By John Sargeant
When John the Baptist saw him coming, he pointed Jesus out to the crowd and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1: 29)
One day when Jesus was out walking along the seashore he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, they were casting their nets into the sea for they were fishermen. “Come follow me” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4: 18-20)
One stormy night, the disciples were in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilea when, in the 4th watch of the night, they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them. It put the frighteners on them. When Peter became convinced that it really was Jesus, he asked to be invited to come to Jesus. When Jesus said to come, Peter got out of the boat and started to walk towards Jesus. Then he lost his nerve and he started to sink! (Matthew 14: 22-36).
On Palm Sunday, when the crowds saw Jesus coming into Jerusalem, they welcomed him with great enthusiasm, but their enthusiasm was short lived. (John 12: 12 ff)
All this begs the question “If you saw him coming what would you do?” In fact, it begs many questions that are very difficult to answer.
There is an old song written in the mid-1950s that goes something like this:
If Jesus came to your home to spend a day or two
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do.
Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room to such an honoured guest, and all the food you'd serve Him would be the very best,
and you would keep assuring Him you're glad to have Him there - That serving Him in your home is joy beyond compare.
But when you saw Him coming would you meet Him at the door
with arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in,
or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn't heard,
And wish you hadn't uttered that last loud, hasty word?
Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Would you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
I wonder if the Saviour spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day? (...)
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you'd planned to go?
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?
Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends,
Or would you hope they'd stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on,
Or would you sigh with great relief when He as last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do
If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.
(“If Jesus Came To Your House” by Red Sorvine[1])
But I leave you with something to think about:
Jesus, after the resurrection, said “I am with you always, to the very end of the age,”
Jesus, there with us all the time: 24/7.
Now that’s a scary thought isn’t it!
[1] If Jesus Came to Your House Lyrics. (n.d.). Lyrics.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/1053027/Red+Sovine.
(Photo by Benjamin Williams on Unsplash)
