04 April - I Have Seen The Lord
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”
John 20:18
I have heard some people sharing that they have seen the Lord, and some have heard the Lord speaking to them; some in their dreams, some in their visions, yet others literally with their own eyes or ears. I do not doubt them at all. Many lives are transformed or changed by such events, including the Apostle Paul. The Apostle John in John 20 described that Mary Magdalene saw the risen Lord Jesus with her own eyes and heard him speaking to her too.
Even decades after the event happened, he still remembered and has recorded this event affirmatively, and describes it in his gospel, vividly depicting a very significant and important incident in the lives of Mary Magdalene and himself. I treasure and wish that day will come where everyone can see Jesus with their own eyes or hear him with their own ears. I pray this day will come soon.
I personally have not seen Jesus with my own eyes but I have literally heard him with my own ears. This incident happened 43 years ago while praying one day and I heard him saying “My son, you are not your own, for you are bought with a price, with my blood.” At that moment, I immediately felt my whole body warming up and a sense of release and confidence came upon me. A few days later, I offered myself to the Lord’s full-time service at a Sunday service. It is now history but significant for me, indeed.
The Call of God is so simple yet so powerful. It has changed many lives, including Mary Magdalene and the Apostle Paul. It is a Call to adopting a simple lifestyle – a life which is set apart for holiness, adopting the “not my will but yours be done” mentality, constantly seeking “speak Lord for your servant is hearing” and “we are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.” This is so contrary to the world’s value of “I, me and mine first.”
The announcement of Mary Magdalene to the disciples was an announcement of the beginning of a new era – a life with the risen Christ, a life of counter-culture, a life in the Kingdom of God, a life of a true disciple of Jesus, and a life of “Jesus increasing and I decreasing.”
PONDER
Do I really want to see or hear from the Lord? Am I prepared to live a life following Jesus’ Call which is different from my present lifestyle? How can I be more Christ-like?
PROMISE
Whom the Lord calls, he will also be equipped and prepared. ‘God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?’ (Numbers 23:19)
PRAYER
Almighty God, grant us grace to accept your goodness, faithfulness to obey your Will, strength to press on towards the upward Call, love to experience your presence, and patience to hope for your appearing again; prepare our hearts to seek after your holiness, our minds your purity, and our souls your mercy. This we pray and ask in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, together with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Article by the Right Reverend Datuk Ng Moon Hing, our 4th Bishop of the Diocese of West Malaysia. Bishop Moon Hing retired on 12th November 2020, after 13 years of episcopal ministry in the Diocese of West Malaysia.