Why Do You Reveal Yourself to Us and Not to the World?

Last updated on: March 6, 2017 at 12:33 pm by K. Mulhern

Why Do You Reveal Yourself to Us and Not to the World? 2017-03-06T12:33:26-07:00 K. Mulhern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We all recognize that our social media feeds these days are a frenzy of outrage, disgust, frustration, and vitriol. Christians actually seem the most frenzied. It is inconceivable, we think, that certain people resist what are obviously decent and moral policies, practices, or perspectives. Yet how lovely would it be if we could give up for Lent our outrage, disgust, frustration, and vitriol. Are we afraid that if we lay them down, we will fail Jesus somehow? that following Jesus demands righteous contempt? that we all become Zealots?

In his last hours of teaching before his death, Jesus tells his befuddled followers that “the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” (Jn. 14.21). Then Judas-not-Iscariot asks the million-dollar question: “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Is there a better question in all of the Gospels? Is not this the question that we wrestle with, in one way or another, every time we run into a disconnect between our efforts to follow Jesus and the ways of contemporary politics and culture? The disciples of Christ saw what the rest of the world could not, and their claim to vision drew down the revulsion of Jews and Greeks alike.

Jesus doesn’t reveal himself to the world any more than he chose to manifest his resurrected body to Pilate, to Herod, or the Sanhedrin. Jesus replies, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Vision is tied to love and obedience, and these result in intimacy with God, the kind of intimacy of home life—behind closed doors frumpy hair, ratty sweats, and leftovers from the back of the refrigerator intimacy.

Imagine a Lent where love and obedience to Jesus Christ took precedence over everything else.

Imagine a Lent where love and obedience to Jesus Christ were inseparable, so that loving Jesus was actually incompatible with malice toward another, with sexual immorality, with greed, with showing favoritism of any kind, with dishonesty, with lack of generosity, with contempt toward those who disagree with us.

Imagine a Lent that focused on intimacy with God by doing these things: refusing to let our hearts be troubled, believing in God, believing in Jesus, abiding in Christ’s love, loving each other, and interceding for one another.

Imagine a Lent that accepted the fact that the world does not know the Father, and the world cannot receive the Spirit. When we expect the world to reflect the holiness, the justice, and the compassion of God, we expect what cannot possibly happen. Rather, Jesus warns us, the more we pursue intimacy with God, the more the world will hate us.

Imagine a Lent where we didn’t give the world other reasons to hate us. Our very claim to vision—Jesus Christ has been revealed to us and not to the world—is reason enough.

Photo by Rosino, Flickr C.C.

Previous Post

March 2, 2017

Alternative Lenten Disciplines (Not for Everyone)

Next Post

March 30, 2017 Nearing the End of Lent

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Ascetical Theology Book Reviews Children and Parenting Easter Epiphany Friends of God Lent Life in the Spirit Ludolph Pascalian Spirituality: a series Politics Prayers Six Neo-Christian Myths Spiritual Formation Tales from My Father Trinitarian Spirituality: a series Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 January 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 April 2022 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 March 2015 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 November 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the number of the beast in Revelation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

666 777 1000 144