“FROM THE TIME I CAME IN …”
A. B. Parker
I think we were made aware of a challenge on Lord’s day as to whether we have the consciousness of the Lord coming to us as we are together for the Supper; whether we come together to partake of the Supper in active faith; that we believe that the Lord will come to us.
There are two sides—one is His coming, the other is our apprehension or experience of it. I have thought for a long time that the scripture read is outstandingly related to this exercise.
The Lord said to Simon, “I entered into thy house”, and then He said what Simon did not do. It may be that the Lord Jesus comes and we do not do anything in the way of deep, inward, appreciative recognition of His coming. It is a challenge as to how fully, how deeply, we get into the matter. True inward experiences at the Supper represent real, vital christianity.
We may have a clear ritual and respond to the Lord Jesus, known as God over all, blessed for ever, become Man, having accomplished the mighty work of redemption, having been raised from the dead and glorified; we may speak to Him about this; we may speak to Him of our links with Him as His brethren, and speak to Him of union; we may respond to the blessed Spirit, approach the Father, and worship God. This all can be done as understanding what is right in ritual, but we may not have the inward consciousness of the Lord having come to us or of His leadership—it is possible. I am not saying that we do not get beyond ritual. The question should be raised in each heart as to what extent we really find ourselves affected inwardly.
What is spiritual is greater than what is physical, or natural. Daniel, for instance, when, the heavenly messenger spoke to him, was without strength, he could not rise up, he needed to be strengthened; the spiritual had that effect on the physical. The apostle John, on the isle of Patmos, saw the Lord in His judicial form and attitude as He walked in the midst of the seven golden lamps, and he fell at His feet as dead. Do we have any experience, inwardly, from having to do with the Lord as having come amongst us? Flesh and blood are incapable of sustaining what is spiritual, except as the blessed Spirit helps us. He will help us to get into the spiritual realm and engage in what is spiritual as we move under the leadership of Christ.
These things are very real, and I have been much concerned that I do not experience, as deeply as I would, the inward feelings which are moved by having to do with the Lord, personally, and having to do with the Holy Spirit as, being strengthened by Him in the inner man. Hence, I often call upon the Spirit to quicken me and help me in my affections to be rightly in the meeting, because the Lord is looking for a real response from hearts really committed and devoted.
This woman at the feet of Jesus had, no doubt, come there because of a conscious, felt need. We do not come together with a bad conscience. At least, we should not do so, for provision has been made that we should not. But it is a fact that the Lord has not yet come for us, and conditions in the world, in christendom, and in our own hearts, too, need to be overcome. We certainly need to prove ourselves and so eat, being conscious of the holiness of the things in which we engage. The Spirit helps us in this. This woman may have been affected by her need and her state. I believe that the alabaster box is an indication that this was so, for as helped by the Spirit of God, no doubt, to distinguish between good and evil her appreciation of Christ, represented in the myrrh, would be protected in the alabaster box from taint or pollution from circumstances in which she had moved. Indeed, she herself was like the alabaster box. In her inward soul her love for Christ would cause her to shrink from everything which might taint that precious appreciation of the One who had come to meet her need. She washed His feet, she wiped His feet with the hair of her head, she kissed His feet and anointed them with myrrh.
The Lord, in speaking of what she had done, quickly reaches the point of His coming in. He relates it to her kisses—“She from the time I came in has not ceased kissing my feet”. I have the sense, dear brethren, that this woman, having come to Jesus because of a felt need, was changed in her feelings at the feet of Jesus. As she washed His feet she became wholly absorbed with the Person, forgetting self. The footnote says, ‘ardently kissed’. This is what we want to reach in response to Christ! Naturally, our minds are frivolous, wandering; in the midst of the most precious matters they go off at a tangent. But this woman was absolutely absorbed with the preciousness of Christ. The Lord said, “She from the time I came in has not ceased kissing my feet”. I believe it was at that time when her sense of need disappeared and Christ filled her heart. He did not refer to the time He came through Simon’s door, I am sure. It was the moment when He got full entrance into the woman’s heart. This, I believe, is how the Lord comes in. He wanted to get into Simon’s heart, too, but we have no evidence that He ever did.
It is a challenge to us as to what our feelings are as we are together. Are we prepared to give the Lord some refreshment as He comes? Does He find us engaged with thoughts of Himself? Are we on the tip-toe of expectancy? Are we alert to discern His movements in leadership?
And does what we know give place to what we feel? This is an area of things in which the Lord would help us, for the service of God, in its vital character, depends upon our discernment of how and where the Lord will lead us. It may well be that the Lord has raised the challenge with us because He is looking for greater depth of feeling and response to Himself, giving Him liberty to impart to us some fresh touch when, in union, we become one with Him in His feelings and desires, coming under His leadership in access to the Father through Him and by one Spirit.
It was just these few thoughts, dear brethren, relating to the Lord coming in amongst us, that I felt free to suggest, to encourage us to become wholly absorbed with Christ and available to Him for the service of praise. May we be helped in them for His satisfaction as well as for our own blessing.
Word in meeting for ministry, Brooklyn, N.Y.
12 November 1974