We Would See Jesus

John 12:20-21 There were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:  The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 

         I couldn't believe what he was asking me.
         As he sat across from me, in my church office, my head swirled with confused thoughts, and every fiber in my being refused to even entertain the request he had just made of me. 
         It was 1983, and I had known him for approximately two years. He was part of our fellowship, had been part of a home Bible study I once taught, but in reality, I did not really know him. 
         Though I knew him, I did not know him very well. 
         He was one of those members of the church who was never really greatly committed, often leaving the fellowship for short periods then always returning.
          He wasn't close to me, but at the same time, he wasn't what I would call a complete stranger, either.  Now he was in my office, asking me to do something that was very hard for me to do.
         "Pastor, I got arrested, and have to appear in court next Tuesday", he said. "Would you please appear with me in court? I don't want to go alone". 
         It wasn't that I didn't want to go with him. It is true, I had a great many Pastoral tasks to perform that week, but it wasn't just that I was loaded with these matters that caused me to recoil.
          It was what he had been arrested for. 
         He had been caught in an act of physical intimacy, an act that had occurred in a public place. This obviously, was terrible. What made it more difficult was that he was caught in this particular act with another man. And now he was asking me to appear in court with him. My head reeled! How could I do what he was asking of me? 
         I felt that if I appeared with him in court that those present that day that heard the nature of his offense would immediately associate me with this particular sin. While I understood myself to be a sinner (just a guilty as any other sinner, and no better than anyone else), yet this really hit home.
         Still, I knew I must go with him. 
         He was crying out for help, and came to the one person he could trust, the one person he wanted to appear with him; the one person who had told him over and over again of God's love, of God's forgiving power, of God's ability to change a life.
         I did the only thing that I could do that day, I agreed to be there with him. 
         That following Tuesday, I went to court with him. 
         I sat there, as his friend and his Pastor, and I drove back to my office with him. I also spent the next several weeks ministering to him, doing my best to help him to see that Jesus could set him free.
         Today, there are many people crying, "Sir, we would see Jesus". 
         Let us make it our prayer to represent our loving, forgiving Savior properly. 
         Let us pray that the Lord will fill our hearts with faith for the impossible, love for the unlovely, hope for the hopeless. 
         Let us be careful to show the world Jesus.