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Chapter 54
“Where is He?’
“Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?” (John 7:11)
Some sought to take him and kill him. Others sought to take him and make him a king. Some sought to see his miracles. Others sought to hear his doctrine. Some sought him out of curiosity. Others sought him out of need. Everyone knew that the Lord Jesus would be in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was both his custom and his duty as an Israelite to come at this time to the house of God to worship God. Therefore everyone expected him to be there. Throughout the days of the feast, there was a murmuring about him. It seems that everyone at the feast was asking one question — “Where is He?”
When Elisha took up Elijah’s mantle, he cried, “Where is the God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14). In his time of great trial, in the midst of his groaning and heaviness of heart, Job cried, “Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!” (Job 23:3)
There are appointed places where the Lord Jesus Christ may be found by those who seek him with all their hearts. If you really want to find him, there are places where he may be found.
The Question of Many
First, this is a question asked by many people, from different circumstances, and for different reasons. Our text specifically tells us that the Jews asked, “Where is He?” But this is a question that has often been asked by numerous people throughout the ages of Christianity. In the days of his manhood upon this earth, many frequently asked where he was, because they hated him and wanted to kill him.
You will remember that King Herod asked this question of the wise men, when our Savior first came into the world. He pretended that he wanted to worship him; but he really wanted to destroy him (Matthew 2:1-13).
There have been multitudes, like Herod, who sought to destroy Christ, that is to destroy his people, his Gospel, and his cause in this world, while pretending that they worship him. Opposition and persecution arises from many quarters; but it is never so dangerous as when it comes from those who pretend that they are the Lord’s disciples. The persecutions of the papists, the heresies of freewillers and work-mongers, the slanders of false brethren are all assaults upon Christ, attempts to rid the world of him and his influence. Infidels, who sneeringly denying our Lord’s very existence, taunt and deride his people, saying, “Where is He?” — “They are scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
This is a question that is sometimes asked by fearful, trembling believers. God’s saints are sometimes so overcome with trials and troubles, with heartache and grief, that they question his presence, his power, his promises, and his providence. In such times of weakness, our hearts cry, “Where is He?” Job certainly did (Job 23:8-9). So did David (Psalms 22:1). We ought never to doubt our God and Savior. He is worthy of implicit trust and confidence. But we are often like the disciples in their little boat on the storm tossed sea, crying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38).
Penitent sinners humbly seek the Lord Jesus Christ, asking, “Where is He?” that they may come to him, confess their sin to him, and obtain mercy from him. — “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek” (Psalms 27:8). — “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9).
All who trust Christ seek him with all their hearts. Believers are men and women who live in the pursuit of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9; Philippians 3:7-14). Those who love the Lord earnestly seek him (Song of Solomon 3:3). When our Beloved has withdrawn himself from us and hides his face from us because of our sinful neglect of him or disobedience to him, once we are made to bitterly lament our sin and his absence, we crave his return. Our hearts pine for communion with him. And we ache for his manifest presence with us.
Return, beloved Lord, return! My straying heart arrest! If You will make Your presence known, Then shall my soul be blessed.
And we know, we are graciously made to know, that we pine for our Beloved only because he graciously causes us to pine for him (Song of Solomon 5:2-8).
The soul that thirsts for Christ’s, longing to behold his glory, anxiously looking for his second coming, cries “Where is He?” When we hear our Savior say, “Surely I come quickly. Amen,” our hearts respond, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
“When by His grace I shall look on His face, That will be glory, yes glory, for me!”
Answered by Scripture
Second, this question, — “Where is He?” — is answered plainly in the Book of God. This is not something about which God leaves us to guess. Where is Christ to be found? If we turn to the pages of Holy Scripture to discover the answer to this question, we will find that it is answered very clearly. Do you ask, “Where is He?” Search the Scriptures, and you will discover that….
He is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). Christ is the center of heaven. Here is the glory of Glory (Revelation 4 and 5). He is the Lamb in the midst of the throne. — “Where is He?” He is seated upon the throne of universal dominion. There he sits in the serenity of total sovereignty. There he reigns and must reign, until he has made all his foes His footstool. Jesus Christ is Lord of all forever (John 17:2; Romans 14:9; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28). He is at the right hand of the majesty on high, in the place of representation and advocacy as our great High Priest (Romans 8:27, 34; 1 John 2:1-2). The Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne of grace, dispensing mercy to helpless, guilty, needy sinners. The Son of God is within the reach of needy sinners like you and me. He is a God accessible to all who seek him (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Answered by Experience
Third, this is a question that must be answered by experience. — “Where is He?”
Let me tell you what I know by the sweet experience of his grace. Are you yet without Christ? I pray that God has aroused an interest in your soul. I hope you are interested in the answer to this question, “Where is He?” If you are interested in the answer, I want to give the testimony of a needy soul who has “found him whom my soul loveth.” I have found him at the mercy-seat when, in the closet of my heart, I have cried to him in secret prayer (Isaiah 65:24). I have found him in his Word, when I have opened the Book of God seeking him (John 5:39; Luke 24:44-47). I have found him in the assemblies of his people, where he promised to meet his own (Matthew 18:20). I have found him at his table in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.
I find him in the field of service, as I have sought to do his bidding (Matthew 28:18-20). As we serve the interests of his kingdom, his people, his Gospel, and his glory, as we seek to do his will and honor his name, as we endeavor to serve the souls of men, as we try to serve our generation by the will of God, our Savior says, “I am with you always!” — And He is! He is with us in sympathy. He is with us to guide us. He is with us to strengthen us. He is with us to protect us. And he is with us to make our way prosperous and successful, according to the will of God.
I have found Him in every fiery furnace of trial, in every lion’s den of persecution, in every storm of difficulty, and in every river of woe to which I have been exposed. I have been a lot of places. I have experienced a lot of things. I have known a few troubles along the way. But I have never been in any place of need without him who is my Rock and my Salvation (Isaiah 43:1-5). I have always found the Lord Jesus Christ to be a God at hand (Philippians 4:4-7). Christ is always near us. Christ is always with us. Christ is always in us (Colossians 1:27).
A Personal Question
Fourth, I want you to make this a very personal question. “Where is He” in relation to me? Is He in you? If Christ is in you, then you are in him and in him you are worthy before God (Colossians 1:12), “counted worthy of the Kingdom of God” (2 Thessalonians 1:5). This is the issue to be settled. — Is Jesus Christ in you? Is Christ alone at the foundation of your hope, at the ground of your faith? Is he at the root of your joys? Is Jesus Christ King upon the throne of your heart? Is his presence in you manifest in your spirit, attitude, words, and actions? Is Christ before you as the goal of your life, the hope of your soul, the end of your journey, the prize of heaven toward whom you are pressing?
“Where is He?” — Our Master is always at home; but he does not always meet his family in the same room. Sometimes we meet him in the closet of prayer. At other times he meets us in the great assembly hall of his palace, the house of public worship. We meet him on his porch, beholding his wonders in morning and evening meditations. Reading the Bible, I meet him in his library. As I labor in his vineyard, I commune with him in his garden. When my heart is lively and filled with hopeful expectation, he walks with me on the housetop. When my spirits sink, he meets me in the cellar, takes me by the hand, and leads me up the stairs. Every room in his house is good. Wherever he meets me, I rejoice. But the best room in the house is that in which he spreads his Table before me and makes himself to be Bread and Wine to my soul, “a feast of fat things” (Isaiah 25:6) to my soul! Let it be the ever increasing desire of our hearts, while we live in this world, to find him and live upon him and walk with him!
Don Fortner
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Pastor Fortner’s
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