The Beauty of Jesus- Conclusion

Dear Phyllis,

In my last letter I said that was the end of our discussion of the Beauty of Jesus, and it was. But there is one more verse that is the summery of everything. In response to the question, “What is your Beloved more than any other beloved?”; the Bride of Christ attempted to explain what is so wonderful about Jesus. To do this she selected 12 features of His marvelous being, but when she got to end she summed it all up by saying, “He is all together lovely. This is my Beloved. This is my fiend” (S of S 5:16). Oh my goodness, what can be said? How in the world can you comment on that verse? She has said something that is almost out of our reach. Anything we add is simply a distraction and somewhat discolors her all-inclusive conclusion. It is with the greatest reluctance that I attempt to compose my feeble words.

What the Bride has done thus far is to say, “He is white and ruddy”. In this she set forth Jesus' two natures – He is white. This can only mean He is from heaven. This cannot be said about any son of Adam that has walked on this planet for the past six thousand years. The Bible summed it up when it declared, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Hold up the best man that ever lived and you cannot say,”He is spotless white”. This title belongs only to Jesus. He is the only begotten Son of God. And yet He is ruddy. We have noticed that this is a word that is only used four times in scripture and two times was used to describe David (1 Sam. 16:12; 17:42) In this the Bride has set forth His humanity. He is perfectly 100% human. What a verse – He is white and yet ruddy.

Then she went on to comment on His accomplishment – He is the fairest of ten thousand. He is the flag carrier. He has gone out in front and taken the field for us.

Next she told us about His head that it is like most fine gold. We have noted that most fine gold is an expression that consistently is used in the Bible to denote God. Or His thought are the thoughts of God. Oh my goodness, that is bottomless. Dig as deep as you like you can't get near summing up the thoughts of Jesus.

Then she comments on His hair that it is black and bushy. That is easy. There is no white or thinning in Jesus hair. He has not gotten past His prime. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Jesus is timeless.

After that we noticed, His eyes are as the eyes of doves. I said this is so descriptive of His nature that I started out this series first with His eyes rather than at the beginning. His eyes are as doves; in contrast to a hawk, a tiger, or any cat. What more can be said?

Then we noticed His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers. We saw that the only reference in the Bible of cheeks is in connection to smiting. If you get struck on one cheek, turn the other. And we saw in two places the gospels mention Jesus was struck on the cheeks. In speaking of Adoniram Judson, the king of Siam said, “I wasn't interested in his God, and I didn't care for his holy Book, but his wounds were irresistible”. It is the wounds of Jesus that give the greatest fragrance and are the most beautiful.

And His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling. Oh the speech of Jesus, what He has said to me; I cannot describe it, what it has meant to me.

His hands are as gold rings set in beryl. Again we have gold speaking of deity. And in Exodus we saw that gold rings were mentioned 40 times holding every thing together in the OT Tabernacle. Jesus holds everything together in His own hands. It is not our hanging on to Him, but He hangs on to us.

From there the Bride goes on to tell us that His belly is bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. We mentioned that in some cultures the belly is used to denote a persons inner most being. When Americans speak of their heart they point to their chest, but in some countries they point to their stomachs. And ivory is an expensive material that you only get by killing an elephant. The heart of Jesus was not that He came to live, but it was by His death that He accomplished His mission on earth. That is why His innermost being is as ivory overlaid with sapphires.

Next was His legs are as pillars of marble set in sockets of fine gold. We don't need to comment on pillars. That is self-explanatory. In any church, family, or organizations there are pillars that hold every thing up. And legs speak of taking a strong stand. Again we have fine gold. Jesus' stand was always for His Father.

His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. Oh the countenance of Jesus; how can you describe it? Oh the majesty! Oh His towering being! Just to look at His countenance tells you who He is.

His mouth is most sweet. Mouth is usually mentioned with words. Here I was lost and could only talk about the Word of God.

In conclusion, what can you say? He is altogether lovely. I can't add to that. Oh my goodness! Who is your Beloved? What makes Jesus different than any other founder of a religion? Jesus never founded a religion. His followers did. Jesus came to give us life. What makes Jesus different? Why are you going bugs over Him? Forget it! I can't tell you. The Bride has done her best. She has talked about 12 things. She summed it all up by saying, HE IS ALTOGETHER LOVELY. This is my Beloved. This is my friend.

Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. You are more wonderful than words. Thank You.

                                                  bill

PS: Read it. Read it for yourself, Song of Solomon 5:9-