Page 51 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

RADICAL LOVE

The desire to know Jesus intimately is the beginning of spiritual

progress, which commences here on earth but ends in eternity when we
will see Him face to face.

Watchman Nee wrote these words in his commentary:

“If a believer has not the reality of a questing spirit created within him

by the Holy Spirit—this dissatisfaction with the ordinary and this

ardent pursuit of love’s full end—then it is utterly impossible to attain
to any intimate relationship with the Lord.”

The kiss mentioned in verse 2 is not the same kiss received by the
prodigal son upon his return home, which was the kiss of forgiveness;

nor indeed like the kiss of Judas on Jesus’ cheek, or Mary on His feet.
This is about the believer entreating to be given kisses from the mouth

of the Lord—a metaphor expressing a deep longing for a life of close

relationship with Jesus.

In a commentary by George Burrowes, it is written:

“In the East, the kiss was impressed upon the mouth, the hands, the

feet, the garments, and even the ground where the feet had trodden—
the difference being caused by the level of intimacy between the

individuals.
Permission to kiss the hand of a sovereign is an honour, but to receive

a kiss on the mouth from such a one is to declare and give evidence of
the most tender of affections.

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