Hi
Have you ever thought about your response to Jesus if you were to meet Him in the flesh back in the day? Perhaps we would welcome Him with open arms or tried to touch His clothing in a quest for healing. But what would we say if Jesus actually spoke to us? That’s what we ruminate on with today’s Holy Nougat
“Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”” John 1:38 NLT
I can’t speak for others, but I strongly doubt that my initial response would have been to ask Jesus where He was staying. On one hand, I’m tempted to wonder what exactly those potential disciples were thinking. On the other, I realize there were multiple positive implications resulting from such a question.
Here are a few
1) Perhaps they wished to offer Him hospitality themselves (remember the Hebrew writer suggests that we might be entertaining angels when we are hospitable to strangers 13:2))
2) Maybe they needed to know where to find Him so that they could direct someone to Jesus at the right time
3) Or maybe they desired direct/ongoing access to Jesus without the crowds pressing in (Nicodemus style)
However, considering their reference to Jesus as Teacher, one surmises that they were declaring their alliance to Him and perhaps preparing to be discipled by Jesus at His place of abode.
And so the question reverts once again to each of us individually – what would we SAY to Jesus were He asking us what we seek; and WHY would we wish to know where Jesus resides? Hopefully the residence issue is redundant as Jesus lives in our hearts; so we wouldn’t need to seek Him out.
But, may it be that we are very clear on our petitions – whether for ourselves or others. That being said, let’s take our requests to Jesus right now …
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
