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John 18:7 NLT
Once more he asked them, ’Who are you looking for?’ And again they replied, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’
In my work over the years, I have travelled to many conferences, conventions and church gatherings, often as either a guest speaker or group facilitator. I never know when I will run into someone I’ve met before, and it is always somewhat embarrassing to arrive and recognise someone, yet be unable to place them.
Here, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ chief accuser and a crowd of ill-wishers approach him. They are coming after a man whom they know by reputation if not by sight. Judas is to betray him into their hands, yet as they come face to face with Jesus, something of his true identity breaks through and they fall to the ground.
It is so easy to forget who it is that we worship; the fact that we walk in the footsteps of the Lord of all the earth. We can become overfamiliar, blasé and almost contemptuous of the one whose very life was the price paid for our rescue. Recently, at a gathering where prayer was voluntary at the start and end of the day, I was a little shocked that individuals treated it as an optional extra.
To me, failing to gather and honour the One who has rescued us demonstrates a lack of respect. We are never to forget that enshrined within the raw humanity that Jesus chose to put on for his rescue mission is the divinity for which our hearts search and remain restless until it is found.
Whenever we approach the place of prayer, private or congregational, we are presented with the same question, ‘Who are you looking for?’ It is a provocation, helping us to consider why it is we are approaching Christ. One question in an instant brings us to our senses and awakens us to the fact that this is no mere habitual practice or a supernatural formula for grace. It is in fact a reminder that we are on our knees for no lesser truth than that we approach the Christ, our King, at his invitation.
QUESTION: Pause a moment and listen to Jesus’ question: ‘Who are you looking for?’
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, remind us of the gravity as well as the privilege of being called into the people of God.
Be Still Know READ: 1 Corinthians 4.16-17 NLT'I urge you to imitate me. That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.'The disciples learnt how […]
