"Follow me, and in doing so, you will see the heavens open, and you will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Dear Lizzie Mae,

Charles Sailor published The Second Son, in January of 1979. Not sure how I acquired the book; perhaps picked it up for something to pass the time while traveling. It is a novel about a young construction worker, Joseph Turner, who falls 25 stories from steel girders, and survives – or perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he just came back to life. The author's characterization of Joseph's gentle heart and his unusual gifts, despite his "ordinariness," make him sound incredibly like Jesus might sound, were he walking among us, and living among us like the guy next door. I have read the book several times. It's that kind of book.

The Scriptures give us a very different picture of the return of Jesus to the earth, but imagine he simply appeared in our lives as one of our friends? The point of such a bizarre thought is that Jesus is just as human now, as he was when he appeared in the upper room after his resurrection, or along the Emmaus road, or preparing breakfast for the disciples on the shores of Galilee. His human body may have very non-human properties (at least insofar we know the human body to be), but his body still is, and will always be human!

"You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven." -- Acts 1:11

That simple reality speaks to why we were made in the Imago Dei, and to why we have dignity and purpose, and to that which gives our lives such magnificence of meaning!

He will remain human, and he will remain alive for eternity. He still lives and eats and breathes. Were he on the earth in his human form, and were he to step on the scales, the scales would register his weight in pounds and ounces - or stone, should the scales be in England.

It needs to be said that Jesus is not merely a historical figure, someone we read about in the Bible and decide to believe in - or not. There is that Jesus. The historical Jesus. He actually did live and breathe, walked among us, taught us many wonderful things, and did many signs and wonders. One cannot truly call himself a believer and doubt this.

The nub, however, is whether or not we believe that this same historical Jesus is still very much alive, more than 2000 years later. If he is, as his followers believe, alive and well, and that he is tangible and real as opposed to some preternatural ghost, then we must consider as to how he is to be engaged, if indeed, we can engage him.

We encounter the historicity of Jesus in the Bible, but that is a mere pathway to engaging the real, living, God-human Jesus of which it speaks.

I cannot deny that Jesus may speak audibly to certain believers, nor can I deny that he may physically appear to anyone he chooses. After all, He is God. He can do what He wants. But how the living Jesus comes to us is not an issue. The tangibility of his vitality motivating and mobilizing us is the relevant issue of paramount significance.

The fact that we personally engage the living Christ in our everyday lives is critical. It is, indeed, a personal, life-giving experience. And in that experience, I say experience, we can see the angels, we actually see him, and suddenly, know him who is invisible.

I know, Lizzie Mae, I know. This is something that is not news to you.

-- PDM

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