Seeing Jesus: Why Prose Isn't Enough
All through the Old Testament, whenever there was but a glimpse of the Messiah to come, Israel’s groom and King of all the kings, the writer would break out in poetry -in song.
See in Isaiah 40:1-2
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed;
her iniquity has been pardoned.
For she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.”
Jerusalem receiving double from her King! Woah -one to pardon her sins, and the second to go way beyond in abundant blessings!
Verse 3.
“A voice of one calling:
“Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
make a straight highway for our God in the desert…”
Why prepare a highway? Your God is coming! The Messiah, King and groom, is coming!
See Moses final sermon and blessing in Deuteronomy 33:29
“Blessed are you, O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?
He is the shield that protects you,
the sword in which you boast.”
When we glimpse Jesus, who is “the visible image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), prose doesn’t cut it. It’s not enough for the artist’s expression -it doesn’t go deep or high enough. The writer needs a form of expression that accesses a reach that’s somehow beyond them -beyond their comprehension, beyond their knowledge, beyond their own experience.
If the Old Testament saints and prophets broke out into song at a mere glimpse of the glory of the Messiah, how much more should we, who have a fuller, richer panorama? We, who can mine the treasure of the gospel stories. We, who can unfurl the stories of history tracking the sovereignty of God -can start to see The Story, behind all stories. The greatest love story -behind all love stories:
The King came disguised as a beggar, seeking and wooing his beloved outcast bride. Though she rejected and despised him, he purchased her redemption from slavery by taking her place. Suddenly her deceit and enchantment were lifted. Her eyes opened wide in wonder then closed tight amid tears of embarrassment to see her resurrected groom, the King, kneeling in the dirt, gently washing the mud off her feet.
To live a life that overflows in song, we need to live immersed in The Story. To be “storied” by The Story (Jared C. Wilson), animated by “Awed, grateful love,” (Tim Keller). Let us fix our eyes and our hearts and our contemplation on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.