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21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:21-24)

Why wouldn’t Jesus disclose Himself to all the world? Why does He only disclose Himself to those who love Him? “If I am not a believer, would Jesus disclose Himself to me?” “If Jesus shows Himself to me, I will believe in Him.”

There are two dimensions to the answer. First, this is a generalization. In fact, Jesus has shown Himself to non-believers. When Nathaniel was kind of indecisive about following Jesus, Jesus told him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” So Jesus did disclose Himself to non-believers. We are pretty sure in particular occasions, Jesus discloses Himself, but only to a certain extent.

The most import of all, here Jesus actually wanted His disciples to understand one very important lesson. If we believe in Him yet we do not really love Him, it is impossible for us to really understand Him. Disclosure has two sides. We can always see Jesus on the surface. We became Christians knowing that He is loving and He “saved” me. We may have a glimpse of who Jesus is. Going deeper, only if we love Him, follow His commandments, then we really experience Him. For when we follow Jesus’ commandments, we begin to experience Jesus fully. As we follow Jesus’ commandments, we begin to realize the possibility of failure, disappointment, or even be wronged. Strangely, we still hold the heavenly joy in our hearts. Even when we fail, we know that we have succeeded. It is not so much about succeeding the task, but a triumph in the spirit because Jesus’ will is accomplished in me.

There was a Christian who has been very successful in whatever he does for Jesus. Whatever task that comes through, he accomplishes with aplomb. Even when he underperforms, God always compensates his shortcomings. This is one way Jesus discloses Himself to this Christian man. There was this one time, he failed miserably. As he was down and out, kneeling before God to pour out his painful heart, he was enlightened by the commandments of Jesus. In his success, he began to become prideful. Nobody sees it. But Jesus showed him His commandment is to serve with humility. Obeying Jesus’ commandment is not performing a task, accomplishing an assignment. Obeying Jesus’ commandment is to serve with humility! If we cannot obey Jesus’ commandment, how could Jesus disclose Himself to us? Humility is who Jesus is. Jesus disclosed Himself right in front of this Christian, not through his naked eyes, but through his obedient heart. Abide in Jesus’ commandment is the way to be see Him intimately.