Encounters with Jesus
Today is the last day of our four-week study on Encounters with Jesus. I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have. As I’ve mentioned, it is impossible to cover in four weeks every encounter Jesus had in the gospels, and there is a good chance that we didn’t talk about one that is your favorite. What is your favorite encounter that Jesus had during his life? Is it oe of the ones we have discussed, or might it be another one?
The shepherds at his birth, Simeon, the teachers in the temple, the demon-possessed man, any of the Apostles, the paralyzed man, the Roman centurion, Jairus (and his daughter), the Pharisees, the crippled woman, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the crowds. So many to choose. Just writing these down, I’m beginning to wonder if I even included MY favorite encounter! We are so blessed to have these written accounts of Jesus’ life.
The good news is you don’t have to wait on me to preach a sermon about any of the encounters of Jesus. You have the opportunity to open the word of God and study for yourself the amazing, life-changing, world redeeming, ministry of Jesus pretty much any time you want. My encouragement to you is to study some of these and more the encounters of Jesus.
While studying for this series, I have read stories that I have known for years, only to dig a little deeper into them and see all sorts fo deeper realities. I encourage you as well, to go to the gospels with new eyes and ears and see what God shows you in His word. One of the things I try to do as I begin in God’s word is to pray, read the story multiple times, and just let it sit for a day or so. I then start writing everything that stands out to me. Repeat this process. Then find a good commentary or article about that text and see how you might benefit from the collective knowledge of years of study. Then pray again that God would lead you to what you need to see and hear in that text. It’s incredible what you will begin to see and notice, and it’s incredible the way you will start to see God’s story unfolding before your very eyes, and how you have a role to play n the story that is continuing to be written.