In a prayer for protection and deliverance from enemies who trusted in material possessions David wrote, As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.(Psalms 17:15 NASU) There is no greater need for the creature than to know his Creator. There is no greater comfort for the creature than to see the Creator. There is no greater joy for the “loved” than to know the “One Who Is Love and Loves”.
I suppose that the best-spent-life is that life which is spent in one continuous attempt to know God. The prophet Isaiah wrote, The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you." (Isaiah 35:1-4 NASU) Isaiah knew that the recipe for encouraging the exhausted, strengthening the feeble, and calming the anxious was to help them see the glory of God more clearly.
Isaiah 30:19-21 tells us that God will hear our cry and teach us, O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it.” (NASU)
The prophet Zechariah correctly predicted how we can recognize the One who would one day more clearly reveal God, I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:8-9 NASU) Matthew 21 and John 12 confirm that Zechariah knew the joy of getting a glimpse of God. Zechariah knew that his King was coming!
I suspect that Pilate did not know the truth or significance of his own words in John 19:13-15, Pilate brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" So they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." (NASU)
Surely the chief priests did not know the eternally fatal nature of their words either. Pilate, the chief priests, you, and I are all faced with a choice. Will we strive to discover the truth about Christ? Will we make every attempt to see Him as He is? Will we choose to see and hear when He reveals Himself? As Pilate would soon demonstrate, Christ the King is best beheld on the Cross.
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