The face of Christ

What did the Lord Jesus look like? He came to earth to reflect to human sight and understanding something of the glory of God His Father. Clearly, the first part of the body you look at in order to glean something of a person’s inner nature is his or her face.

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6: "For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

This says a great deal, but it is not a photograph or even a painting. It does nothing to describe the facial features of our Saviour. Everybody is reassured by being able to see a face. Of course, faces can be misleading. I have known people whose features are wrinkled into a permanent frown but who are actually pleasant, gentle people.

But at least they give some clues. We may envy the disciples and many others who saw Jesus face to face. To my knowledge there are no contemporary portraits, unfortunately, that can show us the expression on God's human face. Yet even though the Lord Jesus has gone into heaven, we can by God's Spirit experience that face as though He were standing in front of us.

That face must have been expressive. I think of that time when mothers brought their children to Jesus and the disciples, well-meaning, tried to stop them. He said, "Let the little children come to me." You can imagine the kindly concern in His eyes at that point, taking note of young lives which were being ignored by the majority of adults around. Was there a flicker of annoyance and impatience in Jesus’ reaction at His followers’ misguided sense of what was the right thing to do?

Then many have spent devotional hours contemplating the face of the crucified One. It speaks of exhaustion, pain, resignation. Yet there is still supreme love there, and supreme concern. Jesus on the cross found it in Himself to commend His mother into the care of John.

I also dwell sometimes on the accounts of eye-contact between Jesus and those He is dealing with. One such incident is where the rich young ruler comes to Jesus to ask a question about eternal life. Jesus, looking at him, loved him. A look of encouragement, perhaps, seeking to draw forth every ounce of potential from the young man. Sadly, riches got in the way and the man could not commit himself. Not every look from Jesus melted stony hearts! But that look was important enough to get a mention in the Bible.

Also recorded in the Bible is that moment of great pathos when Peter denies Jesus and Jesus turns and looks at Peter. A painful moment, where Peter is marked out – for condemnation, it seems at first, but ultimately for recovery and leadership.

But there are dangers in attempting a portrayal of the Saviour. Early in the Ten Commandments comes the instruction that we should not make any graven image. With the coming of God in human form, the temptation to produce artistic representations increased. Sadly, ignorant people have worshipped these impressions, which often only reflect human prejudice. Pictures of Jesus in Victorian Sunday schools look very fair-haired and Anglo-Saxon featured. Then in Africa, you get a black Jesus, and in China, an Oriental one.

How may I best respond to the fact that in Jesus God had a human face? Surely by remembering that God didn’t just come to earth, He came to relate even to me.

I sometimes think about the cross,

and shut my eyes and try to see

the cruel nails and crown of thorns

and Jesus crucified ... for me.

Each mood and experience of my life calls forth an expression on His face. If I am loving, He is tender. If I am angry, He is pained. If I am hurt, He is sympathetic. If I am perplexed and overwhelmed, He is concerned. If I backslide, He is both sorrowing and anxious at the same time.

How glad I am that He is responsive and not distant! Somebody once talked about a colleague who had installed a hands-free speakerphone. You didn't have to lift the receiver to speak to the person on the other end. You could talk from anywhere in the room. But it sounded distant and detached.

"It was as though he was doing six other things at the same time as listening to me," my friend commented.

Jesus, Son of Man, looks and speaks straight at you, concentrating on you as though you were the only one there is.

Not really retiring

Rather sooner than planned, I have come to the conclusion that my time as Pastor at Bethany Evangelical Church has run its course. Over time, as a pastor of longer standing, you learn to read the signs in a way that a younger man might not. Others may counsel, “Hang in there, you can never tell what might develop,” but somehow you just know when you’re on a hiding to nothing and you learn to move on graciously. Failing any unexpected offers, early retirement now beckons for me, but not the end of worship and service.

On the surface it might seem as if retirement is a cut-off point where the routine of daily toil is let go of with a sigh of relief. I am studying Spanish while preparing for my brief stay in Spain with the Spanish Gospel Mission. In that language, the word for “retirement” looks like “jubilation”!

Whether a Spaniard would expect me to punch the air and dance for joy as soon as I wake up as a gentleman of leisure on the first of October, I don’t know. But surely every day is a cause of rejoicing in God, whether you’re retired or not. A friend who was later a missionary in China mentioned how each morning – whether that day was routine or special – she would exclaim on waking, “Praise the Lord!”

I thought how much more likely I was to awake with a groan instead. But my friend was surely right.

This is the day the Lord has made,

He calls the hours His own;

let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,

and praise surround His throne.

Today He rose and left the dead,

and Satan’s empire fell;

today the saints His triumph spread,

and all His wonders tell.

Isaac Watts

Rejoicing – but retiring? An elderly Welsh preacher once shook my hand after a service and commented for no apparent reason, “You never retire in this business”. The apostle Paul would have agreed. He was daily driven by an inner compulsion to preach Christ, to travel for Christ, to serve Christ. He remarked in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (ESV).

In some such way, I hope to find continuing fields of service. I shall bring to any new venture something I could not have done without my time at Bethany. In each fresh place I have always built on experience gained in the last. I am grateful to Bethany for furnishing me with a fund of experience over these two short years – some of it puzzling and challenging, some heartwarming and inspiring. May I be a good learner.

All I ask is that wherever I go I shall find others who are equally keen to learn. I’ve always sought to have those around me who are true learners, because that’s what Jesus did. Learners are known in the Bible as “disciples”. They would literally follow a teacher, picking up the verbal pearls of wisdom he dropped as he walked along the road. They would share his life and observe his manner of living as well as listen to his words. Followers of Jesus Christ, God incarnate on earth, could confidently expect inspired teaching and a perfect example. Some would drop out, not finding whatever it was they were after when they joined. Others would take their place. But always there would be a nucleus whom Jesus worked with particularly. He had plans for them: they would have the privilege of forming God’s new people to continue His work on earth and proclaim His resurrection and the salvation He offers.

Churches have in their midst people at all stages on the journey. Some are fringe people, some church attenders, some believers. But still today the Lord Jesus loves best to see disciples. Still today those are the ones that He can do the most with. Are you a disciple? It is a lifelong calling. God grant I shall never style myself Timothy Demore, disciple (retired).