Face to Face
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
John 12:9 (ESV)
I grew up in a large Southern Baptist church singing dozens of Fanny Crosby hymns. It wasn’t very hard to do since Crosby wrote over 9000 hymns, many of which remain in Protestant hymnals. Some of her more famous hymns include Blessed Assurance; To God Be the Glory; Pass Me Not, O Gently Savior; and Praise Him, Praise Him.
Fanny Crosby was just six weeks old in 1820 when she caught a cold and developed an eye inflammation. Mustard poultices were applied to both of her eyes to treat the discharges, but the procedure damaged her optic nerve and blinded her.
Crosby once said, "It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me….When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and our church sang one of Fanny Crosby’s less familiar hymns, I Shall See Him Face to Face. I didn’t recognize the hymn’s title as I scanned my worship bulletin, but I noticed Crosby’s name listed as the author on the overhead screen before the song’s lyrics were displayed. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed that we weren’t singing more traditional Easter hymns like Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Because He Lives, or Christ Arose. At least I knew the lyrics and melodies for those, but when the orchestra began playing and our choir began singing, I was totally mesmerized as I heard:
Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing;
But, O the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King!
And I shall see Him see him face to face,
And tell the story - saved by grace!
The hymn’s lyrics soared with hope and joy throughout the entire piece. I felt a tear slipping down my cheek as I considered blind Fanny Crosby seeing Jesus’s face for the first time in heaven. And not just Fanny Crosby, but also James Bruce and Pastor Reeder. What joy it must have been for them when their faith truly became sight and they actually saw Jesus face to face! What will it be like for me when my silver cord is broken and I meet him face to face (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)?
Author Paul Tautges writes, “Perhaps it was her blindness and poverty that kept Fanny Crosby acutely focused on eternal things. No doubt it was this eternal perspective that produced much of her joy. She had one hymn she kept private most of her life. She called it her “soul’s poem.” I Shall See Him Face to Face held that place of honor in Fanny Crosby’s soul.
Sunday afternoon Bruce and I hosted our annual family Easter meal. After lunch, hiding Easter eggs with Mary Clayton, and playing several rounds of Rook with Caroline and Julia, I located a wonderful version of I Shall See Him Face to Face online. I played it repeatedly the rest of the afternoon. And each time I did, there was such joy in considering the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and eternal life beyond the grave.
Jesus Christ didn’t just die. He rose from the grave. Without the resurrection of Easter Sunday, Black Friday is just another Friday. But with Jesus’ resurrection, everything changes. The resurrection is the Great Reversal. Jesus rose from the grave to give us a new birth and a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). Tim Keller writes, “Faith in the resurrection implants that hope into the root of our souls.”
All of us who are united with Christ will one day see him face to face. And we will all be telling the same story that Fanny Crosby told: saved by His grace!