But We See Jesus
Edited directly from the sermon transcript of Matthew Miller’s message at Highland Hills Church of Christ on October 11, 2026. Adapted for length and readability while preserving his voice and message.
Last Sunday we talked about Romans 12: life together requires us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. This is that moment. It is time for us to weep with those who weep.
The events, programs, classes, and outreach of a church are important and vital. But moments of grief show us who we truly are as a people and how we get through life together. They give those other moments a deeper meaning.
What do you say when there is nothing to be said? Sometimes the tears streaming down our cheeks communicate more than the words on our lips. Where do we turn when darkness knocks on our door and suddenly our whole world feels covered in it?
I think we go to God’s Word. Scripture gives us deep reservoirs for learning how to live in moments like these, sometimes in peculiar ways.
In our small group we have been studying Ecclesiastes. It is a difficult book for many people. We open the Bible expecting to hear how purposeful life is, and then we encounter a writer describing life as meaningless, like grasping after the wind. I think God gives us books like that for moments like this.
Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a season for everything and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die. When grief comes, it is easy to look toward heaven and cry, Why, God? How long? Where are you? We pray and sometimes feel that the only response is silence.
We can be tempted to despair, to wonder whether God is powerless or whether he cares, or to decide that nothing matters. Yet the writer of Ecclesiastes points beyond what we can see. There is a God, and he is doing something, even amid an existence that can feel painful and without meaning.
Hebrews 2 helps us see what that something is. The writer speaks of all things being placed under Jesus. Nothing has been left outside his authority. Then comes this honest admission: we do not yet see all things put under him.
That is where we live. God is sovereign, but we cannot yet see the fullness of his reign. We still experience pain and darkness. Sometimes we do not know what to say or do.
Then the next verse gives us these words: “But we see Jesus.”
God could have sent a message from heaven telling us he loves us and will take care of things. Instead, he came to us. Through the tragic beauty of the cross, Jesus shows us that the darkness does not have the final word.
We still feel grief and loss, but in Christ we do not face them alone. We grieve together. We grieve because we love and lose, but we also have hope. Jesus walks with us through the dark night and lets glimpses of his grace shine through.
Those glimpses remind us that he has come both to be with us and to do something about our suffering. Hebrews tells us that Jesus tasted death for everyone. Through his death, death itself will be swallowed up by life.
If our hope were limited to this life, Paul says we would be most to be pitied. Praise God that it is not. The glimpses of light we see now will give way to his full presence. We will be healthy and whole. There will be no more tragic accidents, wars, terrible diseases, or losses. God will wipe away our tears and draw us into his embrace.
So it is okay to weep. It is okay to mourn, to grieve, and to feel the weight of loss. We do not have to explain it away or hurry past it.
As you walk through it, know that Jesus walks right there with you.
We see Jesus. And that makes all the difference.
