Do You Know Him?
Do you know Jesus?
I know that you know about Jesus, plenty about Him—but do you know Him?
Do you know Him on a particular day as He’s standing and looking at His twelve friends, most of whom are complete idiots, and thinking to himself, “Yeah, I think they’re ready”? And with some pretty unbelievable words says to them, “Go ahead: heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you’ve received, freely give.” And he sends them out to do His exact ministry. They are so fresh to Him and yet off they go.
And while they are gone, He receives news that His cousin John the Baptist has been brutally murdered. And then the apostles return to Jesus and report to Him every detail of what they had done and taught. “‘Now come along to some quiet place by yourselves and rest for a little while,’ said Jesus, for there were people coming and going incessantly, so that they had not even time for meals. So they went off in the boat to a quiet place by themselves. But a great many saw them go and recognized them. And people from all the towns hurried around the shore on foot to forestall them. When Jesus disembarked, He saw the large crowd and His heart was touched with pity for them because they seemed to Him like sheep without a shepherd. And He settled down to teach them about many things…”
My friends, do you know how patient He is? How patient He is with us? How He loves to be with us, no matter the time or the circumstance?
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him on a different day, landing on a different stretch of shoreline, as He walks up into town and is suddenly accosted by a man named Jairus who is the synagogue president and who says to Him, “Jesus, please come with me. My little girl is dying”?
And so Jesus went off with him, followed by a large crowd jostling at His elbow. And in that crowd is a woman with a condition of bleeding that has lasted for twelve years and all she wants is to get close to Him. In fact, she says to herself, “If I can only touch His clothes, I shall be all right.” Yes. That’s Jesus’ reputation. And so, yes, she gets close. She reaches out, she gets just the hem of His garment and she’s healed—like that. And as she tries to slink away, Jesus says, “Who touched me?” His disciples say, “Jesus, everyone is touching you.”
And yet He scans the crowd and will not stop until suddenly the woman, scared and shaking all over because she knew that she was the one to whom this thing had happened, came and flung herself before Him and told Him the whole story. Yes, the whole story. Twelve years of tragedy and loss and heartache. And He listens to the whole thing.
Oh, do you know how kind He is, my friends? How He loves to listen to us, to sit with us, to let us pour out our hearts to Him, day after day?
Do you know him?
Do you know Him sitting on the rooftop of the world—a very high mountain we are told—as Satan leans over His shoulder and points out everything, all the riches and splendor that this world has to offer? “Everything there I will give you,” he says to Jesus, “if you will fall down and just worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” says Jesus. “For the scripture says, ‘You will worship the Lord your God and Him only should you serve.’”
Do you know how content Jesus is because of all that He possesses in the Father? He lacks for nothing. He envies no man.
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him on the day when He’s surrounded by a hungry crowd of thousands, and with a little twinkle in His eyes turns to His disciples and says to them, “Where are we going to get food for all these folks?” Hilarity ensues. Five loaves, two fish, people covering the meadow grass as far as the eye can see. And as they eat, and as they are satisfied, and as they watch basketfuls of leftovers be picked up, it suddenly dawns on the crowd: “This certainly is the prophet, the one who was to come into the world.” And then Jesus, realizing they were going to carry Him off and make Him their king, retired once more to the hillside, quite alone. He slips away to be by Himself.
Oh, do you know how quietly he is the King of Kings? He doesn’t boast. He requires no gaudy fanfare.
My friends, do you know Him?
Do you know Him as the one looking you in the eye, as anxious and harassed and worried and frustrated as you sometimes are, and inviting you with these words, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and overburdened, I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, learn from me. For I am gentle. I’m humble in heart. You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”?
Do you know His gentle humility? The way He invites you in under that yoke? He isn’t proud. He is humility incarnate.
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him as he’s walking through the center street of Capernaum with one of His customary enormous crowds following along, when suddenly He looks over, spots the tax collector’s booth, and walking up to it speaks to a man named Matthew and simply says these words, “Follow me”? And the man got to his feet and followed Him. And that man Matthew, with maybe the remainder of his wealth, throws an enormous party and there were many tax collectors and other disreputable people (we are told in Matthew) who come and delight to sit by Jesus. But the Pharisees are not delighted, for they judge Jesus and His crowd. But Jesus turns to them and says these words, “It is not the fit and flourishing who need the doctor, but those who are ill. Suppose you go away and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. In any case, I did not come to invite the righteous, but the sinners.”
Oh, do you know how He honors people? How He lifts up the lives of those the world despises? He doesn’t dishonor. He honors.
Do you know Him?
Do you know about the way He talked about His day-to-day purpose? How important to Him was the will of the Father?
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do what I want, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. The will of Him who sent me is that I should not lose anything of what He has given Me, but should raise it up when the last day comes. And this is the will of the one who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and trusts Him should have eternal life. And I will raise Him up when the last day comes.” (John 6:38)
Oh, do you know how He wouldn’t, how He refused to seek His own way? How He only wanted the will of the Father, no matter what?
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him sitting in the home of a Pharisee named Simon, scrutinized in His every movement and word? And then comes the shock of that moment when a woman with a really tough reputation walks in and begins to weep over His feet, kissing them and anointing them with perfume. But when the Pharisee who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, “Whew! If this man were really a prophet, he would know who this woman is and what sort of a person is touching him. He would’ve realized she is a bad woman.”
Oh, the anger Jesus might’ve shown right there! And yet He says to him, “Simon, there’s something I want to say to you.” “Very well, Master,” Simon returned. “Say it.” “Well,” Jesus goes on, “Once upon a time, there were two men in debt to the same money lender. One owed him fifty and the other five. And since they were unable to pay, he generously canceled both of their debts. Now, which of them do you suppose will love him more?”
Do you know Jesus’ temperate nature? How longsuffering He is in the face of our stupidity and our judgments? He is not easily angered, when He almost certainly should be.
Oh, do you know Him?
Do you know how completely He has freed you from sin and from the bondage of the evil one? Do you know how final and complete are His words: “It is finished”? Paul says:
“He has forgiven you all your sins. Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads and has completely annulled by nailing it over His own head on the cross. And then having drawn the sting of all the powers ranged against us, He exposed them, shattered, empty, and defeated in His final glorious triumphant act.”
According to the language of the Greek here, there was a handwritten charge against us, but Jesus, by His blood, blotted and wiped it out. Then letting that be nailed above his head, He called Satan to center stage and made sure that he knew that you and I are forever free.
Oh, do you know that Jesus keeps no record of our wrongdoing, because once and for all, He has already set us free. We are free indeed.
Oh, do you know Him? Do you?
Do you know Him as He’s teaching in a synagogue, and notices a woman bent double and in pain and He just cannot stand the sight of it, and so heals her in the moment? But the President of that synagogue, in his annoyance at Jesus healing on the Sabbath, announced to the congregation, “Look, there are six days in which men may work. Come on one of those and be healed, but not on the Sabbath day.”
Oh, what an evil way of looking that situation! And yet, listen, Jesus goes on to say to him: “My friend, this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom you all know that Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, surely she should be released from such bonds on the Sabbath day.” These words reduced His opponents to shame, but the crowd was thrilled at all the glorious things He did.
Then Jesus went on. “Hmmm… Now what is the kingdom of God like? What illustration can I use to make it plain to you? Aha! It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and dropped in his garden. It grew and became a tree and the birds came and nested in its branches. Then again,” He said, “what can I say the kingdom of God is like? Ah yes! It’s like the yeast which a woman took and covered up in three measures of flour until the whole lot had risen.”
Oh, do you know how He recoils at evil and yet delights in the sweet goodness of the truth? Do you hear it there? The kingdom of heaven is a place of rejoicing because He is the truth.
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him on a cool clear morning at the temple as He’s teaching a crowd and is then interrupted by the screams of a naked woman being dragged out of bed to stand trial right there before Him? The conspirators are actually planning to kill her in His sight. But Jesus stooped down and began to write with His finger in the dust on the ground. But as they persisted in their questioning, He straightened himself up and said, “Let the one among you who has never sinned throw the first stone.” And He stooped down again and continued writing with His finger on the ground.
Oh, do you know the protection of the power of the righteous one? Have you ever stood beside Him after the accusing crowd has left and heard him say to you, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go home. You’re done with sin”?
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him standing on a hillside in Galilee with the remaining eleven disciples? Do you know the sound of the voice as He speaks these familiar words, “All power in heaven and earth belongs to Me. You then are to go and make disciples of all the nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and, yes, of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the world”?
Oh, do you know the way He trusts them? The way He trusts you with the words of life, with the work of the gospel? Do you know that, as you believe in Him, He’s actually believing in you?
Do you know him?
Do you know him sitting next to a low-glowing campfire on the shore of the sea of Galilee trying His best to catch Peter’s eye, even as Peter hangs his head under the weight of three betrayals? Finally it comes. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, “Peter, son of John, do you love me more than these others?” “Yes, Lord. You know that I’m Your friend.” “Then feed My lambs,” said Jesus. Then He said a second time, “Peter, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord. You know that I’m Your friend.” “Then care for My sheep.” And for the third time Jesus spoke up, “Peter, are you my friend?” Now Peter was hurt because Jesus’ third question to him was, “Are you My friend?” And he said, “Lord, You know everything. You know that I am your friend.” “Then feed My sheep,” Jesus said to him.
Oh, do you know the high hopes He has for you? Even when your past has been filled with guilt and shame. My friends, He sees right past that.
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him standing outside the city gate of a town called Nain, watching as a crowd of mourners walk with a mother whose son is in the casket that they’re carrying? Jesus watches her intently. “When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then He walked up, put His hand on the coffin while the bearers stood still, and then He said, ‘Young man, wake up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk. And Jesus handed Him to his mother. Everybody present was awestruck and they praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us: God has turned His face toward His people.’”
Oh, do you know how the love of Jesus perseveres even beyond death? How there is no human obstacle to the power of that treat love?
Do you know Him?
Do you know Him standing on the edge of a dance floor at a wedding in Cana, laughing at all the noise and the joy and the fun of the party? His mother, Mary, kind of sidles up, “Hey, Jesus… There’s no more wine. Take care of it.” So He calls some servants over and they fill up these huge ceremonial jars with water to the brim and He tells them to take some water over to the master of ceremonies—which they do. And when that man tasted the water, which had now become wine, without knowing where it came from, he called over the bridegroom and said to him, “Everybody I know puts his good wine out first. And then when men have had plenty to drink, he brings out the poor stuff. But you kept back your good wine till now.” Jesus gave this, the first of His signs at Cana in Galilee. He demonstrated His power and His disciples believed.
Oh, my friends, do you know that He never fails, that He Himself is the good wine that knows no measure?
Do you know Him?
Or let me put it this way:
It is Jesus who is patient. Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy. Jesus does not boast. Jesus is not proud. Jesus does not dishonor others. Jesus is not self-seeking. Jesus is not easily angered. Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails.
My friends, Jesus is the complete manifest experience of the love of God. He is the flawless expression of the nature of God.
Do you know Him?
Artwork: “Christ and the Samaritan Woman” Johannes Josephus Aarts