Encouragement

An Unfamiliar Jesus

by John Puckett 
04/12/23
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An Unfamiliar Jesus

In a vision, the prophet Isaiah saw the “Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” and being worshipped by the seraphim with the cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.”
Centuries later, the Apostle John wrote an astonishing explanation of the prophet’s vision; when Isaiah “saw his glory and spoke of him,” he saw none other than the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ! He was the One who was perfectly holy.
See Isaiah 6 and John 12.

“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” This was how the Jews responded to Jesus when he said he was the Bread from Heaven. John 6:42
He was just an ordinary-looking man in their eyes, and so he was, as far as outward appearance went. There was certainly no artistic halo of glory round his head when he walked the roads and streets of Palestine.
However, Jesus’ disciples knew that he was no ordinary man They had seen and heard enough to convince them that he was the Son of God.
Three of his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, were favoured with a unique revelation of that divinity.
We read, “Jesus … led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Matthew 17:1, 2

Many years later when John was an old man on the Isle of Patmos, he saw Jesus in glory again. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” Revelation 1:14-16.
John adds, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
That is the effect of the vision of absolute holiness on mortal man. Samson’s parents realized that when they saw the divine Angel of the Lord, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” Judges 13:22.

Some church buildings have words of a Psalm painted on the wall at the front, “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!” 1 Chronicles 16:29
However, is there a widespread lack of concern about holiness in the UK church today?
Do we see holiness as beautiful?
Do we see holiness as desirable?
Do we seriously heed the command of God to “Be holy for I am holy”?
It is quite startling that above any other description of Jesus, the man possessed by an unclean spirit addressed Jesus with the words, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Luke 4:34
How many of us would give priority to that characteristic in describing our Saviour?

Isaiah emulated the seraphim of his vision when he wrote, “Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!” Isaiah 12:6.
Yes, there may be plenty of crying out and shouting in the church today, but is it motivated by God’s holiness above anything else?

If we are to see a revival of the UK church, we are in desperate need of a new vision of the beautiful holiness of Jesus.