It Is We Who Keep Our Distance

In my last post, I talked about those “without Christ.”

And what I mean by that is, those who do not yet know Christ.

Because Christ came for all:

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:9).

“I have come as Light into into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). 

And He died for all:

“and He died for all, so that they who might live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

But the reception to Him is not always one of acceptance. Not everyone wants what Jesus has to offer; not everyone submits to their need for him. 

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37–also in Luke 13:34).

“And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in His hometown and in His own household. And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:57-58).

“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His Word abiding in you, for you do not believe in Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” (John 5:37-44).

Jesus lamented over those who “would not.”

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

“…He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘if you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41b-42).

But Jesus is not far from each one of us:

“So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:22-31).

Jesus is not far from each one of us; it is we who keep our distance.

Copyright Barb Harwood

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11