Seeing Jesus

Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

John 12:20-21

Christ draws people to Himself. The scene from which our text derives is the triumphal entry. During the excitement, some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the feast approached Philip with a straightforward request. ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ This was a simple desire, however, theirs was a broader question. Evidently, they had caught wind of what an exceptional person Jesus was. They had perhaps heard of His raising Lazarus from the dead. Along with that, they had likely heard of many of His other miracles. They had doubtless heard of His feeding of the 5,000 and of His opening of the eyes of the man who had been born blind. All these things, plus the reception He was receiving during the triumphal entry led them to the conclusion they must have a personal encounter with Him. This is still true. Once we have heard of Jesus and grasped some of the meaning of His Person, His words, and His works, we want to have a personal encounter with Him. This may bring us to place our faith in Him. What we find is that every encounter brings us to desire more of Him. To those who have seen and heard Him, He is the water of life. We cannot get enough of Him. Years after our first meeting with Him we cry, ‘We wish to see Jesus.’

Our Gracious and Loving Savior,
we rejoice that You prove Yourself to us in every way.
We praise You that every revelation
causes us to seek You more.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning