Knowing Jesus

Acts 13:27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

A person who has not recognized or known Christ very much personally has all chances to condemn the Lord Himself despite reading or hearing the word repeatedly every week. We may know to pray really well and may even have gifts or super powers from the Lord. But if we do not know who our Savior is, all our efforts in Christendom not only gets wasted, but we could actually hurt Him. Paul uses these words to the Jews in Pisidia so that they would understand who Christ is. We also read that even if there is no reason to hurt Jesus, we can still do that because our ignorance is so powerful and authoritative. (Psalms 73:22)It is very important for us to ask God for more and more understanding of Him.

1 John 2:3 says that we have come to know Jesus only if we keep His commandments. A true knowledge of Christ will make any person honor Him unconditionally and be obedient to everything the Lord gives. From the previous verses we can conclude that Jesus was a propitiation for all our sins and so, an advocate to the father. Every Christian in the world and even others know that Jesus died for our sins and this understanding alone does not make us people who know Jesus. We only understand that without obedience and submission we are not even in the path of knowing Jesus. So, we start with obeying first in order to know Him and not vice versa. This is what we read in Mathew 13:12 where God gives more and more knowledge and understanding of secrets to those who already know Jesus. This is not partiality at all. A son who stays at his father’s presence and tries to learn skills from the father himself has high chances of inheriting all the father’s responsibilities. Continuing the parable, Jesus refers Isaiah that the hearts of people who do not understand have their hearts dull with fat. This prevents Jesus from healing them. We use scriptures for disobediences and excuses and this attitude towards the Lord has come from our hearts being fattened. Let us ask the Lord to heal us by making us understand Him through obedience.

In John 10:14, Jesus is the good shepherd and He know us and we know Him. In this context Jesus explains that all those who came before Him were thieves and robbers. The world is one of these thieves. They have completely selfish intentions and the sheep had the right wisdom to not listen. There is another category of leaders who are hired hands which means they look at revenues alone. Jesus refers to the priests and Pharisees here. They do shepherd the sheep when people look forward for advices and when it is safe. Jesus wants us to understand His stronger love and responsibility that He owns us and knows us. If we cannot differentiate the love of Christ from these, we cannot obey Him. This is why Jesus mentions that He would go after other sheep who had not entered through this door, but they will listen to Him and so will know Him eventually. This will lead us towards becoming a single flock with a single shepherd.

In John 17:2 and 3 we read how the Father had sent Jesus with authority to give eternal life and Jesus had come down presenting Himself to us so that we would know Him and be saved. The verse explains that knowing the Father and our Lord Jesus is not a way to eternal life, but it is life itself. This is explained very well in 2 Peter 1:3 and 4. This knowledge of Jesus gives us everything that is required for life and godliness. If we know Him really well, we get to understand the promises and hope about escaping the corrupt world. The final result is also mentioned here, partake the divine nature. The divine nature does not come when we present ourselves good which will lead us towards hypocrisy. But if we search the scriptures and pray to know Jesus more and more, we earn it which cannot be given without deserving. Salvation is free but glory is not. The verse says that Jesus has called us to this glory and excellence.

Peter gives a clear path of earning this knowledge in the following verses (5-8) which is faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. Lack of these qualities will make us ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord. The verse does not use the phrase “with” the knowledge but we read “in” the knowledge which means if a person does not grow in these, it is not worthy to have the knowledge of Jesus which is eternal life. Verse 9 explains that this person is nearsighted and had forgotten that we are cleansed from former sins.

2 Peter 1:2 is a blessing that when we have the knowledge of the Father and our Lord Jesus, grace and peace multiplies inside us.

Amen.