“Lying back on Jesus’ chest was one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.”
John 13:23 (NASB)
John, the apostle, in writing his gospel and epistles, never identifies himself by name. Instead, he calls himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Some Bible scholars thought he did it out of modesty, but most agree that John wanted to be known by his affectionate posture with Jesus, which was more important to him, than his own name. To be loved by Jesus was the best thing in John’s world.
John was known for laying His head on Jesus’ chest, whenever they reclined. He wrote about love more than the other gospel writers, and wanted everyone to find their own intimate posture with Jesus as well. We cannot physically lean on Jesus today, but there is a postural image of Him, that we carry in our soul.
Our posture is how we picture ourselves in His presence, or our response to His love. The posture of our soul is like a reflection of our spiritual self esteem.
As we close our eyes and imagine ourselves in His presence, we take note of our posture. We may see ourselves laying our head on His chest, as John did, or kneeling before Him. Some might imagine lying face down on the ground in awe before Him. Whether we picture ourself standing, sitting, kneeling, or leaning on Him, our posture reflects our sense of security and intimacy with Jesus. He loves us so much that He knew we were worth dying for, and our posture is our response to His love.
Jesus not only died for our sins, but He bore all of our griefs and sorrows on the cross, as well. Isaiah wrote,
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”
(Isaiah 53:4)
Our griefs and sorrows includes all of our emotional baggage. He invites us today to cast all of our grief, pain and sorrow upon Him, because it’s what He died for and He cares for us. His yoke is easy, and He receives us with open arms, because He is the good Shepherd as well as the gentle Lamb of God. Whatever posture our soul has found, Jesus wants us to keep bringing all of our worries to Him.
While we visualize our posture with Him, we gradually lean in a little closer. Our mind is still distracted by thoughts and concerns of our day, but as we rest our head on His chest, like John did, our anxiety is being transferred from our head to His heart. We are now able to hear His heart beat, and while listening to Jesus’ heart, we find ourselves caring about the things that He cares about. He gives us His compassion, the ability to forgive and the desire to seek first His kingdom.
In this posture, we too become the disciple that Jesus loves. If we could look into His eyes, we would see how much He has loved us our whole life, wanting to gather us closer to comfort us. He lifts our burdens and gives us His peace.
While we are resting in this posture, He turns to us and says,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love, and My peace I give to you. I am with you always.”
Lord, we lay all of our mind’s anxieties upon your heart and receive the comforting peace of being your beloved disciples. Amen
