“‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am He’, said Jesus, ‘And you will see the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven'”. Mark 14:62

“But I tell you the truth it is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:7

“And when I turned  I saw among the lamp stands was someone like the Son of Man…When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said ‘ Do not be afraid, I am the First One and The Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever'”.  Revelation 1: 12, 17,18

We have a crucial question that we must ask ourselves: Is Jesus Christ a figure to us?

So let me explain what I mean by a figure and why that question is so important to every aspect of our life; physical, mental and especially spiritual.  In this case I’m speaking of a figure as personage of importance.  We have many figures around us and some are non-individualistic representations of persons or people; for example, the Pope could refer to the current person in that position or the position in general.  We obviously have individual historic figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandi and Mother Teresa for examples. I could go on citing examples of different types of figures but I think you get the drift.

So why is it important for us to consider whether we are placing Jesus Christ in the category of figure, even if it’s a separate category above all the rest?  Because rarely do I ever enter into a relationship with “a figure”.  In truth, I didn’t have a relationship with the parental figure classified as my father; I had the relationship with Henry A. Huggins. I may know the name of, certain characteristics and happenings about, view the person of our President of the United States, but that really in no way shape or form would constitute a relationship.  If we carry that line of thinking further into the aspect of historical figures, it is impossible to be in a relationship with George Washington, Harriet Tubman or Plato for example.  Thus we must be certain that we don’t see Jesus Christ as simply a figure.  That we don’t categorize Jesus Christ as some, albeit great, aspect of history and/or the Son of God as simply a title, devoid of a very much alive, personally relevant to every aspect of our life, real, individual Being?

Now as it applies to being in a relationship with Jesus Christ, our very nature causes challenges there as well.  For one, we are not God come to earth as Jesus Christ was.  We were created by God, who then breathed His breath of life into us.  Being created of this earth makes us corporeal in nature.  That is we tend to experience things through the physicality of our human senses versus the revelations of our spirit.  In fact there would be some who would discount that there is even such a thing as a “spirit”.  Yet it is in fact that spiritual realm where we encounter the Living Risen Jesus Christ.  That is not to say that Jesus Christ has no power over, or impact on the physical world, He most certainly does.  Yet His ability to be present with us in all circumstances and at all times is based on His ability as spiritual being.  As I type this please understand, it is not like I completely understand the Spiritual aspect and working of Christ for it is far above my ability to comprehend.

Also, besides the spiritual aspect of being in relationship with Christ, another challenge that we have is that we are time-linear beings.  That is to say we see things in a progression of time, there was something that happened, there is something happening now, and there will be something that happens later; the past, present and future.  John, tells us that Christ existed from the beginning.  However, we see the physical person of Christ as being a person who lived on this earth for approximately 33 years, some roughly two thousand years ago.  Because Christ became corporeal, we have challenges not relegating His existence to the time He was here on earth.

One additional challenge we have currently is also how we’re redefining our concepts of relationships.  With social media I can have “friends” who, I’ve not only never physically met, but who I only have contact with based upon the scantest and highly filtered information they allow to be “posted”.  Based on 147 characters, I have thousands of “followers” who can’t really have a clear idea of what they’re “following” based on barely enough input to build two sentences; let alone a developed dossier.

So Jesus Christ wanted, then for His disciples and followers, as well as for us today and all who will come to Him in the future, to truly understand, He is alive.  He was very clear to both those who believed and loved Him as well as those who rejected and hatted Him, that no matter what the earthly outcome of His life seemed to be, i.e. the crucifixion, that He was going to continue to live and not just live, but sit at the right hand of His Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ tried to make clear to His disciples that His returning to heaven was a blessing to them for He would then send the Holy Spirit to them to make all things clear.  We see how loving Jesus Christ continues to be in His loving comfort to John in the Revelation.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, Jesus Christ is not only very much alive, in every sense of the word, this very moment; He also wants to have a living, constant, intimate relationship with you and I.  Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus wants to reveal His endless love and mercy for us, bringing salvation to us as He leads us to throne of His Father in Heaven. As Christ spoke longingly wanting to gather and protect the people of Israel like a hen does for her chicks; in the same way, Christ wants to gather and protect us, to be in a daily, deep, loving relationship with us.

To overcome the challenges we have in entering into that relationship there a several things we can so.  First, pray.  Pray diligently and constantly.  Pray with purpose to Christ, understanding no one willingly prays to someone or something that is dead.  No we pray to one whom we truly believe is alive and able to hear our petitions.  Second, study the word of Jesus Christ.  In the gospels, Jesus, blessedly gives us such wonderful insight into the unique individual that Jesus is.  This intimate knowledge of the thoughts and personality of Jesus Christ allows us a personage to grasp hold of and bond to.  Let us strive to move past any static, impersonal figure of Jesus, to be in a personal, constant, loving and relying on relationship with the real, living for now and evermore, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we are awestruck with amazement that You would send Your Son, Jesus Christ, to live, die and be raised for us and our salvation.  We’re equally amazed and thankful that Jesus Christ longs to be in a loving personal relationship with us where He reveals Your true nature.  Forgive our limitations that cause us to see Jesus Christ as some figure of the past with little relevancy to what is happening in our lives today.  Send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and teach us about the blessings of and how to come into a full relationship with Jesus Christ.  That through that relationship in Christ we might live lives that bare much fruit and bring glory and praise to Your Most Holy Name.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen