Revealed

In the Gospel of Luke we read where two disciples on the road to Emmaus, encounter Jesus but do not recognize Him, even after speaking with Him at length. It was only after Jesus took bread, blessed it and gave it to them, that their eyes were suddenly opened to see Him (see Luke 24:13-35).

And, the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts relates the story of Paul’s (then Saul) encounter with Jesus Christ. Saul, a relentless persecutor of Jesus and everyone who believed in Him, was on his way to Damascus when Jesus revealed Himself saying, 

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?...Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” – Acts 9:4,5 (NKJV)

Have you ever experienced such an encounter? Has Jesus Christ revealed Himself to you? Jesus reveals Himself to us in various ways and none of us will encounter Him the same way. Early on in her conversation with Jesus, the woman at the well was “like the deaf adder that stops her ear” (Psalm 58:4), then as if the living water touched her soul, she confessed, “I have no husband” (John 4:17).

“…if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” – 1 John 1:9 (ERV)

As if her confession broke the power of her restraints, what Jesus said next became for her a water shed moment – a point of turning where Jesus begins to reveal Himself to her.

“Jesus said to her, You have spoken truly in saying, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. In this you have spoken truly.” – John 4:17-18 (AMPC)

With this fifth statement, she realized that Jesus was no ordinary man, she thinks that He a prophet because somehow He knew her, her life, and her circumstances. She still hadn’t recognized Him for who He truly was.

Can you relate? You’ve had an encounter, you think it might be Jesus but you can’t say for sure that it is because you don’t know Him intimately or for that matter, well enough to say without a doubt, “This is Jesus”

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately in need of something so much greater than what we believe we know, and who we think we know. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that need in us, is when we recognize Jesus for who He truly is and cry out, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16 AMPC).

Amen†

Revealed

Shelley Johnson March 24, 2017