Meditations from Zion

John 12:36b
When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

I couldn’t help but wonder what this hiding would look like. It certainly wasn’t “hide and seek.” It’s not like he hid behind a column and peeked out to make sure no one saw him before he bolted out the back door. And where were the disciples? Did he say, “I’ll meet you back at the ranch,” and then disappeared from them as well? Why did John even bother to mention this small fact?

The basics are that Jesus walked away and once he had entered the crowd, he became unnoticeable. His appearance was ordinary. He could melt into a crowd. He was there but no one recognized him.

When I was younger in my faith, I used to pray that Jesus would manifest before me. I wanted a supernatural vision so I could ask Him, “What is it exactly you want me to do? Speak plainly.” I sounded just like the people in the temple. And what did I expect his manifestation would look like: white robe and sandals?

We do not see Jesus because we have created our own mental model of what it means to see Jesus.

In His days of walking on the earth, He walked among the poor, destitute, and blatantly sinful. Isn’t it logical that He would do the same today? In Matthew 18:20, Jesus is quoted as saying, “…where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” And in Matthew 28:20, He is quoted again as saying, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus is here now. Look!