Message by Larry Thacker Jr.from April 23, “Do You Know Jesus?”
Our text will be from John 8:12-20. Jesus is back in the temple, teaching. John’s narrative is chronological, so this likely occurred at some point shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles, where he spoke the words from Chapter Seven that we studied on April 2. John 7:37 says that those words were spoken on the last day of the feast. In John 8:12, we have another “I am” statement, “I am the light of the world.” The contrast of light and darkness occurs frequently in John’s writing. Jesus is the source of that light.
The Pharisee’s again challenge Jesus, this time trying to trap Him in his own words from Chapter 5, But He doubled down on what He has said and adds this, ““You know neither Me nor My Father.” v. 19. Jesus has already made it clear to them what He means by the Father, though they pretend ignorance in an effort to discredit Him. He has just told them in essence that they don’t know God.
We look at this passage and many like it and wonder at the hard-hearted Pharisees, but what about our own hearts? A common question asked in evangelism is, “do you know Jesus?” If we once prayed a prayer, were raised in church, or otherwise believe ourselves to be Christians, we might reflexively answer “yes”. But knowing Jesus is more than knowing about Jesus.
We use the word “know” rather loosely. We might say that we know someone if we recognize them or simply know their identity, but we understand that we don’t really know them if that’s all we have. We might say that we know someone if we’ve met them. That’s a little bit deeper, but not much. To really know someone, you have to spend time with them. You know their character, their likes and dislikes, their personality.
Can we ever say that we know Jesus that way? We’re extremely unlikely to meet Him in person until we go to Him or He comes to us. We can’t see Him. We can’t talk to Him face to face. How can we know Him? That’s part of why we have the Bible. It tells us everything we need to know about Him. When He spoke to the Pharisees, he chided them for not believing their own scriptures, which we know as the Old Testament.
But is reading a book about him enough, even if it’s a really good book? It provides us with the foundation, but it also offers us the key to knowing Him. This is the mystery of almighty God, three distinct persons and yet all one. They operate in complete harmony. When you give your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. This is how you begin your journey to truly knowing Jesus. It does not happen instantly. We don’t know much about someone we’ve only just met. As we spend time with them, we learn more and more. As we sped time with His word and prayer, we will learn more and more about Jesus. Prayer, if we will allow time to listen as well as speak, will open the door to greater revelation of His character, His desires, and His love for you. I pray that we all come to know Jesus; really know Him!
