Where is Jesus now?
Dear Friends,
We’re currently having some work done on the vicarage. This happens once every five years, when the diocesan surveyor arranges for things to be fixed and put right. In a similar way, we periodically need our thinking to be tightened up and ‘put right’.
An article in The Briefing did that for me recently, with the simple title ‘Where is Jesus now?’ The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think. On the one hand, the New Testament says that Jesus is in heaven – Christians are those who “wait for [God’s] Son from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). So, Jesus is absent from us. On the other hand, the New Testament also affirms that Jesus is in and with his people – Paul can tell the Roman Christians that “Christ is in you” (Romans 8:10), and Jesus himself told his disciples, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). So, Jesus is present in and with us, as well as absent from us! Confused?
The writer, Peter Orr, helpfully points out that Jesus is absent from us because he has a body. Jesus ascended to heaven with a human body, and bodies can only be in one place. At the same time, Jesus is present with us through his Spirit. This absence/presence is more common in the New Testament than we might realise. For example, consider these words of Paul’s: “to me, to live is Christ [who is present] and to die is gain … to depart and be with Christ [who is absent]” (Philippians 1:21, 23).
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar.