Getting to Know Him
The Words and Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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It’s a Process
It’s a Process
There is a process in getting to know someone.
You meet them for the first time. Maybe a few casual interactions. You decide if you want to get to know them better.
Maybe out to dinner. A safe, neutral site. Do that a few times. Then, maybe into your house, into their house.
Over the course of the interactions you decide how close you want to let them and how close you want to be to them.
You learn a lot getting into someone’s house. If you come to our house you know right away we have a dog. And Jack desperately wants you to like him.
He has a way of picking out the person who least likes dogs and getting into their face. Please like me. I like you. He’ll settle down eventually. He can be intense for a few minutes. I keep telling Sara, when she scolds him to get down and he doesn’t, he’s an Australian Shepherd, so she needs to speak Australian, not English. He doesn’t understand the language.
And, you have to be okay going home covered in dog hair. We clean the house and w/in 5 minutes it’s he’s dropped the equivalent of another dog on the floor.
Around here, we take the time to find out who the dog ppl are, the cat ppl, no pet ppl.
Are they game-players? Sara and I play a lot of games. Cards and board games. We’ve taught several ppl how to play Euchre. If you’re from the midwest you grew up playing Euchre. Otherwise, it’s a foreign concept.
I play golf. The better friends I have play golf with me. I’ve got friends that I’ve had for 40 years and we go on annual golf trips together. We knew ea other when we were single, played softball together, went to each others’ wedding.
That’s part of the process of deciding how close you want to be w/ ppl.
Things you have in common. Do they take an interest in you. What they bring to the relationship and what you have to offer them.
You get it. It’s the process we all go thru to decide how close we’re going to be.
Sometimes we hear about ppl before we get to know them. Their reputation. Or, experiences others have had w/ them.
Watch out for that guy!
Or, you’ll love her! She’s wonderful.
We’ve got to be careful to get too set in our opinions of ppl before we get to know them ourselves.
I’ve told this story before, but it applies.
A friend of mine in SB, his company was hosting a conference, and their keynote speaker was Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
This is Chicago Bear, Indianapolis Colt, and Detroit Lion Territory.
My friend was assigned to be Jerry Jones’ driver for the duration of the conference. He was to pick him up at the airport, drive him to his hotel, and make sure he got where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there.
You don’t have to be a football fan to know about Jerry Jones. The media loves to talk about him and usually in a negative light. He built a massive stadium for the Cowboys that is often compared to his ego.
So, if you already don’t like the Cowboys, and you believe what you read and hear about the guy, you’re not going to like him.
My friend had his preconceived ideas about him. Figured he’d be all about himself. On his phone, doing business deals, all about Jerry.
He picked him up at the airport and immediately realized he was not the egomaniac the media made him out to be. He was very friendly. He took an interest in my friend, his wife, his job, his life. He asked lots of questions, genuinely interested in my friend’s life.
It totally blew up my friend’s preconceived ideas.
That was his only interaction w/ Jerry Jones in his life. You don’t get to know someone well in one weekend like that. But, that process changed what he thought about him.
They’re not BFFs. But, they’re not what they were before, either.
Getting to know Jesus may be the same way for us.
You have Xian friends, go to church, you learn about Him, but until you spend time getting to know him yourself, you may find your preconceived ideas about him may not be so accurate.
It’s a process. Who is He. Before you bet your eternal life on Him, it’s a good idea to go thru the process and make sure you can count on Him for what you expect. And, you need to know what He expects of you.
A relationship is a two-way street. Where does that road take you?
Let’s be honest. Don’t just jump on the Jesus wagon b/c someone else has. At the same time, don’t let your preconceived ideas prevent you from getting on board.
Most of us are probably on board. But, we’re all still going thru the process of getting to know Jesus better, what to expect of him and what He expects of us.
Let’s continue in the process together getting to know Jesus better, not settling for what other’s may say, but learning for ourselves what He can do, what we can expect of Him, and what He expects of us.
This is where we are today in our study of Jesus, the things He did and the things He said. The ppl in c.1 were in the process just like us.
Sometimes they figured Him out right away, sometimes they missed something about Him.
That’s what happened in Nain. As He was traveling from town to town, he encountered a funeral procession where He took the initiative and showed great compassion for the mom of the young man who had passed away.
Context of the Miracle
Context of the Miracle
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
Nain. A small town about 25 miles SW of Capernaum
This is not the first big event in this town. In the OT, 2 Kings 4, God performed a miracle thru Elisha. He raised a widow’s son from the dead. Elisha laid on the dead boy and God restored his life.
This was a popular story in Nain, but not so popular among the rest of Israel. The widow and the son were not Jewish. God was sending a message to Israel that were not as special as they thought they were. And he will save ppl who don’t share the bloodline.
But in Nain, Elisha was legendary prophet. There were still talking about what he did so many centuries later.
So, Jesus just after healing the Centurion’s servant in Capernaum, chose this day to travel to Nain. No coincidence.
There would have been a huge crowd w/ Jesus. He was developing a following that big and rowdy.
So you see what’s about to happen here. We’re about to see a slow-speed collision of parades.
2 very emotional crowds of ppl, on a head-on collision course. The Prince of Life is about to face the Prince of death.
The deceased, is the only son of a widow. Her husband had preceded the son in death, so this was her second trip to the cemetery. The entire town turned out for the procession b/c their hearts broke for her.
Her situ was desperate. He had little hope for her life after this. In this culture the women were dependent on the men in their life to support them. A woman could not have a job or own property.
This widow’s only options were to become a beggar or a prostitute. There was nobody who could do anything else for her. So, not only was she deep in grief, it was compounded by the prospects for her future.
This is the context for the events that occured next.
So, you have a party crowd, full of joy and praise, coming up on a funeral crowd, deep in grief. Which crowd would overtake the other?
It was customary, when a traveler encountered a funeral procession, to join the procession to the cemetery out of respect for the family.
We don’t even pull over for funerals any more. Maybe in the south. When’s the last time you saw a funeral procession w/ their lights on and you pulled over for them?
That awkward moment when the emotion of one group conflicts w/ the emotion of the other. How does this get resolved?
Content of the Miracle
Content of the Miracle
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Jesus took the initiative. He did not wait to be asked. Whatever the crowd thought about Him, nobody thought to ask Him to intervene. He did it on his own.
Jesus immediately showed compassion for the woman. His heart broke for her. If no one else knew what was about to happen, Jesus did.
Why did He allow his heart to be broken? Why didn’t he just maintain his joyful attitude?
B/C, he ID w/ us in our pain to comfort us in that moment, no matter what is going to happen in the future.
He did the same thing at Lazarus’ tomb. He wept. Why? To comfort Mary and Martha. He knew what He going to do next, but they were hurting now.
A word of caution when you are trying to comfort a grieving friend. Please don’t say something like, “You know you’ll see them again someday.”
We mean well. And we try to make them feel better. By saying that, inadvertently, we are saying you shouldn’t be hurting like that right now b/c of what’s going to happen in the future. They what’s going to happen. But they are hurting right then.
Do what Jesus did. Cry w/ them. Hug them. ID w/ their pain. They need to go thru it to get over. We can’t do or say anything that stops the process or it will hurt them in the long run.
Luke makes a point to tell us Jesus had compassion for her. It’s not very compassionate to joyfully go up to a grieving mom and tersely tell her not to cry. I kind of seems that way on the surface, but that’s not what Jesus communicate.
He spoke to her heart that everything was going to be okay.
He immediately after, went to the bier and grabbed it, firmly. The bier is a board that a dead body, wrapped in a burial cloth, is carried to the cemetery on. Not like a coffin that closed.
Jesus took a firm grasp of the board. He stopped the procession. Everyone would have gasped. The air would have been sucked out of immediate area.
The law prohibited a person from touching a dead body, or anything the dead body touched. The law protected ppl from disease. Anyone else would immediately have to find a stream of running water to wash in and quarantine themselves for days to make sure they had not picked up any germs from the contact.
It was a big deal.
Jesus commanded the young man to get up. Shock. There is power in his words. He spoke w/ authority. Commanding the young man to get up.
This is the stuff of sci-fi, horror.
Did you see the story in the news where a woman named Bella Montoya in Ecuador woke up during her funeral? Imagine the shock of the family. She died a week later. But, what shock to the system.
When Jesus commanded him to get up. He did. He sat up, began to speak. Jesus gave him back to his mother.
The significance of his speaking right away. Think about how long his brain had been w/out oxygen. No brain damage. The healing was immediate and complete.
This is the first time Jesus resuscitated anyone. There are 3 occasions written about in the bible. But this is the first. He has healed many. Some were close to death. But none had crossed over.
Maybe they didn’t know to ask Jesus b/c they’d never seen him do it.
The question of which procession would dominate the other. Would grief overtake the joy? Would the circumstance effect Jesus? Render him unclean requiring he go and wash according to the law?
No. Joy overtook the grief. Jesus’s touch changed the circumstance. He ID’s w/ the mother’s pain then took it away.
If you were there that day, how would you have responded? Shocking. Never seen that before. A little scary. Who is this guy, Jesus?
That’s how they responded. Their conclusion was emotionally accurate, but intellectually wrong.
Their Conclusion
Their Conclusion
They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
They were filled w/ awe. A reverent fear. This was beyond their paradigms.
They praised God b/c the knew the miracle was from Him. Only God could restore life like this.
But their preconceived ideas and experience in Nain w/ the prophet Elisha clouded their judgment.
Their assumption was Jesus was a new Prophet. They ID’d him w/ Elisha. But they missed Him as Messiah.
They recognized the similarities between Jesus and Elisha. Rather than seeing Elisha’s miracle as a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, they saw Jesus’s miracle as a reminder of and equal to Elisha’s.
Jesus had just come from Capernaum where he used the example of the centurion and his faith to encourage everyone to have faith like his to be saved.
The ppl in Nain were in their own process w/ Jesus, they had heard the stories, read the media accounts, knew that the religious leaders were suspect of this new Rabbi.
Now, their own experience would need to be processed to fully appreciate Who had come to visit them that day.
If He’s just a prophet, then he came to help His ppl.
But Jesus is more than a prophet. Yes, He does help his ppl. But later he will teach them that to get his help, they had to give up their life.
Yes, faith. Evidence of saving faith is the willingness to give up your life to get the new life Jesus offers.
He just proved He could. Then, where are they in their process?
Next in Luke, he recounts the conversation between Jesus and John the baptist. JB is in prison and sent his friends to ask Jesus if He is the One they’d been hoping for or should they expect another.
This was JB. He leapt in his mother’s womb when a pregnant Mary came and hugged her.
He baptized Jesus declaring him to be the Lamb of God who came to take away the sis of the world.
But then sitting in prison, suffering awaiting his execution, Jesus not fulfilling his expectations for all these years; JB had his doubts.
Of all ppl, JB had doubts.
That’s part of the process.
You may be here this morning and recognize Jesus as special. But you must take the next step w/ Jesus to have faith in Him for Him to get you to heaven.
The ppl in Nain were wrestling w/ this very thing. Jesus is special. He is powerful and authoritative.
PPL who feel like they’ve been dealt a crummy hand, who feel like they are on the outside looking in to those who seem to have it all together.
A widow burying her only son.
A man of God rotting in prison.
Jesus has compassion for all of us.
And faith? Dead young men have no faith. The mom didn’t exhibit any faith. The ppl in the funeral procession didn’t have time to communicate faith.
Jesus wanted to help them in their process of getting to know Him. Who is He. What can He do. What does He expect of us?
All part of the process.
Where are you in the process?
Applications
Applications
Initiative
Initiative
Jesus is not dependent on us asking. Sometimes, we don’t even know what to ask for.
He is also not bound to give us exactly what we ask for if we ask for something that will be bad for us.
He will initiate what you need. He has compassion for your situation.
He will comfort you then take away your pain.
You have to let it go, tho’. Surrender it. Receive his comfort and let him have your pain.
Circumstances
Circumstances
When Jesus touches your life, your circumstances change.
Jesus is not changed by your life, your life is changed by his.
You will never leave an encounter w/ Jesus w/out being changed, at least a little bit.
Maybe for that day, maybe for a lifetime.
Let Jesus touch your life. Let Him in. He will fix what’s broken. Leave you put back together.
Process
Process
Where are you in your process w/ Jesus.
Be honest. If you have doubts, express them. No matter how long you’ve know about Jesus, known Jesus, been in and around churches and Xians. It’s okay to have doubts.
They are questions that need answers. The answers may not be easy.
That’s also where our faith works. We can’t know everything. Some things we need to learn to be okay w/ not knowing or understanding fully.
Keep an open mind. Jesus is special. But, He is more than special, He’s our Savior.
Keep moving toward faith, then keep moving deeper in your faith.
There’s always more to the process b/c there’s always more to Jesus.
Jesus is no Jerry Jones. Jerry built a stadium. It cost him $1 billion. And it’s about as big as his ego.
Jesus built a universe. It doesn’t have a price tag. He has no ego.
Don’t let preconceived ideas or media reports inhibit your willingness to get to know either of them.
Not that you’ll ever have the chance to meet Jerry.
You have Xian friends, go to church, you learn about Him, but until you spend time getting to know him yourself, you may find your preconceived ideas about him may not be so accurate.
It’s a process. Who is He? Before you bet your eternal life on Him, it’s a good idea to go thru the process and make sure you can count on Him for what you expect. And, you need to know what He expects of you.
He proved He can give someone life after they have died. What will take to get him to do that for you?
A relationship is a two-way street. Where does that road take you?
Let’s be honest. Don’t just jump on the Jesus wagon b/c someone else has. At the same time, don’t let your preconceived ideas prevent you from getting on board.
Most of us are probably on board. But, we’re all still going thru the process of getting to know Jesus better, what to expect of him and what He expects of us.
Let’s continue in the process together getting to know Jesus better, not settling for what other’s may say, but learning for ourselves what He can do, what we can expect of Him, and what He expects of us.