Jerusalem – Last week we reported that these disciples of Jesus place great importance in their crucified rabbi. He has become the focal point of their faith and their reason for hope. The sect’s leaders, most of whom were with Jesus throughout his three year preaching ministry, are teaching that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. The importance of Jesus to his disciples can be seen in the words of Saul of Tarsus who has said, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Phil 3:10-11 NIV)."
According to those who were with Jesus and heard him teach, knowing Jesus was one of the key topics he spoke to them about. Once when speaking in the temple courts, he said, " If you knew me, you would know my Father also. I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins."
"Who are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."
Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:19-32 NIV)."
On another occasion when he was teaching his disciples in private he said, "If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:7-14 NIV)."
Not only do the disciples wish to know Jesus, but it would seem that knowing him is a requirement for being a disciple. From Jesus’ own teachings, only by knowing him can you know the Father. And only by knowing Jesus can one lay claim to the blessings promised his disciples.
The Christian Must Know Christ from Look at the Man by Tim Woodroof and Glen Gray
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Copyright © 1997 by Gerry Sturgeon
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.