Personal Friendships of JesusMiller, J. R. (James Russell)
Philosophy
Personal Friendships of Jesus
Miller, J. R. (James Russell)
Jesus Christ -- Friends and associates
Jesus, however, after his return from the grave, was a man beyond
death. He was the same person who had lived and died, and yet he was
changed. He appeared and disappeared at will. He entered rooms
through closed and barred doors. At last his body ascended from the
earth, and passed up to heaven, subject no longer to the laws of
gravitation. We see in Jesus, therefore, during the forty days, one
who has passed into what we call the other life. What he was then his
people will be when they have emerged from death with their spiritual
bodies, for he was the first-fruits of them that are asleep.
As we study Jesus in the story of those days, we are surprised to see
how little he was changed. Death had left no strange marks upon him.
Nothing beautiful in his life had been lost in the grave. He came back
from the shadows as human as he was before he entered the valley.
Dying had robbed him of no human tenderness, no gentle grace of
disposition, no charm of manner. As we watch him in his intercourse
with his disciples, we recognize the familiar traits which belonged to
his personality during the three years of his active ministry.
We may rightly infer that in our new life we shall be as little changed
as Jesus was. We shall lose our sin, our frailties and infirmities,
all our blemishes and faults. The long-hindered and hampered powers of
our being shall be liberated. Hidden beauties shall shine out in our
character, as developed pictures in the photographer's sensitized
plate. There will be great changes in us in these and other regards,
but our personality will be the same. Jesus was easily recognized by
his friends; so shall we be by those who have known us. Whatever is
beautiful and good in us here,--the fruits of spiritual conquest, the
lessons learned in earth's experiences, the impressions made upon us by
the Word of God, the silver and golden threads woven in our life-web by
pure friendships, the effects of sorrow upon us, the work wrought in us
by the Holy Spirit,--all this shall appear in our new life. We shall
have incorruptible, spiritual, and glorious bodies, no longer mortal
and subject to the limitations of matter; death will rob us of nothing
that is worthy and true, and fit for the blessed life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account