The Gift of the Divine Presence

Imagine if we could every single day walk with God, speak face-to-face with Him, ask Him what we wanted to know, allow Him to teach us and to reveal to us the secrets of His own heart?  To the Jews of the Old Testament, the very question would have sounded like blasphemy, accustomed as they were to approaching YHWH through the intermediary of priests, sacrifices, and temple ritual.  They had told Moses from the beginning, at Mt. Sinai, "You speak to God and tell us what He says, lest we die!"

To many Christians today, it is still about "doing it right," following the rules, lest God be angry with them.  And at least this approach is better than the "devil take all" approach, a lackadaisical, indifferent approach to communion with the Divine Presence.  But the "following the rules" approach is just a preparation for a much greater Gift -- the Gift of God Himself to us.  Jesus came, veiling His Divinity in order to walk beside us on our daily journey, speak with us from the depths of His heart, and answer our deepest questions.  Only gradually did He reveal His identity, after we were no longer fearful of "GOD" in our midst.  He laughed, He cried, He hungered and thirsted with us; He bore our burdens, all the while reaching out with His comfort, His joy, His healing energy.

Jesus did not "go away" from among us when He ascended into heaven; rather, He sent His very Spirit, a living Presence, to continue His work in us and among us.  When we celebrate the Resurrection, we celebrate His Living Presence that continues today -- His joy, His truth, His healing Presence.  In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus says, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too, am working."  He said this in answer to those who accused Him of "working" on the Sabbath by healing the paralytic.  Interestingly, the Pharisees were not rejoicing with the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, and who was now walking and carrying his mat, but they were scowling at both the former paralytic and at Jesus for breaking the Sabbath.

Because Jesus answered them by referring to His Father, Who is always "at work, even now," the Jews found even more reason to try to kill him, "...for not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God" (5:18).  Neither Jesus at the moment, nor John, later reporting the incident, make any attempt to correct the notion that Jesus was "making Himself equal to God."  If the Jews were offended by His words, imagine the thoughts of His disciples who heard what the Jews were thinking, as well as what Jesus had said to them.

Imagine if one of your friends, with whom you had been eating, laughing, telling stories, asking questions, and resting in the shade for years suddenly began to claim equality with God.  Not wanting to deny the close companionship, not wanting to walk away from the friendship, you would begin to ponder in your heart what these words could possible mean:  delusion? madness? "losing it"? arrogance?  But if your friend began to walk on water, heal the sick, multiply loaves and fishes, and calm the storm that threatened to drown you at sea, you might begin to believe his words.  Jesus said, "If you will not believe the words I say, believe then the deeds I do."

But surely, if He were God, He would not allow Himself to be crucified by evil men; surely He would call His legions of angels to strike the earth with a sword, or with plagues and pestilence, rather than to allow Himself to be ridiculed, scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns?  How could He be the God of the Old Testament and not strike the blasphemers dead on the spot?

Only the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, could reveal to men after the Resurrection and the Ascension, the Truth that reconciled all men to the Father: God is here with us, among us, allowing us to be ourselves with Him, and still loving us to the end.  And when we have done all that we can to drive Him away from us, He returns in the Spirit, once more to teach, to heal, to calm and comfort, and to walk with us all the way Home.