues will cease, but love never falls away (v. 8). We need to turn from all the temporary things to the Lord Jesus Himself.