To obey Jesus’ command to look to see him with us always
To be able to take thoughts captive to Jesus
To prepare to see Jesus in Paradise, beginning to enjoy his company now.
To experience present help in trouble
Because Jesus, today, keeps asking people to look to see him with us
Because looking to see Jesus with us is part of our Christian tradition
Brother Lawrence; Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Frank Laubach and Greg Boyd; Ignatius of Loyola and his Spiritual Exercises; The Seeing Jesus series of books; Richard Foster, Life With God; The Jesus Prayer; The prayer of Richard of Chichester; Hymns and Songs
To obey Jesus’ command to look to see him with us always
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And look, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
Matthew 28:16-20
Jesus’ final command to his disciples is ‘Look, I am with you always…’ Jesus has just said that his commands are the foundation for discipleship, the core learning for all new disciples. Jesus then adds a new command: ‘Look, I am with you always…’
Matthew made this command the final words of Jesus in his Gospel. Final words have a particular importance. Matthew is showing us that this command of Jesus is particularly important.
Different translators give us ‘Know that I am with you… or ‘Remember I am with you..’ The Greek word, ‘idou,’ is firstly about seeing, with our eyes, rather than knowing or remembering with our mind. The most literal translation is ‘Look! I am with you always…’
‘Look!’ can also mean, in English, ‘Pay attention!’ ‘Look, I’ve told you twice already!’ When someone doesn’t seem to be concentrating or making effort to take in what is being said, we can emphasise the importance of what we are saying with ‘Look…’ ‘Pay attention!’ is a secondary meaning of ‘Look!’ ‘Use your eyes!’ is the primary meaning; ‘Focus here!’ a similar, secondary meaning.
‘Idou’ in the New Testament is the same. Idou is used to mean ‘Use your eyes…’ and also ‘Pay attention, focus on this…’ Old translations use ‘behold’ as the English equivalent of ‘idou’ Idou is also the common Greek way of translating the Hebrew ‘hinneh’ or ‘hinnei.’ Hinneh is literally ‘Over there!’ or ‘Over here!’ It is an invitation to focus on a particular place or direction, with our eyes and with our mind and heart. Old translations use ‘behold’ as the English for ‘hinneh’ too.
It is good to understand ‘Look!’ in this verse in both meanings. ‘Look! Use your eyes.’ Jesus is not talking of a purely mental process, knowing or remembering. He is talking of using the sense of sight to register him with us always. He is also implying ‘Pay attention!’ This is not to be a casual looking, a glance. This looking takes concentrated focus. We have to made this looking a priority.
As Jesus said ‘Look! I am with you…’ to his first disciples, he was standing, or sitting, close to them. Initially they had seen him and worshipped him. There may have been some ‘Wow! Amazing to see you alive’ talk. Some disciples also had questions. Then Jesus came to them, moved closer to them. At first he was a little distance way, but close enough to have a conversation. Then Jesus came to them, came close to them, now with no distance between them. Jesus told them about his authority and their mission to go into all the world and make disciples. Then Jesus added ‘And look! I am with you…’
Jesus may well have shown himself to the disciples as he showed himself to them on the evening of the day of resurrection. He could have held out his hands. He could have pointed to his body, a gesture to underline that it was at him, risen from the dead, in his regenerated body, they are to look. Initially, he drew their attention to how he was with them in that moment, in that particular place, that particular position, that particular attitude. Then he added ‘always, to the end of the age.’ What they are to look for always is the same as what they saw at that moment – Jesus in a particular place close to them, on the earth, either standing or walking or sitting or lying down, conveying authority and / or peace, or any other attribute.
As Jesus spoke to his disciples, they were using their physical eyes to see him. They then had a memory of seeing Jesus in his resurrected body. For them to go on to look always, to the end of the age, they would have to use what Paul calls the eyes of their hearts. (Ephesians 1:18) In future, instead of looking with physical eyes, they have to look in and with their imagination. This must have been what Jesus meant, for there is no other way Jesus can be seen with us, to the end of the age.
Jesus did not make his words to his disciples about looking to see him with them a suggestion or an option, but a command. He had just spoken about the need for every disciple to be taught to obey all that he commanded. Then he added another command. Looking to see Jesus with us is not an optional extra for his followers, but a core part of following him.
In a literal sense, we cannot follow someone we cannot see. We have to see where they are in order to follow them to walk or drive behind them. Following Jesus involves following his teaching, obeying his commands, and also, literally seeing where he is, in which direction he is moving, and moving behind him, in that direction. Obeying the command to look to see Jesus with us, completes and enhances our obeying all the other commands of Jesus.
Jesus said
‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.
John 5:19,20
Disciples seeing Jesus with them, and being able to see what Jesus is doing, is similar to Jesus seeing what the Father was doing. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus has sent his disciples into all the world. As Jesus needed to look to see what the Father was doing, so Jesus’ disciples need to look to see what Jesus is doing.
The Father is ‘in heaven’ or ‘in the heavens.’ Jesus told us to talk to ‘Our Father in heaven.’ Jesus talked of coming from the Father and being sent by the Father. Yet Jesus also said he could see what the Father was doing on earth. Jesus was doing things on earth, moving to certain places, touching people or making mud with his spit and so on. What Jesus was doing was what he saw the Father doing. What he saw the Father doing must also have been on earth in some way. The Father was in the heavens and also doing things on earth which Jesus could see.
The same dual truth is for the first disciples after the resurrection, and for all other disciples, Jesus is in the heavenly places and also with us on earth. We may not understand how Jesus can be in both places, both spheres, but we know it is true because Jesus and the Bible writers taught it. Jesus is both in the heavens and with us on earth. But in our looking we are not to focus on Jesus in the heavens, but focus on Jesus with us on earth. Jesus did not say ‘Look, I will be above you in the heavens…’ Jesus did say ‘Look I am with you always…’ Our looking to see Jesus is exclusively to see him with us.
Occasionally in Scripture people have a vision of God or Jesus in the heavens. John the writer of Revelation was given a vision of Jesus with which he begins his book. These visions are gifts, not dependent on our looking; they just come. Our looking is not to try and see Jesus in the heavens, but to try to see Jesus with us, on earth.
Jesus also said that we are to see him alive, in his regenerated body. On the day he walked out of his tomb, Jesus showed his disciples his hands and his side. (John 20:20) In his hands and his side were the wounds of his crucifixion. Jesus showed them his wounds. His wounds showed them that his body was the same, now regenerated. His wounds showed them his empathy with all wounded people. His wounds, no longer raw and bleeding, showed them his overcoming pain and death. His wounds spoke of much else. When we look to see Jesus with us, we look for the Jesus who showed himself alive after his resurrection, the wounded, regenerated Jesus.
Mary Magdalene in the garden by the tomb and the disciples walking to Emmaus and every other person who saw Jesus in his regenerated body, had that memory clear and fixed in their head. They could always go back to that memory. Then when Jesus told them to look, for he was with them always, they knew what to look for, having seen him here and there. We don’t have the privilege of having seen Jesus in his regenerated body, but we can imagine what he looked like then and what he looks like now, with us always. As we make a habit of looking, and the Holy Spriit shows us Jesus as he was when he told the apostles to look always, we will develop our ability to see Jesus.
Jesus did not encourage us to look to see him on the cross. Christian devotion has often benefited from contemplating the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus commanded us to remember him as we eat bread and wine drink wine, now his body and blood, and it is natural on these occasions to remember Jesus on the cross. The Church has traditionally focused on, looked at, Jesus on the cross on Good Friday. As we look every year at what was done to Jesus and how he responded, we keep seeing new aspects of his death. Yet Jesus did not say to look at him dying ‘always.’ He did say to look at him alive again, ‘always.’ We look to see Jesus on the cross sometimes, and we look to see the living regenerated Jesus with us always.
The writer to the Hebrews also encourages looking to Jesus:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 13:1-2
I once had a two-way conversation with Jesus about these verses. I asked ‘People understand this as looking to you in your death and ascension.’ I thought Jesus replied:
That’s fine. Yes indeed there are different ways to look to me in your heart. It is the looking now that is the most important which is why I said it as I did and it was recorded. Make that the foundation as you know.
Jesus, generally, gave commands for things which his disciples would not find easy to do. Loving enemies does not come naturally to anyone. We have to push ourselves to love one enemy, let alone all our enemies. We need to call on, draw on, the Holy Spirit to help us. We may have questions about why and how we are to love our enemies, and the church is there to help us to find answers to these questions. But we also have to put aside our own reservations and hesitance. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. We have to just do it. Jesus also commanded us to look to see him with us always. This too may well not come naturally to us. C S Lewis wrote that seeing what is real but not material is difficult. We need to call on, draw on the Holy Spirit to help us. We may need help to understand why and how we look, we may have reservations and hesitance. We also have to just do it because we, his followers, do what Jesus commanded.
Jeff Lucas wrote in his Life Every Day Bible Reading Notes, 3 February 2012:
‘Faith means that we’re not only trusting God, and asking Him to do things, but that we’re walking with Him.’
Tom, NT, Wright said that, on his death bed, he would tell his children to read the Gospels more. ‘The dynamism of the Gospels, and the person who walks out of those pages to meet us, is just central and irreplaceable. And he’s always a surprise; we never have Jesus in our pockets. He’s always coming at us from a new angle.’[1] Jesus wants us to welcome him coming out of the pages of the Gospels to be with us always, coming at us from the angle of our great older brother alongside us.
Seeing Jesus with us always is particularly pertinent when we go to all nations to make disciples. David Livingstone, the missionary, said‘Without Christ, not one step. With Him, everywhere.’
To receive rest and peace
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Christians have loved these words of Jesus for their encouragement that Jesus understands when we are worn out and weighed down and can give us rest. This is also a command: we are instructed to come to Jesus. How can we come to Jesus if we cannot see him with us?
If our mind is focused on Jesus in the heavenly places we cannot come into those heavenly places. We are fixed on earth, for now. If our mind is focused on Jesus on the cross, we cannot come to him as he was 2000 years ago. We are fixed in today. We can think of Jesus, remember Jesus, either in the heavenly places or on the cross but we cannot come to him.
When we look to see Jesus with us, and he is sitting on a sofa in our room, we can move to that sofa and sit by Jesus. We can come to Jesus. When we look to see Jesus as we walk up a hill and he is standing by the hedge to our left, we can move to that hedge and stand by him. We can come to Jesus. (More on this is in the section on being guided by Jesus.)
Looking to see Jesus with us is the only way we can fully come to Jesus as he told us. Then we can receive the rest that he promised to us.
In a two-way conversation with Jesus I thought he said:
Yes indeed life is much better, much more full and enriching when you are indeed looking to me and forging ahead pulling my yoke which is surprisingly easy.
Jeff Lucas wrote in his Life Every Day Bible Notes (9 March 2009)
I’ve noticed that the phrase ‘I am with you’ is the answer that God gives to a thousand questions… It’s as if he believes that the knowledge that he walks with us is enough and that other questions don’t need an answer as long as we know that we are not alone. And he is exactly right.
To become like Jesus
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18
Paul is writing of people who cannot see, grasp, Jesus. The old covenant, given through Moses, contains the threat of condemnation and death for disobedience. This threat of death acts as a veil over people’s faces and minds so they do not see properly the forgiveness of Jesus.
But, Paul continues, when someone turns to Jesus, the veil is removed. When someone turns away from focusing on the Law given through Moses, with the teaching about this Law, and focuses only on Jesus, they see more clearly. The threat of death for disobedience is removed by the free and loving forgiveness of Jesus, covering multitudes of our sins. (See: How does Jesus’ death achieve forgiveness? – Fresh Bible Answers )
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The Holy Spirit helps us to take in, to know, the forgiveness of Jesus, freeing us from the fear of punishment and of death. We are no longer under law but under grace (Romans 6:14.) We therefore enjoy now the freedom of the children of God, which will be complete in the new heavens and the new earth (Galatians 5:1, Romans 8:21.) We are free to make mistakes because Jesus has covered and will cover all the damage we do. We are free to enjoy life, and to relate to and worship God without fear (Luke 1:74.)
And all of us, with unveiled faces… All Christians have unveiled faces not clouded by fear. Through Jesus we know God as Father, who is always more ready to forgive than we are to ask. We are free to talk openly about our wrongdoing because we know there is no condemnation. We are free to know Jesus as our Brother, and God as our Father. We are not slaves to anyone, we are the children of God. If he counts us children, then no-one can make us slaves.
In looking for Jesus with us, we know that we are looking for our friend and brother with us, not our employer or our headteacher. Jesus does not want us to work for him, he wants us to live with him. As the prodigal son was welcomed into the family home, even though he asked only to be a servant, living in the servants’ quarters, so we are fully in the family of God. The voice that says, “Work for God, work for God, work for God…” is not the voice of Jesus. Jesus says, “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden. Come to me, abide in me. Look, without fear, to see me with you as your friend and brother.”
All of us have unveiled faces, unveiled eyes. Without guilt, without fear in our hearts, we are all able to see spiritually. We have eyes in our heart (Ephesians 1:18) which the Holy Spirit opens. All Christians can then “dream dreams and see visions.” (Acts 2:17) Seeing Jesus with us is for everyone.
All of us… seeing the glory of the Lord, Jesus. John wrote of himself and his fellow first disciples “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:14) John was writing to many people who had not seen Jesus in his physical body and he includes them in the ‘we have seen.’ All Christians have, in some way seen the glory of Jesus, The Son of the Father. Paul writes that all of us see this glory now, not ‘we have seen’ but ‘we see.’ We continue to see the glory of the Lord Jesus, with us always, as we look according to his command.
All of us… seeing… as though reflected in a mirror… In Paul’s time mirrors were a piece of metal beaten as smooth as possible and polished. The reflection was not clear. People could only see the outline of a body or face and not the detail. This is how we normally see Jesus in this life (1 Corinthians 13:12.) We expect to have a hazy impression or sense of Jesus with us rather than a clear picture.
All of us… are being transformed into the same image… As we see Jesus with us, his image changes us. When he is relaxed and peaceful, we are more relaxed and peaceful. When he is joyful, we are more joyful. When we see him with his hands open in prayer or worship, we are led to open our hands and copy him. If he is standing at the door of a room as if to go out, we can go to the door and go out as well.
We are changed to be more like Jesus. We stretch out our legs like we see him stretching his legs, we look up as we see him look up, we stand of kneel next to someone as we see Jesus standing or kneeling next to someone. The more we see Jesus with us, and allow ourselves to copy him, the more we become like him. Not only our bodies, but our hearts and minds become more like the Jesus who we see with us. The image of Jesus with us transforms us.
All of us… are being transformed… from one degree of glory to another. We already have the glory of being made in God’s image. We look like him. The different degree of glory is the glory of being the children of God like Jesus. As we see Jesus with us, we become more like him, we too become the children of God, with a greater degree of glory to the one we were born with. We come to share, express, something of the glory of The Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. People begin to see a similarity between Jesus and us!
For this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. Seeing Jesus with us is not something that we work at on our own. The Spirit brings us the ability to see Jesus with us. We ask the Holy Spirit to show us Jesus with us. We welcome the beginning of an image of Jesus until we can see enough. The Spirit shows us where Jesus is with us, whether his is sitting or standing or lying down or walking nearby.
We have to accept the picture which comes to us, is given to us. The Holy Spirit is also Lord, also God. Although we have to look, what we see is not determined by what we want to see or choose to see, but by what the Spirit wants us to see. He knows what is best for us and we welcome what comes without controlling it.
John wrote in his 3rd Letter:
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
3 John 11
We imitate Jesus who is wholly good. We imitate what we see of Jesus in the Gospels and we imitate what we see of Jesus with us always. Whoever does evil has not seen God. Whoever does good is from God and has seen God, has seen and continues to see Jesus, God With Us.
Selwyn Hughes wrote, in his daily Bible reading booklet, Every Day With Jesus, 14 February 2005:
The most effective way to achieve holiness, I have found, is not to strive for it through human effort but to gaze steadily at the Lord Jesus Christ who demonstrated true holiness.’
Jeff Lucas wrote, in his daily Bible reading booklet, Life With Lucas, 16 September 2022:
We become like those whom we spend our lives with, and that is true in our relationship with Jesus… As we contemplate – look at – Jesus by faith, we become more like Him.
In a 2-way conversation with Jesus I though he said:
Copying me is the key to all your living, living like sons as I am a Son, the Son indeed. So keep looking to me that you may copy what I am doing always…
To hear Jesus speaking
God appeared to Abraham and said..’
Genesis 26:24
Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Genesis 18:22,23
God speaking to Abraham was the beginning of God’s great initiative to rescue and repair the whole world. First calling one man, with his family, his descendants, who became the nation of Israel. This nation prepared for and nurtured Jesus, the Messiah of the people of Israel and lamb of God taking away the sins of the cosmos. The beginning of this great endeavour by God sets the pattern for the whole endeavour. The way God spoke to Abraham sets the pattern for God continuing to speak to his people.
God did not send a disembodied voice. He can speak from heaven as he spoke to Jesus at his baptism and to Peter, James and John at the transfiguration. He can speak through nature, the heavens declaring the glory of God (Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:19,20.) He can speak, through evident blessing when people are heading in the right direction and evident difficulty when people are heading in the wrong direction. The disaster of the exile to Babylon was understood as God speaking to his people about how far they had moved away from him and his ways. To Abraham God chose to show himself first and then to speak to him. Abraham first saw God and then heard God. This is the pattern for God speaking and people hearing. Abraham knew where God was before him, so that he could come close to God and bargain with him.
We don’t know in what form God appeared to Abraham. Exactly what Abraham saw is a mystery. All we know is that Abraham saw someone, or something, and knew that this was God. Whatever appeared to Abraham was an appearance of God and he understood it as God appearing to him.
As we read in the Bible of other people hearing from God, we see the pattern: first they see someone or something which they understand as God or from God, then they hear God speaking.
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, saw a great ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Anyone would understand this as of God, a divine vision, a host of angels showing the glory of God. Then Jacob saw God standing by him. Then Jacob heard God speaking to him. Jacob had his name changed to Israel, his 12 sons started the 12 tribes of Israel, the nation of Israel. In the Bible God is known as the God of Jacob more than the God of anyone else. God is most known as the God of Israel, the God of the same man with his later name. The God of Jacob speaks to his people as he spoke to Jacob himself. He appeared, and said…
Moses saw a bush ablaze and with green leaves. He saw an intense fire which did not destroy the bush. He looked more closely, he paid attention. He quickly understood that this amazing sight was something of God, a picture of the glory of God, the presence of God. Then God spoke to him.
Later we read Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (Exodus 33:11) Moses speaking to God is very similar to Abraham speaking to God, as to a person in front of him. In our modern culture we are used to speaking to a friend from a distance, a voice call or video call. The Old Testament people of Israel know no such communication. Moses was able to hear God speaking to him because he saw God with him face to face, as a friend.
Samuel, lying in the temple in the quiet of the evening, saw the golden table holding the 12 loaves of bread, saw the great golden lampstand wit its 7 flames, saw the small gold table with the dish from which rose the incense smoke. All these reminded him of God, of the glory of God, of the presence of God. Then God spoke to him.
Elijah, fleeing in fear from the revenge of Jezebel, saw a great earthquake, the ground and the rocks shaking and falling. Then he saw a great wind, the dust and stones stampeding across his view. Then he saw a great fire, roaring heat which flared from nowhere and passed. Each one of these sights must have come from God, expressions of the power of God, the glory of God. The three together removed any doubt. Then God spoke to him, in a still small voice, the voice of his presence.
Mary saw an angel, huge and bright and terrifying. Then the angel spoke to her, God spoke to her through the angel. Joseph in a dream and Zechariah in the Temple saw angels first and then heard the message from God.
God speaks to his people by appearing to them, either as himself, or in an attention-grabbing manifestation of his glory. People see God or something clearly of God and then hear him.
Paul writes that we all, with unveiled faces, see the glory of Jesus. According to Paul, all the people to whom God spoke before Jesus had a veil over their faces. The appearance of God or from God was striking enough to be seen through a veil. We are different, we see the glory of God not in some attention-grabbing manifestation, but in Jesus, the only Son of the Father full of grace and truth.
Jesus has grabbed our attention, through hearing about him, through witnessing his power and courage and peace and kindness through his people and through the Gospels, enough for us to turn to him. Now we see Jesus, with us always. We don’t need any other manifestation. There can be no better manifestation of God than the Son who shows us the Father fully, the man in whom all the fulness of God dwells, the man who told us to look to see him with us always.
The initiative is now with us rather than with God. Instead of hoping for an attention-grabbing manifestation, we choose to look with the eyes of our heart. It is up to us whether to look to see Jesus with us or not. We need to call on the Holy Spirit to show us Jesus because seeing the glory of Jesus, the Lord, comes from the Spirit, also Lord. This Holy Spirit does not now give occasional sightings and occasional words but the permanent ability to see of God and hear from God. The Spirit is now poured out upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
Acts 2:17, 18
The Spirit now gives to all the ability to see of God and to hear from God so that all can speak out what God is saying to them.
With the Holy Spirit, we look and we see Jesus with us. Then we are more able to hear Jesus speaking to us, and through us. Jesus does not now appear to us as to Abraham, because he is with us always and has given us the command and the ability to look to see him with us always, which enables us to hear continually his kind, comforting, encouraging, strengthening words to us. Jesus said My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
For more detail on other aspects of hearing the words of Jesus, see How to have two way conversations with Jesus – Fresh Bible Answers
Carol Wimber wrote about her husband, John Wimber, the great developer of the Vineyard Church:
He just talked to God, sometimes sitting at the breakfast table with his eyes wide open, looking at the chair on the opposite side of the table, as if the Lord was sitting across from him, listening.[2]
To be more able to take thoughts captive to Jesus
We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.’
2 Corinthians 10:4,5
Paul’s words are extreme. How many thoughts do we have each minute, each day? How on earth can we take all of them captive to obey Jesus?
We can stop and reflect on the Gospels: ‘What did Jesus say concerning this?’ We can ask ‘Is this a loving my neighbour as I love myself thought?’ ‘Is this a do to others what you want them to do to you thought?’ Taking thoughts captive to obey the teaching of Jesus is an excellent practice. We would all benefit from doing it more. It is also hard to follow this process with every thought.
We can also look briefly to Jesus with us and ask ‘What do you want me to do with this thought?’ Jesus knows our thoughts already. We may only need to look with raised eyebrows as an invitation for Jesus to comment on our thinking. Seeing Jesus with us enhances our ability to take a thought to him and ask him to give us his assessment.
Jesus may look happy. He may indicate or say ‘That’s a good thought. Keep that in your mind and see where it leads.’ Jesus may look concerned. He may indicate or say ‘Not a great thought, that one. Keeping that in your head will not be good for you. Bin it.’ Jesus may indicate or say something in between, for instance, ‘Put that thought on the shelf for now. We can assess it another time.’
Greg Boyd writes: ‘Our brain never shuts up. To submit every thought to Christ, therefore, we’re going to need to have Christ on our mind all the time… To take every thought captive to Christ simply means to remain aware that he is ever-present and to surrender to him. Invite him into your thought process, and turn your thoughts into a conversation with him.’ [3]
To be guided by Jesus
Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.
2 Corinthians 2:14
Paul writes about what Jesus does always, in the present, now. He is not writing about Jesus who will come and lead us to glory, to Paradise. Paul is aware of Jesus leading him through life, always.
Paul echoes Jesus’ words ‘Look I am with you always.’ A leader walks in front of people. Those following see the leader and know which direction to take. They see the leader turning right, so they turn right too. A leader is with people, just ahead of them. Paul does not write that Jesus always instructs us, which he could do from a distance. Our looking, seeing Jesus with us, makes it easier for him to lead us.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit can lead us in various ways. Paul was led to Macedonia through a dream. Many Christians find that God leads them through what they hear at church or what they read in the Bible. All these means of guidance are enhanced by us being able to look and to see Jesus with us.
It is possible to read the Bible and not know God, not know Jesus. Jeremiah lamented:
Those who handle the law did not know me;
Jeremiah 2:8
The best way to handle the law, to read and ponder on Scripture, is knowing God, knowing Jesus, God with us always. The best way to know Jesus with us is to look to see him with us. We know for certain that Jesus is with us because we see him with us.
See then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15,16
Paul tells people to see. The Greek word is ‘blepete’ which means ‘see.’ Many translators understand this as a metaphorical use of ‘see,’ so translate ‘blepete’ as ‘take heed’ or ‘be careful.’ Literally Paul writes ‘Keep your eyes open,’ as people who are in the light. Walk with your eyes open, including and importantly eyes open to see Jesus with us. Wise people fear God, acknowledge God, keep God in mind. Wise people see Jesus with them so he can lead them in ways of wisdom, in right paths.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my whole life long.
Psalm 23
Here we read that God, who Christians know as Jesus, both leads us and is with us. Our good shepherd, Jesus, leads us by being with us. As sheep see the shepherd they know and trust and are able to walk behind him, so Jesus’ people see Jesus the shepherd we know and trust are able to walk behind him.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27
Jesus’ people also know the voice of Jesus, their shepherd, guiding them. No shepherd speaks and guides from a distance, but stays with the sheep. Jesus speaks to and guides his people from close to us, next to us. As we look and see him with us always, we both strengthen our faith that he is indeed with us, and we are more able to turn our attention to him, seeing where exactly he is with us.
As we see Jesus with us he can guide us by moving to a place for us to go to that place too. Some years ago, when I was having to fight to keep my job as a Hospice Chaplain, because of my documented practice of praying in tongues with a few patients, I went for a walk along a well-known path, up a hill, with a hedge near my left side. Jesus was walking with me. Then, half way up the hill, I saw him standing by the hedge. He wanted to talk. He said that I have fought a good fight, but now was the time to stop fighting.
A few years later, I was working as Prison Chaplain to men convicted of a sexual offence. One day I was leading a time of prayer. I saw Jesus moving round the side to the back where he stayed. I went to stand at the back too. When I thought of moving again to the front, Jesus stayed there. Then a prisoner at the front said he thought the Holy Spirit was saying that there are some stressed people. I said for these people to put their hand forward or up in some way. A man in front of me put up his hand. I prayed for him, my hand on him. Afterwards, he said that had been good as he had felt safe with someone behind him. He had seen me standing there, hands out and felt fine. He had been aware of my hand on him and felt fine. This was a man
who had been abused by his father from behind. Jesus guided to the place which would bring most healing to that man.
Jesus’ guidance can be very practical. The open fire in my living room has an air vent under the floor controlled by a plate, under the floor, at the end of a spindle which ends at floor level. The plate came off the spindle. I couldn’t see it but only, reaching down my hand, feel it. It wasn’t going back on despite me trying time after time. I was frustrated and thinking of having to call someone in. Then I remembered to look to see Jesus with me. He was on the sofa behind me, to my left. The thought came to fix the plate in its open position, not its closed position. The spindle went in first time.
To prepare to see Jesus in Paradise, beginning to enjoy his company now.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Dying for a Christian is going to be with Jesus in Paradise, seeing Jesus face to face, without the filter of the body (until, eventually, we regain our regenerated, resurrected, bodies.) The best preparation is to be with Jesus now, seeing Jesus now. Now we see dimly, a poor reflection. In Paul’s day mirrors were small sheets of metal, beaten as smooth as possible, and polished. Rich people had silver ‘mirrors,’ poor people had iron mirrors. For now, we will always have a hazy impression of Jesus. We will be able to know if he is standing or sitting or walking, we will be able to see his hands and his feet. We will probably not see his fingernails nor his eyebrows. For now, this is enough. If we want to prepare ourselves for life in Paradise, it is good to learn to look to see Jesus with us now.
In Paradise we will enjoy Jesus’ company, knowing that he has forgiven, covered, all the pain we have caused to others and to ourselves. For now too, as we see Jesus with us, we come to know that we enjoying Jesus’ company, as he enjoys our company, is a priority for Jesus. He knows he can clear up our messes, repair the damage we do. He cannot force us to accept his company. We freely choosing to accept his company, more vivid when we are looking to see him with us, not only prepares us for Paradise but gives Jesus pleasure now.
To be blessed like Jacob
He, Jacob, came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed and hinneh, behold, a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and hinneh, behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And hinneh, behold, the LORD stood beside him and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Hinneh, behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’
Genesis 28:11-17
Hinneh comes 4 times in this short passage. Hinneh here is translated Behold in most older translations, sometimes Lo, and Know or Remember in more modern translations. Some translations leave out the word in at least some of the 4 places. Hinneh is the equivalent of the Greek idou, the word in Matthew 28:20 ‘Look I am with you always.’ The Aramaic version of hinneh was probably the word used by Jesus.
As mentioned previously, hinneh is literally ‘over there,’ with the sense of something appearing, worth looking at, paying attention to. Behold is now old-fashioned but probably the best single word translation in English. First hinneh – a ladder. Then hinneh – angels, Then hinneh – God (YHWH usually rendered the LORD in English, though nowadays in Jewish writing more commonly HaShem, The Name.) Finally ‘Hinneh, behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.’
Jacob sees God with him in the same way that he had seen the ladder and the angels. Jacob knew that God was standing, so he must have been seeing God. Otherwise he would not have known if God was standing or sitting or floating in the air. Jacob’s first impression of God himself was visual, God standing next to him.
Some translators describe the voice of God coming from the top of the ladder, Like many people, translators assume that God is in heaven and speaking from heaven. But it makes little sense for God to tell Jacob to know that he, God, is with him, when he is actually far above him. Anyone who says ‘I am with you’ is speaking from next to them.
The Hebrew word, sometimes translated here ‘above’ is ‘alaw.’ It is used 403 times in the Old Testament. In no other place is it translated ‘above.’ ‘And…’ is the most common translation. ‘Against’ is the nest most common. ‘Beside,’ and ‘over’ are also used. Once the translation is ‘his presence.’ [4] God was definitely with Jacob in his dream, saying that he would continue to be with him, and Jacob saw him standing.
For the ladder, for the angels and for God, Jacob sees something, someone. The ladder is just there, in his sight, followed by angels and by God. The 4th time hinneh is used is different. Now hinneh is not about something he is seeing at the time, but is part of what God is saying to him about his future. He is not actually seeing his future but he is being told that, as he is seeing in his dream, so he will see God with him wherever he goes. God is saying ‘As you have seen the ladder, the angels, and now see me, so you will see me with you wherever you do.’
As God speaks about seeing in the future, he brings out the sense in hinneh that he is inviting or urging Jacob not to wait until something appears, but to choose to look. Many translators here use a word which is a command from God to Jacob. The Complete Jewish Bible reads ‘Look, I am with you…’ The most common translation is ‘Behold I am with you…’ ‘See / Know / Remember I am with you…’ are also used. (Some translations read ‘I am with you now and will watch over you…’ wrongly implying that God will not stay with Jacob but will return to heaven and watch over from there.) Looking to see God with him is the one thing God wants Jacob to do. God himself will then take care of everything else.
Jacob could and would have remembered what God looked like in his dream, standing beside him, and could recall what he saw at any time. He could then, in his imagination, look to see where this God was in every place.
Jesus saying ‘Hinneh – I am with you always to the end of the age,’ is very similar to God saying to Jacob ‘Hinneh – I am with you and will keep you wherever you go … for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.’ This cannot be a coincidence. Jesus was referring to, quoting, the story of Jacob.
Once again, Jesus was acting or speaking as though he is God. Jesus says the same words that God said. Even after the resurrection, Jesus didn’t proclaim, certainly did not insist, on his nature and rank as divine Son of God. He simply lived and spoke according to his nature, leaving it for us to see the awesome implication.
Jesus disciples had the advantage of their physical eyes, at the time, seeing the physical, regenerated, Jesus, whereas Jacob saw in a dream. Soon though, the disciples would have to remember what Jesus looked like to them, recall what they saw, and then, with the eyes of their heart, to look to see where Jesus was in every place. We, by contrast, start with the eyes of our heart, enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The continuing reality and continuing command to look is the same for us as it was for the first disciples and for Jacob.
The presence of God with Jacob was until God had fulfilled his promises to Jacob. The presence of Jesus with us is always. With Jesus the time span is much greater, but surely the blessing is similar. Jesus with us will enable us to fulfil the promise, the destiny of our lives, to be the blessing to the world we are meant to be, and, on the way, Jesus will keep us wherever we go. We are to look to see Jesus with us. He will take care of the rest.
Both to Jacob and to us, the blessing is not automatic. God, Jesus, needs our cooperation. We need to look, hinneh! As we do this we become more confident of God, Jesus, with us and are led more into blessing. The blessing on Jacob is also a blessing, through him and his descendants, for all the families of the earth. Jesus’ command to look to see him with us always is also in order to bring blessing to all nations through disciples being made in all nations. This purpose was not only for the original disciples but also for subsequent disciples, their descendants in the faith.
Jacob was blessed with the promise of being kept wherever he went and being brought back home. Jacob was blessed with a woman, Rachel, who he loved with enduring passion. Meeting Rachel was the first event following the promise of blessing, the start of the following chapter. Jacob was blessed in his work; his sheep and goats prospered. When Jacob’s uncle, Laban, tried to deprive Jacob of some of his livestock, Jacob’s remaining sheep and goats multiplied hugely. Jacob was blessed with sons. Jacob became a respected wealthy man. People could see God’s blessing on Jacob. Jacob was blessed by returning home safely. Jacob’s fears of meeting brother Esau who he had cheated out of his blessing, were proved groundless. God had blessed and enriched Esau so much that any resentment against Jacob had vanished and Esau ran to embrace his little scared brother.
When Jesus said ‘Look! I am with you always, to the end of the age,’ he did not also promise blessing exactly like the blessing on Jacob. Jesus told his disciples they would have trouble, persecution, in this world (John 16:33) They were told ae well to take heart; Jesus said he has overcome this world. Jacob also had trouble, along with blessing. His uncle, then father-in-law, cheated him in his marriage as well as over his livestock. Jacob’s going along with having an extra wife foisted on him caused much trouble. The blessing on Jesus’ disciples will not always be as material and obvious as the blessing on Jacob. But the similarity in what Jesus said to his disciples and what God said to Jacob indicates that Jesus’ disciples will enjoy blessing, even in and despite trouble. Same command, same God, same purpose to bless us.
In a two-way conversation with Jesus, I thought Jesus said. ‘I am with you to bless you with my hand on you just like Jacob. ‘
To experience present help in trouble
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.’
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge
Psalm 46
God being our present help in trouble was part of the faith of the people in Old Testament times. Now we know more about this God, that he has revealed himself fully in Jesus, that he looks and talks as Jesus, that he is with us as Jesus, always. As we look to see Jesus with us, including in trouble, we are more able to experience the presence of Jesus and the help of Jesus, of his Father and of the Holy Spirit.
The God who is present in trouble is identified in Psalm 46 as the God of Jacob, with us, encouraging us not to be afraid, neither of natural disasters nor of human violence, of war. The God of Jacob wants us to be still, to rest our minds, hearts bodies, and to know that he is God. He is able to do far more than we can ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)
In the midst of disaster, God is still present, helping. In the aftermath of disaster, God is still present, helping. In the fear of disaster which we know has come to others, or of disaster we imagine too easily, God is still present, helping. He did not prevent the disaster but he does care for us and can help us, comfort us, encourage, us, strengthen us.
God can help us by reassuring us that we have a better future, in this life or the next. God can promise us future blessing. God can assure us that we are not forgotten. All these are good, but Psalm 46 tells us that God is not a distant help in trouble, he is a present help in trouble. The God of Jacob is with us. Knowing him with us is the greatest help in trouble, making us more able to receive all the other help.
We don’t just believe that Jesus is with us, we don’t only think that Jesus is with us, we look to see Jesus with us. We see Jesus walking towards us or standing by us or sitting on our right side, his arm around our shoulder. When we look to see Jesus like this, we are more certain in our faith and our emotions are more engaged. Our heart as well as our mind connects to Jesus. We are more able to receive the help that Jesus wants to give us.
The God of Jacob had said to Jacob ‘Hinneh, look, to me, with you wherever you go, caring for you, providing for you.’ Psalm 46 picked up this message and applied it to all God’s people. Jesus picked up this message and applied it to all his disciples, with him.
Same command, same God, same help in trouble.
Because Jesus, today, keeps asking people to look to see him with us
Mark Virkler has taught me and thousands of other people to look to see Jesus with us and to hear Jesus speaking to us. Every week Mark puts out a blog or two conveying what Jesus has said to someone. Many times in these messages from Jesus, full of grace and truth, Jesus tells people to look to see him with them. ‘Look, I am with you always…’ is a command which Jesus repeats with particular emphasis today.
Here is one example from February 2015. Alexey was seeing Jesus with him and writing down what Jesus was saying.:
Where I am there is no fear. When my presence is manifested, there is only love there, which remains. Where there is love, be there, abide in it. Everything that is won over by love will not pass away. This is the fruit that remains.
You want to ask me how to follow Me, right?
Yes, Lord.
You see that my presence takes away all your questions. Where there are no more questions, there are no more problems.
Then what is left?
You and I … our fellowship together … This is a time of joy in our union. This is the culmination of all: my union with my creation. This is the celebration of love. This is better than money. Do you agree?
Yes, Lord.
In my own 2-way conversations with Jesus over the years Jesus has often spoken of the need to look to see him with us.
Keep looking to me in every place. That is the key. Every place I am there and then, when you have identified where I am, you can carry on concentrating on what is at hand…
Keep looking to me and lift your head as you look for I am above all the petty concerns of the day. Jesus is here! That’s enough to raise your head up high and breathe freely with a full heart…
Look to me more. Yesterday you only did it a little. Look to me with you all the time, as often as you can. See me with you. OK..?
We don’t know the reason why Jesus is particularly now, inviting, urging, people to see him with us. It could be that Jesus recognises that most of his disciples have never heard about, nor been taught about, seeing him with them. It could be that now is the time for this practice to be embraced, this command to be obeyed, because this was not possible in previous generations, except for a few. It could be that we are heading for times of trouble when seeing Jesus with us will his us help and strength we need. We cannot give a definitive answer to ‘Why today?’ We do not need the answer. We only need to recognise Jesus words as a command for us, and to learn together how to obey him in this way.
In 2003 I was teaching on healing prayer in the Diocese of West Ankole Uganda, One bright morning, with gentle wind rustling the leaves of the banana trees, I was relaxing, seeing Jesus with me. I though Jesus said some words which pointed me to teach not only about healing prayer, but also about looking to see him with us. I have since spoken these words on various occasions in Uganda and in the UK and, very often, have enjoyed unusual peace, reflectiveness, following these words:
“My people know that I am close to you, close and not far away. I love you and want to share your lives.
Turn to me and see me with you, by you, next to you, beside you, with you wherever you are. Look for me with you as often as you can and you will know me guiding you along the way.
I will be your Shepherd, your Shepherd through the wilderness, even through death. I will keep speaking to you and will guide you every step of the way. I am light for your path and a lamp for your feet.
Look to me and your faces will be bright. Look to me and your lives will be full of light. Look to me and you will reflect my glory in the world. Keep looking to me with your heart and see me with you.”
Because looking to see Jesus with us is part of our Christian tradition.
Brother Lawrence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Frank Laubach and Greg Boyd
The Seeing Jesus series of books
The Jesus Prayer
The prayer of Richard of Chichester
Hymns and Songs
Brother Lawrence
Looking to see Jesus with us is a historic Christian habit called The Practice of the Presence of God. Brother Lawrence, Frere Laurent, was a monk is a monastery in Paris. He died in 1691 at the age of about 77. He wrote letters to people about his habit of looking to see Jesus with him. These letters were then collected and published as The Practice of the Presence of God. Lawrence’s book is widely available today.
Lawrence explained that he turned his attention or vision, ‘mon regard’ to Jesus. ‘Regarder’ is the common French word for ‘to look.’ Lawrence was looking with the eyes of his heart to see Jesus with him.
Lawrence wrote:
The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure in His divine company, speaking humbly and lovingly with him in all seasons, at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way…
I have abandoned all particular forms of devotion, all prayer techniques. My only prayer practice is attention. I carry on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God that fills me with overwhelming joy…
The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God – that is, every moment to take great pleasure that God is with you…
He does not ask much of us, merely a glance to him from time to time… The least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think…
It is possible for us to live in the very sense of the Lord’s presence, under even the most difficult circumstances. If you and I are going to enjoy the peace of paradise during this life we must become accustomed to a familiar, humble, and very affectionate conversation with the Lord Jesus…
My God, since you are with me and since, by Your will, I must occupy myself with external things, please grant me the grace to remain with You, in Your presence. Work with me, so that my work might be the very best. Receive as an offering of love both my work and all my affections…
Prayer is nothing else than a sense of God’s presence…
If I were to be responsible for guiding souls, I would urge everyone to be aware of God’s constant presence, if for no other reason than His presence is a delight to our souls and spirit…
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Frank Laubach and Greg Boyd
Greg Boyd, in his book Present Perfect – Finding God in the Now, explains being ‘awake’ constantly to the presence of God.[5] He quotes extensively from Brother Lawrence and from the writing of ‘another little-known seventeenth-century monk, Jean-Pierre do Caussade.’ He also draws from the reflections of Frank Laubach ‘a twentieth-century missionary to the Philippines who offers insights derived from his own experience of struggling to remain perpetually aware of God’s presence.’
‘Lawrence, de Caussade, and Laubach each testify that, whatever task occupies you at any given moment, you’ll tend to do it better if you include God.’ Greg Boyd
‘This practising the presence of Christ takes all our time, yet does not take from our work. It takes Christ into our enterprises and makes them more successful.’ Frank Laubach
‘One may never get to the point when they are continually in God’s presence. You may not win all your minutes to Christ, or even half, but you do win a richer life. There are no losers excepting those who quit.’ Frank Laubach
‘Staying awake to God’s presence helps you experience the wonder of sheer existence, regardless of how boring the activity you’re engaged in.’ Greg Boyd
‘We have only to welcome divine eternity in the passing shadows of time.’ J.P. de Caussade
‘This present, if it is full of God, is the only refuge I have from poisonous disappointment and even almost rebellion against God.’ Frank Laubach
‘Practising the presence of God is not on trial. It has already been proven by countless saints. Indeed, the spiritual giants of all ages have known it.’ Frank Laubach
Greg Boyd teaches being aware of God’s presence, remembering and talking with God through the day. This is a less focused awareness than looking to see Jesus, in body shape, with us in a particular place. Greg’s practice is good and helpful but does not follow fully Jesus’ command ‘Look I am with you always.’
Greg also stresses the need to be wholly committed to making ourselves aware of God’s presence. He quotes Jean-Pierre de Caussade urging a similar commitment. Greg is honest that he has, for years, failed to make himself stop and connect with God present with him more than occasionally each day. It seems that this awareness of his failing has made him hard on himself, and on his readers. ‘You’re not submitted enough!’ is part of Greg’s message, to himself and to others.
Greg writes that practising God’s presence is not for the super-saints only. But it is difficult: ‘All our life we’ve practised forgetting God; now we’re seeking to remember him. This is as formidable a challenge as we could ever undertake and we will need all the help we can get.’
My experience has been the same as Greg’s, except that in my long failing to look to see Jesus with me more than occasionally, Jesus has remained constantly gracious. Jesus has not been hard on me. He is happy when we are more at one through my looking to see him with me. He is honest and patient and kind when we are less at one through my continuing to live independently. Jesus is not hard on anyone; he is full of grace. He is not looking for our submission but for our companionship. We too need to keep up comforting, encouraging and strengthening ourselves and others in looking to see Jesus with us, always gentle, not hard nor stern.
Ignatius of Loyola and his Spiritual Exercises
Ignatius was a Spanish military officer whose leg was broken by a cannon ball in 1521. During his long recovery, he read about Jesus and Christian Saints, because there was nothing else to read. He found a new type of hero, men who lived for Jesus and with Jesus, and wanted to become like them. He developed Spiritual Exercises to help people to train to be soldiers of Christ as he had trained to be a soldier of Spain.
A key part of the Spiritual Exercises is to be trained to see ourselves with Jesus in a Gospel story. This enables a deep personal relationship with Jesus as both brother and commander. A soldier’s prime duty is to follow the orders of their commander. Ignatius stressed the value of using our imagination, the eyes of our heart, to see Jesus and to relate to him personally. He taught that this needs training, as any soldier needs training.
Another part of the Spiritual exercises is to learn to be aware of the prompting, the leading, of the Holy Spirit through each day. We begin by reflecting at the end of each day on when we felt in harmony, with ourselves and with God, which Ignatius called ‘consolation,’ and when we felt disharmony, ‘desolation.’ We can then recognise this harmony or disharmony through the day. This too is a practice for which we needs training.
Ignatius stressed the value of noting our emotions as a guide to how much we are being led by the Holy Spirit. Paul encouraged: ‘let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker,’ (Colossians 3:15 Complete Jewish Bible.) The Holy Spirit brings to us through each day the leading of Jesus, and our emotions are a key part of recognising this leading.
It seems that Ignatius did not bring the two key elements of his Exercises together, by training to see Jesus with us, not only in Gospel stories, but also in our daily life. The emphasis of Ignatius on living with God, with Jesus with us, attentive to the Holy Spirit, make his Exercises a valuable foundation for seeing Jesus with us always. Combining seeing Jesus with the eyes of our heart and paying attention during each day to our connection, through the Holy Spirit, with Jesus, is a small extension to the Exercises of Ignatius.
The ‘Seeing Jesus’ series of books by Jeffery McClain Jones
‘Philly Thompson lives with his cat, Irving, in a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago. He worries about his weight, frets about his job, is tempted to get back with his ex-girlfriend, and wishes his ma would stop nagging him.
When he sees a strangely dressed man on the bus, he stops worrying about his grandmother, who’s in the hospital, and starts questioning his own mental health. Apparently, no one else can see the strange guy. Which must mean he’s not really there. Except there he is always hanging around, all day long. And for days in a row.’ [6]
Philly is seeing Jesus with him in his everyday life, not because he’s looking, but because someone has been praying for him. Jeffery McClain Jones gives us a brilliant and amusing and authentic depiction of life seeing Jesus with us.
‘Seeing Jesus’ was written as a one-off novel but became so popular that it is now the first in a series of 10 good books, all describing the life of ordinary Americans when they see Jesus with them.
Richard Foster ‘Life With God.’
Richard Foster has written several books on Christian living which feature on many people’s ‘best ever’ lists. His ‘Prayer, the Heart’s True Home’ is a Great Book on prayer. Richard spent years reading every book concerning prayer ever written, especially ALL the Fathers and Mothers of previous generations. He then distilled their wisdom in his own warm and fluent style. He is a Master Distiller.
Richard then turned his attention to the Bible. Can the message of the Bible be distilled? The standard Evangelical ‘Gospel’ message claims to be a distillation of the message of the Bible into simple points. 1 Sin devastates life, in our world and in ourselves, creating separation between us and the God of justice. 2 Jesus came to bridge that separation, to appease the God of justice. 3 Each of us needs to believe in Jesus, in his dying on the cross for our sins. 4 Then we will have eternal life. Richard Foster dares to distil the whole Bible into a different, shorter, message: ‘I am with you. Will you be with me?’
Throughout all of human history, the voice of God resounds with absolute assurance: ‘I am with you.’ This news does not come to us as some intellectual proposition we must accept at face value. It is not bound up in academic doctrine packaged for religious scholars, not in arcane rumors of supernatural activity in celestial arenas. Rather, it is a reality that unfolds before us in breathtaking detail, mediated through the actual experience of individuals, families, tribes, cities, nations, and generations.
Richard then gives a long list of Bible passages where God says ‘I am with you,’ from Isaac to Paul and the ultimate vision in Revelation.
The Bible does not simply tell us of the presence of God, it shows us the active presence of God deeply and permanently embedded in all the smells, tastes, touches, sights, and sounds of human life. Over and over, this reality is played out in stories, poems, carefully preserved histories, records of cultural systems, details of prophetic revelations, speeches, letters, songs, and prayers. The Scripture weaves the involvement of God through the intricacies of birth and death, lovemaking and betrayal, weddings and funerals, labor and rest, warring and peacemaking, wealth and poverty, hunger and thirst, tears and laughter. Across thousands of years, with wave upon wave of names and faces and recurring evets, the Bible threads God’s patient words of love and faithfulness ‘I am with you.’
The divine assurance thundering throughout the ages is also a divine Invitation:
‘I am with you – will you be with Me?’
This dynamic is the absolute unifying center of the Bible. Every story in the Bible, no mater its twists and turns, whether the human characters are trustworthy or untrustworthy, whether the story is sad or happy, is built on this clarion call to relationship: ‘I am with you – will you be with Me?’ [7]
Richard would say that Jesus’ final words to his disciples were to ask the same question. We add that Jesus said the way in to living with him was through disciples looking to see him with them. The question and the way remain the same for all disciples in every age.
Kallistos Ware, English Orthodox Bishop, said ‘Faith is not the supposition that something is true, but the assurance that someone is there.’ We can add that the someone is not only there, but here.
The Jesus Prayer, adapted
We can also combine looking to see Jesus with us always, with talking to Jesus often using a short much-repeated prayer phrase. This repeated micro-payer becomes a habit, eventually part of the background of our mind and soul. ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,’ is the most well-known short repeated prayer, known as The Jesus Prayer. The earliest Christian monks, in Egypt, used this prayer and it has been cherished until today in Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Often the prayer ends ‘… have mercy on me a sinner,’ though ‘a sinner’ was not part of the original prayer. See What is the Jesus Prayer? | Coptic Orthodox Answers
‘Jesus Christ, brother of mine, make your presence known,’ is a version of the Jesus Prayer particularly suited to helping to develop our looking to see Jesus with us always. This micro-prayer accompanies our looking to see Jesus with us very well. Repeat it often, or only a few times until you know where Jesus is. Having this prayer as familiar words we can use very quickly can be a great help.
The Prayer of Richard of Chichester
The Prayer of Richard of Chichester is a 20th Century expansion of a prayer attributed to Richard, Bishop of Chichester, who died in 1253. It was first published in its modern form in a 1920s English hymn book. The last part of the prayer was used in the musical Godspell, written by Stephen Schwartz, developed by drama students in Pittsburgh, before being performed at an African American ‘Experimental Theater Club’ in New York, then in a mainstream New York Theater and then worldwide.
Thanks be to you, dear Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits you have given me,
for all the pains and insults you have borne for me.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother,
may I see you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
follow you more nearly,
day by day.
Hymns and Songs
Looking to see Jesus with us always was more part of older hymns than it is part of modern songs. Too many modern songs draw our attention only to Jesus’ death and resurrection and then to his second coming. They omit Jesus’ presence in the great time between the resurrection and second coming, the time in which we live now.
‘Be Thou my vision’ was written in Ireland in the 6th Century and has been used by Irish monks for centuries. In the early 20th Century it was translated into English and has been much sung since.
We sing to God with us and in us, who we want to be ‘our vision,’ someone we see, and ‘first in our heart.’ We use the familiar word of address ‘thou,’ for talking to close family members and friends, not to people we meet on the street and certainly not to Lords and Kings. Although God is Lord he is also Father, or Abba, Dad, as Jesus called him.
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father and I, Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my whole armour, Thou my true might
Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart;
High king of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
Many hymns were written in the 19th Century, with notable ones celebrating Jesus with us always.
The second verse of ‘Alleluia, sing to Jesus’ is:
Alleluia! Not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now.
Alleluia! He is near us;
faith believes, nor questions how.
Tho’ the cloud from sight received Him
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?
‘O Jesus I have promised’ is mostly about Jesus with us now. Here is a slightly altered version:
O Jesus, I have promised
To see Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me,
My Brother and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
if Thou wilt be my Guide.
Oh, let me feel Thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.
Oh, let me hear Thee speaking,
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
Oh, speak to reassure me,
To hasten, or control;
Oh, speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.
‘In heavenly love abiding’ draws much from Psalm 23, The LORD is my shepherd. Verse 2 is
Wherever He may guide me,
No want shall turn me back;
My shepherd is beside me,
And nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waketh,
His sight is never dim;
He knows the way He taketh,
And I will walk with Him.
‘Abide with me’ is a classic hymn much loved in Britain and sung at the English Football Association Cup Final. We ask Jesus to be with us, stay with us, through life and through death:
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus…’ is a little chorus loved by many for many years, originally part of a song written in 1922 by Helen Howarth Lemmel. The song calls us to look full in Jesus’ face. Yet, when most people look, they don’t see Jesus’ face. Some see an unbearably bright light coming from Jesus’ face, as John saw in the vision he described at the beginning of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Some know in their heart that Jesus is smiling, although they don’t actually see his lips. A few do see his face.
On the day Jesus walked out of his tomb, he came into the room where his disciples were sheltering and showed them his hands and his side. (John 20:20) John does not describe Jesus showing his face. Today too most people can see Jesus’ hands, rather than his face, when they look with the eyes of their heart. They still know Jesus is happy about what his Father has done in rescuing the world through him and invites us to share his joy.
An updated version of the song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look out for his wonderful hands.
He will speak his peace
He will show his wounds
And rejoice in his marvellous Dad.
The chorus of ‘I serve a risen saviour’ has also been more well-known than the verses:
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart
A few modern songs also help us to look to see Jesus with us now. We commend Waymaker and Jesus name above all names in explaining How to see Jesus with us
Brenton Brown wrote:
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You
We turn to You
Hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You
We long for You
When we see You
We find strength to face the day
In Your presence all our fears
Are washed away, washed away
Kalley Heiligenthal sings:
‘Where are You when the wildfire is taking ground?
Where are You when the wind comes and knocks us down?
Where are You when the waters rise and it looks like we’re gonna drown?
Where are You now? Where are You now?
Where are You in the questions, the in-between?
And where are You in the waiting and the unseen?
Where are You in the aftermath surrounded by debris?
Where are You now? Where are You now?
Right in the middle of it, right in the middle of it
That’s where You’ll be found
Right in the middle of it, deep in the center of it
That’s where You are now
You’ll be right in the middle
You’ll be right in the middle
You are there on the front lines and the retreat
You are there in the chaos and in the peace
You are there in the victory and You hold us in defeat
That’s where You are, that’s where You are.
Sure in the storm
Fixed in the flood
Oh, you will never run
That’s who You are
There through it all
Our God is here with us [8]
Chris Tomlin’s song ‘Forever’ has been sung by thousands, with the chorus:
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is strong
Forever God is with us
Forever [9]
The English folk singer Sydney Carter is famous for two Christian songs, ‘Lord of the Dance,’ and ‘One More Step.’
Dance, then wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance said he,
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance said he…
And it’s from the old I travel to the new.
Keep me traveling along with you…
[1] The Work of The People | Film | Look at Jesus
[2] Carol Wimber John Wimber: The Way It Was Hodder and Stoughton 1999 p86
[3] Greg Boyd Present Perfect Zondervan 2010 p35,36
[4] Job 36:33 New American Standard Version
[5] Gergory A Boyd Present Perfect Zondervan 2010
[6] Jeffery McClain Jones Seeing Jesus published by the author 2013
[7] Richard Foster Life With God Hodder and Stoughton 2008 pages 37, 40, 44
[8] From the album Faultlines by Kalley Heiligenthal. Written by Jason Ingram, Rita E. Springer, Kalley Heiligenthal Copyright 2019 Bethel Music Publishing
[9] Copyright 2001 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing),worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)