It’s
time to celebrate Christmas again! Every
year, we have a new opportunity to join with Christians around the globe to
focus on the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, and to reflect on what that
encounter means to us personally.
It’s
the message of God with us. God in human
flesh. It is more than amazing. But God
became flesh and dwelt among us. God
entered the world as a Man. And because
He did, we can have very personal encounters with Him.
An
encounter is when we come upon someone or meet with them, usually
unexpectedly. In this case, mankind was
totally caught off guard. Even the
learned religious leaders were blind-sided by this encounter with God. They were so surprised, that they rejected
Him. John puts is like this.
“He was in the world, and the world was
made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:10-14)
During
Jesus’ life on this earth many received Him, believed on His name, and knew He
was the Messiah. One unlikely candidate was a woman who had a pretty bad
reputation. Her encounter with Jesus
came when she made a routine trip to the village well for some water. She was totally unsuspecting that the
Stranger sitting at the well would change her life forever. She probably expected to be shunned by this
Jewish Man, because the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, and especially
not with women of her class. But this
Jewish Man broke tradition and spoke to her.
He actually asked her for a drink of water. Then their conversation turned to her
personal life and to the ways of worship of the Samaritans and Jews. And before she knew what was happening, He
told her He was the Messiah. Somehow, He
had opened her heart, and she knew He spoke the truth. So, she ran back to the village and told the
people she had found the Messiah, and she invited them to come and hear
Jesus. They came, heard Him for
themselves, and accepted Him. One
encounter. One unexpected meeting. And life was never the same for a whole
city. That’s what happens when we meet
the Savior.
Another
encounter came in the darkness of night when one of the Pharisees came to
Jesus. Almost all the Pharisees spoke
out against Jesus and were looking for a way to get rid of Him. They didn’t know Who He really was although
they had all the Old Testament Scriptures to show them. They were jealous of His fame, His power, and
authority. As part of that prestigious
group, Nicodemus couldn’t come openly to Jesus, but he needed some
answers. He needed to find out for
himself Who this Man really was. So, he came by night seeking truth. Nicodemus
was different from the other Pharisees who didn’t believe Jesus was from God. He told Jesus he believed He must be from God
or He couldn’t do the works He was doing.
Jesus explained to him the kingdom of God – a spiritual kingdom that
cannot be seen until one is born again.
Not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual birth that connects us with
Christ. Because of His encounter with
Jesus, Nicodemus’ eyes were opened. It
seems he must have accepted Him as the Messiah, because later, when the
Pharisees were planning to arrest Jesus and kill Him, Nicodemus was brave
enough to speak in His defense. Then,
after Jesus was crucified, Nicodemus went with Joseph of Arimathaea to prepare
Jesus’ body for burial and placed Him in the tomb. This is what it says about Nicodemus in John
19. “And there came
also Nicodemus, which at the first came
to Jesus by night.” Now he
was associating with Jesus in the light.
What a difference an encounter can make when we allow it.
The
Bible is filled with accounts of those who encountered Jesus. Each of the disciples encountered Him and
left everything behind to follow Him. Years later, Paul did the same when he
encountered Him on the road to Damascus.
Mary encountered Him as a baby in her arms and as a grown Son Who hung
on a cross and then returned from the dead.
There are too many to mention, but every life that encountered Jesus was
changed. They would never be the
same. Neither will our lives be the same
when we encounter Him.
Some
who encountered Jesus rejected Him.
Others were interested for a while, but soon slipped back into their
normal lifestyles. Some not only turned
away, but even tried to stop the Light from shining. But the Light still shines today and will
never fade.
We can have
encounters with Jesus Christ on many levels throughout our lives. He calls us to salvation, offers us healing,
speaks to us to come up higher in our relationship with Him, or maybe He calls
us to a specific work. Then, we have a choice to make.
What encounter
have you had with this Messiah? Have you
received Him or rejected Him?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
