Gates of the City

When trying to explain about the deity of Jesus Christ I often share this little story. Years ago there used to be a TV series called “The Invisible Man.” I believe it was the original series and it goes way back to the days of “Black and White” TV –  (the dialogue is not exact verbatim, but the jest of it is correct . . .)

I remember one episode where the invisible man was injured and wandering outside somewhere that the terrain looked like that of Texas. Being injured he was needing help and came upon an old shack on a dirt road. He knocks on the door of the shack to see if anyone was there. Inside was an old man who had been drinking from an old ceramic jug of moonshine. He was pretty well toasted. Upon hearing the knock at the door of his one room shack, he stumbles as he gets up from the table and mumbles as he heads toward the door, “Who in the heck could that be?”

Opening the door, he leans to stable himself holding on to both sides of the door jam, he looks both ways and doesn’t see anyone, so he shuts the door.  Apparently, being injured, the invisible man was catching his breath and was unable to speak up quick enough and had the door shut in his face. So the invisible man knocks again before the old man get threes steps from the door.
“Huh?” says the drunk old man, “I didn’t see anyone out there?” He turns around and reopens the door. The invisible man speaks up and says “Help me, you got to help me, please.” The old man startled says “What??? Who’s there?” as he looks frantically around.  “I need your help,” says the invisible man. Frantically the drunk old man spins around and goes to the table and grabs the jug of moonshine and goes over to the basin and begins pouring it out, mumbling, “I got to stop drinkin’ this stuff.”  The invisible man came in the open door and pulls out a chair at the table, at which the drunk old man spins around with his eyes wide open as he watches his furniture moving apparently all on its on!

“Oh no! Oh no! I’ve really drunk too much this time!” he cries out.

“No, calm down. I’m really here. I’m an invisible man,” says the invisible man.

“Oh man! I’m losing my mind! Oh no!” says the old man as he stumbles to the other chair at the table and collapses with his face in his hands.

“No, I’m real . . . wait a minute,” says the invisible man as the chair he is sitting in slides a little further back from the table again, at which again the old man starling looks up again, as the invisible man gets up. As he walks across the room the old man looks at the floor as he hears the footsteps of the invisible man. Suddenly a large canister floats off the shelf and drifts back to the table accompanied by the sound of footsteps. The canister settles on the table and the chair again, seemingly on its own, slides back toward the table as the invisible man sits down. The lid floats off the canister as the old man stares in shocking disbelief.

Suddenly, there’s a puff of powder coming out of the canister and the two cupped hands come out of the canister of flower. The hands of the invisible man pat’s his face and the old man is now able to see the invisible man. Still shock and in disbelief the old man and the invisible man continue  a conversation and the episode concludes and the show ends.

But what is significant, is that the Old man got to see the invisible man, right? He was able to see all the features and expressions on the face of the invisible man right? Well . . . . .

He did get to see the expression and features of the invisible man, but he never did get to see the invisible man, he’s invisible. All the old man saw was flour. The invisible man was merely manifested in flour so the old man could see and believe him.

I Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.