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1 John 1:1: What our hands have handled.
We often think fondly of how wonderful it would have been to be alive in Palestine when Jesus was around. We wouldn't have to believe on the testimony of anyone else. We could have seen all those miracles with our own eyes. We wouldn't have to hear about people handling Jesus; we could have touched Him with our own hands. We could have sat with Him at a meal.
Being there was no a guarantee of being a disciple. Many people saw the miracles, and either denied them or found some alternative explanation for them or hated Jesus for them. Many people touched Jesus only to lay hands on Him to arrest and kill Him. Had we been there, we might well have been in the crowd clamoring to lynch Him.
More importantly, Jesus told His disciples that it was good for them that He was going away. When I leave, He said, I will send my Spirit to be with you, and because the Spirit will be with you, you will do greater things that I have done. We might think it would be better to have been there then, but in fact it's better for us to be here now. Jesus said so.
And despite appearances, we have an even more intimate connection with Jesus than did the disciples prior to His ascension and Pentecost. They heard Him speak, but often misunderstood what He said; though we also get things wrong, we have the Spirit to lead us into all truth. They touched Him with their hands, but He didn't dwell in them through His Spirit; He does now. They could eat with Him at His table, but we actually receive Him, but they didn't feed on Him, so that He became bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. But we do: We receive His body and blood at this table.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, September 24, 2006 at 08:12 AM
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