Leaning on Jesus Bosom

 

By Pastor Nick Bibile

 

Joh 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 

Jesus is the center of the Bible, there is no Bible without Jesus, there is no Christianity without Jesus, there no salvation without Jesus and there is no heaven without Jesus!

 

 

Last week we saw that Christ Jesus was altogether lovely.  Not a little lovely, partly lovely but altogether lovely. Oh! When he is so lovely how can we not lean on his bosom? When we see the infinite loveliness of our Lord it is impossible for us to just wait but to lean on his bosom.

 

Leaning on his bosom is the great love the Christian have for his Lord. The world cannot understand or the fallen man cannot understand as they do not see this great salvation.     

 

Read Revelation chapter 5.

 

Here the apostle John in his old age had given this vision. God sitting on his throne and on his right hand there is a scroll or a book he is holding written inside and of the back but it is sealed. God as the Creator is designed all the decrees according to his wise counsel and now he is holding the book of God’s decrees and it is sealed where no one can open.

 

We see an angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals?” This was a cry of challenge. But there was no one under heaven or on earth who was able to open this book.  Not the wisest magicians, the astrologers, the noble prize winners of this world were not worthy, Buddha was not worthy, Mohammed was not worthy, Joseph Smith was not worthy, Watch Tower society was not worthy, all the Hindu gods were not worthy, all the Popes were not worthy yes the world made the worthy but not in the sight of God, all the saints were not worthy, no, Mary was not worthy, all the kings, the presidents, prime ministers of the world were not worthy, no not even any of the prophets of the Old Testament or any apostles of the New Testament, no not even all the angels. When John the apostle saw that there was no one under heaven and earth that was able to open this book, he wept much.

 

But one of the elders said to him, ““Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

 

Yes, he conquered the power of sin, the power of death, the power of the devil, he conquered he power of this world and met all the demands of the law. He is infinitely holy and he is the only one who is worthy to open this book. Now John was able to identify this person and he is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is portrayed as the Lamb, in humility he came to this earth and in humility he conquered the devil, sin and death.

 

Then John saw in the midst of the throne Lamb standing, as though it had been slain who was worthy to break the seals and open this book. It was Jesus our Savior and Lord was worthy to open this great book.

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The book of Revelation was revealed to John the apostle, the apostle who was leaning on Jesus bosom. The bosom is the center of your affections, passions and inmost intimate feelings. Here we see John’s love and passion for Jesus.

In the same way we see the great intimate passionate love of the Father and Son in the godhead.

Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Remember when Jesus was 12 years old, Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem in order to observe the Feast of the Passover. There were great crowds and on their return they the lost the boy Jesus. They could not find him any where and they hurriedly returned back to Jerusalem looking for him, they could not find him anywhere.

But after three days they found him at the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers of that day asking them questions and answering them and how they were amazed of his wisdom. Mary was really upset as she said, “Son why have you done this to us? Look your father and I have sought you anxiously.” On the outside it looks very obviously Jesus sinned here as he was not in subject to Joseph and Mary. And you can see the hurt and the emotions of Mary.

However when you look at more closely we see a different picture. Why did it take three days in Jerusalem for them to find Jesus? I believe any parent may look for their 12 year old child where the kids play most often, they would have been wasting their time where 12 year olds often hangout with other kids. But look at the precise answer of Jesus to Joseph and Mary.

“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” (Luke 2:49)

They were looking for him in the wrong places, he who came from the Father’s bosom always like to stay in the Father’s bosom and no wonder his love to be in the Father’s business in the temple of God.

Here we see Jesus did not sin or break the Fifth Commandment – honor your father and mother but he fulfilled the greater commandment. His Father was God the Father, he loved the Father more than his earthly parents, his heart and his passion was always leaning on the bosom of the Father, if only Mary and Joseph thought where there son would be the place where he loves, they would have gone to the temple directly without wasting their time, looking for their son in worldly places, those are not the places where their son would find pleasure but the Son is delighted lean on the bosom of the Father.

The greatest commandment is:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matt 22:37)

Jesus also said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Mat 10:37)

Let us see just a few people in the New Testament how they had a great love and a desire for Jesus.

 

Look at Mary, when she found out that she was to be the vessel where Christ was going to be born, how her soul erupted with praise to the Lord when she cried out in joy, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

 

Even at the birth of Jesus we see how the wise men from the east came to worship the new born baby. Then we see Simeon a godly man where the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he will not see death before he has seen the Lord Jesus. When the parents brought Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord we see Simeon with the greatest joy springing from his soul as he said, “Lord, now You are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, my eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:29)

Here we see even at birth how some were attracted to lean on the bosom of Jesus.

 

When you see something beautiful, and it is possible that you can get attracted to that beauty just like that our Savior lifts the corner of his veil which hides his glory and we get only a glimpse of his beauty and we are drawn immediately to his bosom.

 

"Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life be past;
Safe into the haven guide;
Oh receive my soul at last."

 

Heb 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

 

Jesus is the glory of God and how we need to desire for him and to rest our souls upon his bosom.

 

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

 

Here is a glimpse of his glory revealed to Peter, James and John.

 

How we need to be like Mary who sat at Jesus feet to absorb every word that came from his mouth. Mary’s soul was hungry for spiritual food, she wanted to just rest on the bosom of our Lord as her soul was getting filled with the precious honey and gold came from our Savior.

 

The two disciples traveling to the Emmaus were so hungry for the word as they urged him strongly, saying, and “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” When they recognized the Lord, the Lord vanished from them but they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

 

Oh yes! When you are leaning on Jesus bosom with so much affection towards him your hearts will burn with an ultimate satisfaction.  Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1 and also he is God. John 1: 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

He is called the Word because God communicates to us in his word the Bible. Jesus is not called a Word so God does not communicate to man from any other source not through the writings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam or any other religion but the Word the Holy Bible.

 

Jesus is the center of the Bible, there is no Bible without Jesus, there is no Christianity without Jesus, there no salvation without Jesus and there is no heaven without Jesus, From Genesis to Revelation on every book there is Jesus, no wonder when you read the Bible you will see Jesus and how your hearts should burn with ultimate satisfaction.

 

In the 1800’s in England a young pastor had been preaching and there was an older pastor in the church listening to his sermon, and after the young pastor had done with his sermon he went to the old minister, and said, "What do you think of my sermon?" "A very poor sermon indeed," said the old pastor. "A poor sermon?" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it." "Yes, no doubt of it." "Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?" "Oh, yes," said the old preacher, "very good indeed." "Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?" "Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon." "Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?" "Because," said he, "there was no Christ in it."

 

There are churches that look so beautiful and packed with many people, it is filled with programs but the sermons are not Christ centered.  How can you live without Christ Jesus, how can you live without thinking of him? There are days we are very busy at work and most of our time is consumed at work and school, and how we should weep as we desire for the Lord but we are consumed at work, we need to be like Mary Magdalene who was weeping as she could not find the Lord, when the angels asked her “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord.  But when the Lord appeared to her and called her by name as he said, “Mary.” Oh how she recognized the Master’s sweet voice, she at once wanted to cling to him, her soul was so thirsty without him.

 

What about you? How do you feel when you out of communication with the Lord? Do you feel like Mary?  Mary could not wait 3 days without Jesus, can you stay 3 days without the Bible as in the Bible we see Jesus?  Do you weep when you don’t have time and does your soul rejoice with gladness when you are with him, in reading the word, prayer and fellowship?

 

Why is it that there are many so called Christians have no desire for the Lord Jesus Christ? They are choked with this world; they are leaning on the bosom of this world instead of Christ Jesus. If you are one of them may be you have a religion but not a relationship with Jesus. Then you are not really born again as you are still lusting after the beauty of this world, the fallen man cannot admire Christ and will not lean on the bosom of our Savior.

 

Why is it that some have a little love for Jesus and some have a greater love for Jesus? Because some believe they are pretty good people and they did not have much sin so they are less forgiven and they love Jesus less, that’s why the good moral people did not desire for Jesus but sinners who were prostitutes, murderers, tax collectors who cheated people and poor fisherman who realized of their gross sins came to Jesus.

 

Jesus said to the righteous people of that day who thought they were not bad people as they were not sinners like others “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” (Mat 21:31)

 

We see in Luke chapter seven, a woman in the city was a sinner, she brought an alabaster flask, fragrant oil and anointed his head with oil and his feet, she was weeping and began to wash his feet with his tears, wiped them with her hair of her head, then she kissed his feet and anointed with the expensive fragrant oil.

 

Luke 7: 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he, who is forgiven little, loves little.”

 

If you only realize that how good you may be but you are as bad as the thief on the cross as you too have violated the commandments of the Lord and you have sinned against him and you too is a miserable, pitiful sinner who deserve the wrath of God, don’t you want to cling to the bosom of the Savior?

For if I were in heaven without Jesus it would be a hell to me, and if I were in hell with Jesus it would be a heaven to me. Oh, yes, this earth is all hell for the Christians but we can taste a glimpse of heaven when we read his word, the Bible.  But it is so sad that many are looking forward to go to heaven without Jesus and what a hell it’s going to be. Remember that this world is but a dream and many will wake up in reality of hell.

Many are craving for appetites of this world as they are not looking for the spiritual beauty of Christ but for the beauty of this world. The beauty without Christ is a rotten grave on a beautiful green grass.

For the Christian who is longing after the bosom of Christ we can say, “We love him because he loved us first.”  If Christ love you here on this earth how much he is going to love you when you are in heaven. If he loved us while we were sinners and enemies of God here on earth how much more will he love us when we perfect saints in glory in heaven.  We see the height of Christ love when he will present the believers to the Father as he purchased us from not from silver or gold but with his own precious blood.  When we are in heaven, there are no policemen as there is perfect peace, no need to worry of terrorists as none un-holy will be there, no doctors, nurses or hospitals as we have a heavenly glorious body without defects. We don’t need a Bible as Christ is there, we don’t need a home as he had prepared us a mansion, and there are no tears in heaven but absolute joy. We may go through hardships and trial now on his earth but meditate on heaven that’s where your citizenship, lean on the bosom of Christ and think of heaven more than this earth as Christ is in heaven.  Let us close with the following.

Revelation 7: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

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