Getting to Know Jesus

At the heart of being a Christian is getting to know Jesus better and better, getting to know him as he really is. That much is obvious. What may not be so obvious is how that happens. As you know, there are Christians who know Jesus quite well and their lives show it. But then there are Christians who don't. So, what makes the difference? Something that Jesus taught applies to this question. And that's what we're going to look at this morning. Our text is John 7.10-18.

Jesus is at the feast and he is, once again, causing quite a stir. The people don't understand him. So, the questions fly. 'Who is this guy? How is it that he knows all this stuff he's talking about? He's never been to school. And how can he do those things that he does? What's going on here?' Jesus responds with a rather astounding claim. He tells them that he is from God. He tells them that he has been sent on a mission by God himself. And that's why he is able to speak and act as he does. He then adds that they can know if this claim is true, they can know him as the one sent by the Father. But there is a requirement. And this is what we'll be focusing our attention on.

If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

The ability to know Jesus, to know him for who he really is, one sent from the Father, is bound up with a person's willingness to do God's will. It's tied to his willingness to obey the Father. This puts knowing Jesus into a category that is different from other things that we might like to know. We've been told that we can get to know a topic by studying it. Spend enough time with the right books and you'll know plenty about accounting or biology or astronomy. We'll get to know a particular person well if we just spend enough time with him, talking with him about this and that and watching him in action. I suspect that there were a number of people who thought this way about Jesus. So, they would trail after him wherever he went. They watched and they listened. And because of that they expected to be able to get to know him.

But in our text Jesus says that it will take more than spending time watching and listening. It will take more than spending a lot of time reading, even if we're talking about the Bible. Something more is required. There is a moral aspect to all of this. When it comes to getting to know Jesus, getting to really know him, it's not so much about the mind as it is the heart. While someone who wants to know Jesus needs to have certain information about him, the key is not about what he knows. The key is about what that person is willing to do. If you want to know Jesus you need to be willing to do God's will. Only then will you know Jesus as he really is.

Consider something that happened soon after Jesus fed the five thousand. The Twelve were in the boat rowing across the Sea of Galilee, and they were having a hard time of it because of the wind. Jesus, seeing their struggle, calms the wind. And Mark describes their response and comments on it.

And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.    

The Twelve didn't get it. They didn't understand who Jesus was. They didn't understand his authority over things like nature. They didn't really know him. And that lack included something as clear and obvious as his miracle of feeding the five thousand. Didn't they see that they started out with only five loaves? And didn't they see five thousand fed from those five loaves? They saw, but they didn't. They didn't understand. Why? Mark tells us. It wasn't because they were stupid. The problem didn't have to do with intelligence. It was a moral issue. Their hearts were hardened.

Let's put this together with something that happened the evening after Jesus was raised from the dead. It's at the end of Luke. There is Jesus talking to two disciples who were walking to Emmaus. Luke describes the situation at the beginning of the conversation with these words.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

These two disciples saw Jesus, but they didn't see him. They didn't recognize him. They were kept from recognizing him. Then, Luke describes what happened at the end of the conversation.

And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. 

They got it. They saw that it was Jesus. However, please note that the ability to see, to get it, to understand, was not in their control. They weren't able to see, but then they were. That ability to see Jesus for who he really is is not something that we control. It is something that is granted to us. Eyes have to be opened. We don't have the power to do that. Only Jesus can do that.

So, here's my point. There's lots going on when it comes to really seeing things, really getting it. It takes more than just a good working mind attached to functioning eyes and ears. For one thing, Jesus lets you see things - or keeps you from seeing things. He controls the situation. And one factor in his decision about whether he will let someone see is the moral aspect. In our text, Jesus points to one particular moral aspect: a willingness to do the will of the Father. It's the presence of this moral aspect, this willingness, that will result in someone coming to know Jesus as he really is. This kind of person is allowed to see Jesus.

There is one more piece that I need to include here before we move on. I could see someone understanding what I've been talking about - getting to know Jesus as he really is - in terms of coming to Jesus for the first time - conversion. But limiting it to that doesn't fit. Getting to know Jesus is not an on or off kind of thing. It's not a matter of either you really know him because you've been converted or you don't. No. Instead, getting to know Jesus is a process. It's moving from one level of knowing him to a deeper level and on to an even deeper level. It's like a certain kind of light switch. You turn the knob, and you can feel a little click. The light goes on. But it's quite dim. However, the more you turn the knob, the brighter the light gets. You have experienced that time when something clicked and you saw Jesus for who is really is for the first time. The light was dim, but it was on. That's just the beginning. The light of understanding Jesus needs to get brighter.

The Apostle Paul understood this and put it into words.

… that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

So, getting to know Jesus as he really is, isn't a one-shot deal. We're not just talking about conversion. Getting to know Jesus is a process for every Christian, and it's a process that takes a lifetime.

And this is a process that we all are involved in. It is also a process that he is in control of. He needs to open closed eyes. He needs to soften hard hearts. Only Jesus can give the ability to get it as he reveals himself to people. And he will reveal himself not to those who are smart enough or good enough or religious enough. He reveals himself to those who are willing to do what the Father wants.

That's the foundation. Now, we need to build on it. Here's one thing. Being willing to do the will of the Father will cost you. This is about being a disciple as Jesus defines that. Some familiar words fit here.

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Jesus is describing what he wants in a disciple.

Self-denial: We all have plans, desires, expectations and hopes; things we want for ourselves and those we love. But for the disciple, all of these things are on the table. They are up for grabs. Someone who wants to know Jesus will tell him, 'You can take any of those things - desires, hopes, whatever - or even all of them. You can take them all, if obedience to the Father's will requires it.'

Cross-bearing: I've mentioned before that bearing one's cross is not about having to deal with some difficult aspect of your life. It was and still is about marching to a very physical death if that's what is called for. So, someone who wants to know Jesus will tell him, 'You can even take my life.'

And then there's that third part, losing your life for the sake of Jesus and his Gospel: 'Jesus, you can take everything away and send me to some terrible place where everyone I know thinks that I am wasting my life. If that will advance the Gospel, if that is required by the will of the Father, I'm fine with it.'

As I’ve told you before, being a disciple is like writing a blank check for Jesus to fill in however he wants. So, you see why I say that getting to know Jesus will cost you. One of the things that I appreciate about Jesus as I read the Gospels is that he is very, very clear when it comes to what it means to follow him. There is no fine print to discover later. He is very up front. Getting to know him, really know him, will cost you.

But there are also benefits, and it's important to see that also. The first and most important benefit of being this kind of disciple is this: living this way makes Jesus look as good as he really is to the watching world. This submitting to the will of the Father and to the Lordship of Jesus is hard for others to ignore.  The people around you may not understand what makes you tick. They may think that you are crazy and foolish. But they will know that something different is at work in your life. And over time, as they continue to watch you through the ups and downs of life, that difference will have a certain appeal. They will recognize that the difference is Jesus.

If this were the only benefit it would be enough. This, by itself, would more than sufficiently balance the cost of discipleship. But there are other benefits. Jesus said so.

… whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Getting to know Jesus by bowing to the Father's will is the path to life, life as it was intended, the life of eternity. We do not appreciate well enough how broken everything in us is. Or to say that differently, we do not appreciate well enough the independent mindset that we all embrace. And it is not a stretch to say that 'independent mindset' is just a nicer way of talking about a rebellious spirit. We don't feel the ugliness of that as much as we might because so much of our 'independent mindset' appears so acceptable to so many people. It is as we get to know Jesus that the broken pieces of our lives are exposed for what they are and then fixed. They are fixed as we submit to the will of the Father who longs to guide us into wholeness, out of death and into life, real life. It's a process. It will cost you. But it will be worth it.

Jesus has come so that we might get to know him as the one sent by the Father to save the world. Getting to know him as the Redeemer of the world is the key to life. But knowing him as such will never happen if someone is unwilling to do the will of the Father. The moral aspect is critical.

And now for the question that I usually ask at this point. So, what do you do? How does someone become more and more willing to do the will of the Father so that he can get to know Jesus better and better? What do you do?

The most important thing to understand at this point is that there is nothing you can do to change the situation. You cannot open your own eyes or soften your own heart. You cannot turn the knob so that the light gets brighter - not even a little bit. There is nothing that you can do. You cannot fix your life. Only Jesus can. Missing this can only lead to a fruitless life of frustration. Let me quote the words of a familiar hymn: 'Thou must save and thou alone.' Jesus must act. He must save. That is basic.

It's here that some people sort of agree, but not really. They tell themselves, 'Well, I can't save myself. I can't change my life. But there are some things that I can do to set the stage for those sorts of things. I can read my Bible every day and then say my prayers and do other religious sorts of things. Yeah, that will do it.' Is doing something like reading your Bible a bad thing? Obviously not. But when something good is used for the wrong reason it becomes evil. Bible reading as some sort of preparation for Jesus to do his thing so easily becomes the way that I save myself. Hope is no longer focused on Jesus who must act. Hope is now focused on what I do, whether it's Bible reading or something else. And my hopefulness for change becomes tied to how well I am doing at setting the stage so that Jesus can do his thing - something that sooner or later I will fail at - and then what? Jesus must act - alone.

So, is there nothing to be done? Do we just sit and wait? No. Realizing as well as we can that only Jesus can do what must be done, we ask him to act. We ask him to open our eyes and to soften our hearts. We ask him to do whatever is needed so that we can get to know him better. But understand what is included in that. Remember that there is a cost to be paid. Jesus may well act so that you will be able to see much better - he may do that by sending you into some very hard times. But that makes sense. It is when life is really hard that we can get to see the important question in much greater clarity than before. In the midst of the pain we hear the question, 'Are you still willing to do the will of the Father?' Be careful to hear the question accurately. Jesus does not ask, ‘Are you able to do the will of the Father?’ The answer to that is always the same. ‘No, I am not able.’ Hear the question: 'Are you still willing to do the will of the Father?' That is no longer a theoretical question when it is asked in the midst of pain. Jesus will not always or even often send hard times so that you can see better. But it seems to me - and I think that I have the Scriptures with me on this - that if you are going to get to know Jesus well there will be, at some point, the time when life will really hurt. Think through the Scriptures and the people whom God used, people who got to know him well. Which of them led a painless life? And yet, I want you to know that the pain is worth it. Making Jesus look as good as he really is and then coming into a deeper experience of real life make the pain worth it.

So, do you want to know Jesus better? Do you want to make him look good before a dying world? Do you want to grow in your experience of real life? For those things to happen, Jesus must act, and he will - if you are willing.