Meeting Jesus is a Life-Changing Experience
Several years ago, a barbers' supply company held a convention in a major city.
To show the world how good their products were they organized a publicity stunt.
They went to the worst section of town and brought back the dirtiest and most
helpless street person they could find. They presented him on the stage.
Everyone saw how dirty and unkempt his hair and beard were. Then they took him
out and cleaned him up. They shaved him. They shampooed and styled his hair.
They sprayed him with cologne. They washed him with a new kind of soap they were
trying to sell. They bought him a new suit, a new shirt, new tie, and shoes. He
looked great. He looked and felt like a new man. They brought him back to the
stage to show him off, saying, "This is what our barber supplies can do for
you."
The audience could hardly believe that this was the same man they had seen
earlier that day. Looking at the man on stage no one would ever have guessed
that he was living in the streets just a few hours before. He was completely
changed.
The very next day the organizers of the convention went looking for this man
again. Would you like to guess where they found him? That's right - lying in the
gutter, filthy and drunk! They changed him on the outside, but nothing had
changed on the inside.
James W. Moore, Yes Lord, I have sinned, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991), pp.
54-55.
To change a person on the inside is beyond the resources of beauticians and
barbers. It is also beyond the resources of medicine, science, technology, and
philosophy. Only a relationship with Jesus can renew a person from within.
The Apostle Paul was formerly an enemy of Jesus, until he truly met Him.
"Once I mistakenly thought of Christ...as though he were merely a human being. How
differently I think about him now! What this means is that those who become
Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life
is gone. A new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)
They Met Jesus
The Gospels record the intriguing stories of people who met Jesus. Hundreds of
men, women, and children heard, saw, and personally interacted with Jesus.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John chose from among these hundreds of stories to
record a select few.
There was a purpose why they chose to tell us the stories of these particular
people. Their stories are the real life situations of people like you and me.
People who have questions about the meaning of life, problems with sin,
weaknesses, or how to find and please God.
Today we are beginning a mini-series that will take us up to Easter Sunday. We
are going to meet 14 men and women whose lives were changed by an encounter with
Jesus.
Bartimaeus - "The man who could not be stopped"
Canaanite woman - "What to do when God ignores you"
Demon Possessed man - "The most miserable man at church"
John the Baptist - "Did I misunderstand you Lord?"
Mary and Martha - "Picking your priorities"
Nicodemus - "The nighttime visitor"
Gerasenes demoniac - "When God answers everyone's prayers but yours"
A Father - "What a little faith can do"
Zacchaeus - "The honest thief"
Simon the Pharisee - "The careless host"
Centurion at cross - "I helped crucify Jesus"
Thief on the cross - "I was almost too late"
Mary Magdalene - "What I saw on Easter Sunday"
Why Did Jesus Affect People So Powerfully?
1. He was honest, outspoken, and fearless
Jesus also spoke with truth and never deceived or covered-up the facts. He spoke
of matters of great importance, such as salvation, heaven, hell, life, and
death, with directness. When he taught huge crowds or to one single person, he
spoke from the heart and it did not matter if that person was a powerful leader
or a humble beggar.
Matthew 7:28-29 "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were
amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as
their teachers of the law."
John 7:32, 45-46 "The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about
him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest
him...Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who
asked them, ‘Why didn't you bring him in?' ‘No one ever spoke the way this man
does,' the guards declared."
Luke 13:31-33 "At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave
this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you." He replied, "Go tell
that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on
the third day I will reach my goal.' In any case, I must keep going today and
tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!"
Matthew 23:29, 33 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the
righteous.... You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being
condemned to hell?"
2. He cared deeply and was emotionally involved with people
Jesus did not come from heaven to study the human condition. He was not detached
or unmoved by the hurts and sorrows of people. He entered directly into their
lives and cared for them, offering his help and words of comfort. Jesus had a
heart for the people he met. He felt for them in their confusion, problems, and
the emptiness of their lives.
Mark 10:20-22 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell
everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he
had great wealth."
Young and old, sinful and troubled, disabled and hurting all felt comfortable
with Jesus. He always took the time to speak personally and with full attention
to every person who approached him. (Mark 10:16, John 7:53, Matthew 9:27, John
11:3-5, Mathew 11:28-30)
Luke 7:12-15 "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. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said,
‘Don't cry.' Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it 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."
John 11:33-36 "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with
her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you
laid him?' he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,' they replied. Jesus wept. Then the
Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!'"
"A particular friend of Jesus was dead; and, as his friend, the affectionate
soul of Christ was troubled, and he mingled his tears with those of the
afflicted relatives. Behold the man, in his deep, heart-felt trouble, and in his
flowing tears! ... Can such a Jesus refuse to comfort the distressed, or save the
lost? Here is God manifested in the flesh! Living in human nature, feeling for
the distressed, and suffering for the lost!" (Adam Clarke)
3. He was not deceived by outward appearances
Jesus saw the true nature of every person he met. He could not be deceived by
words or outward appearance. This unsettled people, who were used to keeping
their private thoughts a secret.
John 1:45-49 "Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses
wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?'
Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,' said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael
approaching, he said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing
false.' ‘How do you know me?' Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while
you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.' Then Nathanael
declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'"
"He knew all men" - John 2:24
"Knowing their thoughts" - Matthew 9:4
"Knowing all that was going to happen" - John 18:4
4. He challenged people to make a decision
He called on selected people to leave everything behind and follow him. No one
met Jesus without making a decision about him and about his or her own behavior.
Matthew 4:18-20 "As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two
brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net
into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,' Jesus said, ‘and I
will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him."
5. He was God in human flesh
No image or mere words could express the nature of God the Father, but a person
could, the person of Jesus.
John 14:6-10 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my
Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said,
"Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered:
"Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the
Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in
me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living
in me, who is doing his work."
John 12:44-45 "Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not
believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the
one who sent me."
Jesus showed us the exact nature of God in action. He also showed us the heart
of God, who cares for each of us. The Lord Jesus can touch the leper, he can
hold a child, he can weep with the hurting, he can soothe the anxious, and he
can offer the hope of a transformed life.
How Does He So Dramatically Transform People?
He forgives sin
He is able to release people from the penalty of sin.
Luke 7:48-50 "Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.' The other guests
began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?' Jesus said
to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'"
He sets people free and gives a new beginning
Jesus frees people from bondage to sin, shame, and habits. He is ready to give
freedom from those things that enslave and hold people hostage. He frees people
who are held captive by habits, fears, darkness, and the destructive bondage to
sin.
Mark 5:1-15 records the story of a miserable man who was held in slavery by
thousands of demons. (Note: A Roman legion was 6,000 soldiers, so this
unfortunate man was inhabited by a large number of evil spirits).
Mark 5:15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by
the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they
were afraid."
Luke 13:12, 16 "When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her,
‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.... should not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set
free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?'"
The pages of the Bible are filled with people labeled: "Thief, liar, adulterer,
murderer, weak, fearful, and failure." God specializes in taking those people
and turning them into honest, strong, faithful, pure, and holy men and women.
He gives new meaning in life
Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light."
He gives peace of mind from stress and fear
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
His Disciples Were Changed Forever
When Jesus first met his disciples they were uncultured, angry, quick to judge,
forgetful, self-centered, and fearful.
Peter was impulsive and wavering- cut off servant's ear and denied the Lord
James and John were judgmental - call down fire from heaven
Thomas was a fearful cynic with deep doubts
Matthew was a traitor to his country - a tax collector
Simon the Zealot was a rebel and revolutionary against Rome
They were changed by the influence and example of Jesus.
Mark 3:14 "He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be
with him and that he might send them out to preach."
After the resurrection of Jesus there was a remarkable change in the disciples.
They realized that he was in fact, God's son. They became bold, courageous, and
outspoken in their preaching of the gospel. They faced incredible hardship and
fierce enemies, yet they never wavered in their obedience to Christ's command:
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every living person." (Mark
16:15)
Acts 4:13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they
were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that
these men had been with Jesus."
Caterpillars are ugly. Now I don't mean to be critical, but let's face it, those
hairy crawlers are not the beauty queens of the animal kingdom. I've never heard
of anyone with a caterpillar collection, have you? Oh, I suppose someone could
try a makeover on a caterpillar, you know, just shave off some of that hair,
give him a little color ... but who could ever imagine that one of the uglier
critters around could actually become one of the most beautiful animals in the
world - a butterfly!
You don't see many pictures of caterpillars on things, but you see pictures of
butterflies everywhere! A critter covered with ugly black hair becomes a
butterfly splashed with amazing colors. An animal that lives off the leaves on
the ground becomes the connoisseur of flower nectar ... and a creature that once
crawled everywhere becomes one that can fly everywhere. We're not talking
makeover here. We're talking miracle!
The Creator who so miraculously transforms caterpillars does something far more
amazing. He does it for people ... like you and me. A Word With You By Ron
Hutchcraft
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