BUT DO YOU KNOW
HIM?
Some of us reading these words have been followers of Jesus for a long time. Some of us, perhaps, are new in this walk of faith. But there is one thing we all have in common, if we're honest…
We know Jesus….and at the same time we don't know him.
We worship him.
We call on his name.
We drink in his words.
And yet,
There is a part of us that keeps whispering, "Do you really believe that stuff?
If you really believed that Jesus is who you profess to believe he is, how come your life is so dull?
How come you're not on fire with love for him?
How come your witness is so timid?
If you really knew him, wouldn't you be spreading some fire out there?"
The disciples had been hanging around Jesus for three-and-a-half years. And every time they thought they had him figured out, he shocked and disappointed them.
Until the big disappointment: they saw him die.
So who was he? Did we waste years of our lives following this man?
Then comes word that he's alive.
Yeah, right!
As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself…"
Luke
24:36-39a
Okay….did that really happen? Did it?
How do you know?
Today everybody has an opinion about Jesus.
Did he really exist?
Did he really heal the sick?
Did he actually remain celibate --- or was there something going on with Mary Magdalene?
Well yes, he was crucified. They say it's a historical fact. But did he rise from the dead?? How do you know?
How can we know? That's what they tell us. That's what the Bible says. That's what the preachers claim. But how can we know that Jesus rose from the dead?
You can read all the history books that were ever written, and you'll still never know.
You can go on the internet and investigate all the theories --- and you'll still never know.
You can become a biblical archeologist and dig through to China --- and you still won't know.
The only way you will ever know whether Jesus is alive from the dead is if you meet him yourself.
To know him. Not just to know things about him, but to know him.
Not to try to figure him out, but to know him.
I've been married to Jean for 55 years, and still haven't figured her out.
But I know her…and I know that she knows me….and that's what matters.
Once you know Jesus, and know that he knows you, all other issues begin to take care of themselves. You can't figure him out. But you can know him.
The disciples are gathered in a room with the door shut. One of them, Peter, says that he has seen Jesus alive from the dead. The others are trying their best to take Peter at his word. Two more followers come bursting in. They've seen him!
"Yes, but how come we haven't seen him?"
Suddenly Jesus is standing in the room. How did he get in here? They're scared to death. They think they're looking at a ghost.
"What's the problem?" says Jesus. "Handle me. Touch me. A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Here, give me something to eat."
Jesus begins to open their
minds to understand scripture. He gives
them their marching orders; instructs them to wait in
Now it's no longer second-hand knowledge. They know him first hand, alive from the dead. This changes everything…opens their eyes…sets them on fire.
There are a thousand ways in which God can work this same miracle in your life and mine. And sustain it, keep it fresh. So that we know Jesus alive from the dead --- not things about him, but Jesus himself.
What those men saw that night was not an idea, it was a person. It was God's special revelation to them. And just as surely as they saw something, heard something, felt something that connected them directly to Jesus --- alive, God has a direct revelation for each of us.
Of course, God has to do it. We cannot make it happen. But God will do it. He will open a window of revelation in whatever way he chooses for each of us --- when the window of our soul is open; when we make ourselves available.
At that time Jesus declared, "I thank
thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from
the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such
was thy gracious will. All things have
been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows
the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew
11:25-30
In other words, "Draw near to me, and I will reveal myself to you. Get under my yoke, walk at my side and get to know me. Loosen your grip on all your favorite doctrines --- the when and how of the "Rapture," the proper way to baptize…healing…tongues…and every other issue that distracts you from knowing me. Just get to know me."
But this is the very thing that so few people are doing.
They go to church.
They cling to their favorite doctrine.
They grab hold of this "blessing" and that "blessing."
Decent folks.
Lovely people.
And if you ask them, "Do you believe in Jesus?" they're offended.
"What do you mean? Of course I believe in Jesus!"
But do we know him? Like we know our spouse, our child, our best friend? Are we connected to him?
He (she) who abides in me and I in him, he it
is that bears much fruit. For apart from
me you can do nothing.
If you abide in me
and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and
it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
A personal connection. A living connection. "Christ in you, the hope of
glory."
So how do we draw near to Jesus and get under his yoke, so that he can reveal himself to us—like he revealed himself to those disciples? "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden"……how do we do that?
Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Maybe you were a teenager. Perhaps even younger. There was this person that you really, really liked. You were in love, though the object of your love had no idea. What did you do? You went to wherever you knew they would be. You waited. You watched. You listened. Maybe you got lucky and this person actually noticed you. Talked with you. What a thrill!
Likewise, if you want to meet Jesus alive from the dead, you go where you know he's going to be. You go there and keep your eyes open. If he doesn't show up the first day, you go back the next. And you keep going back to that place until he shows up. Until he speaks a word that you know is spoken directly to you.
So where is this place where the risen Lord Jesus is sure to show up? There are actually four places where you can be certain to meet the Lord Jesus alive from the dead. But you have to go there and keep going, until it happens. And then you keep going there so it keeps happening.
"Come to me….and I will give you rest.
Get under my yoke….and I'll show you how to
live the new life."
The first place where you will meet the risen Lord Jesus is in his Word. Go to the words of Jesus which have been preserved to us, and start listening. His words are like no other words ever spoken on this earth. He lives in those words. His Spirit hovers over those words. When you listen to them,
when you take them into your heart,
when you apply them to your daily life,
you are in his presence.
"He who has my commandments and keeps
them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
You will meet Jesus in his word. Just keep going there, until that word comes alive and starts burning in your heart to the point that it controls your actions. Nobody can do this for you. You have to do it.
The second place where you will meet Jesus is by taking time to hold still and wait for him. Most of the time we're so distracted we couldn't hear him if he spoke right into our ear. Remember how our Lord himself always took time to be alone with the Father.
After he heals the sick, he's off by himself in a lonely place, to wait on the Father and be replenished.
After he feeds the multitude, he dismisses the crowed and goes up into the hills by himself to be alone with the Father.
Before he picks the twelve, he spends the night alone with the Father.
Likewise, when you go off into a room and shut the door and hold still, and wait for him in silence, a wonderful thing begins to happen. All the noise and clatter and dust and smoke begins to clear. Before you is an open door --- the door to God's World. Inside that door stands the Lord Jesus himself. And now his word begins to make sense.
"Come to me. You're stressed out. You're weighed down. I'm going to give you rest.
Don't be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Don't be trying to
figure out how to survive. I'm your
survival. Walk with me."
Now you're starting to get to know him --- in the silence.
The third place where you will meet Jesus alive from the dead is in the Body, the fellowship. Over here we have the people who are trying to do the "Me and Jesus" thing. "I don't need anybody else. I don't need all those churchy hypocrites! It's just me and Jesus!"
Yeah? What kind of Jesus?
When you're joined to the real Jesus, you are joined to his Body on earth, whether you like it or not. Your are joined to the other believers. You will never grow in faith until you learn to fit in with these other struggling saints.
Don't just go to church and sit there. Join your heart to these people. Commit to them in Jesus' name. In that fellowship is where he teaches us patience….where he teaches us to forgive…..how to love.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another."
We can't love one another in a vacuum. If you are not presently committed to serving the Master in a specific fellowship, ask him to guide you to where he wants you to be. The issue is not, "Am I being fed? Am I comfortable among these people?" The issue is, "Lord where do you want me to fit in?" If you are open to his guidance, he will guide you.
The fourth place where you will meet the risen Lord --- the place missed by so many doctrinally-sound, "sanitary" believers --- is in Lazarus who is at your gate. That beggar covered with sores. That needy man or woman or child who comes stumbling across your path. Wherever there is a lonely soul, wherever there is a needy soul, a forgotten soul, the Lord Jesus is right there. And he's waiting for us to join him, so that together we can do something for this person, give them some hope, stick with them in their struggle.
Maybe it's your cousin.
Maybe it's your grouchy neighbor.
A hungry family in
And old woman in a nursing home.
Go there. The risen Lord is waiting to meet you there. If you want to know Jesus, get to know Lazarus!
God help us to see that you can be doctrinally sound, and yet totally dead. You can have great spiritual knowledge, and be inwardly dry as a bone. You can speak with the tongues of men and angels, and be hollow inside. We are alive with the life of God only when we know the risen Lord, and keep walking with him.
As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among
them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you
troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands
and my feet, that it is I myself…"
The Lord Jesus decides how and when he will reveal himself to us. But he will reveal himself to us again and again. He will do it…..when we answer his invitation, and keep answering it….
"Come to me, and I will meet you more than halfway.
I will meet you in my word.
I will meet you in the silence.
I will meet you in the
I will meet you in Lazarus at your gate.
I'll be there.
All you have to do is come."