April 2, 2005

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

When People Meet Jesus

 

Introduction

 

   It is an interesting thing to note what happened when people met Jesus Christ.  It is, of course, impossible for us to meet Jesus in the same physical way in which these people did.  But we can come to know Him in all the essentially important ways in which they did.  What happens when people meet Jesus Christ?  Note some of the responses in Scripture.

 

The Village of Sychar  (John 4:4-42)

 

   This is a lengthy and important account given in the Gospel of John.  This gospel is like Acts in many ways, in that it gives many different accounts of people responding to Jesus Christ.  Maybe we should put with the conversion accounts of Acts these accounts of the Gospel of John.  We fine justification for doing that in this statement: “Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto Jesus.”  (Acts 8:35.)  In addition, the success of Philip down in Samaria in Acts 8:5-12 could be attributed to Jesus’ work a few years before.  Philip also “went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them.”  (Acts 8:5.)  This should be done first, before baptism or anything else is preached!

 

   The villagers of Sychar heard about Jesus from the woman Jesus met at Jacob’s well.  “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.”  (John 4:39.)  But some of the villagers would not believe until they met Jesus for themselves.  “And many more believed because of his own word.  And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”  (John 4:42.)  This statement is typical of the responses of those who meet Jesus in John’s Gospel.  John records their expressions of faith in Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.  That one woman, who had had five husbands, was responsible for the whole village learning about Jesus Christ.

When the Greeks Met Jesus

 

   “And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast (Passover, see 11:55).  The same came therefore to Philip and desired him saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.”  (John 12:20-21.)  Philip and Andrew told Jesus that the Greeks wanted to meet with him.  What Jesus told these Greeks is interesting.  He said, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone.  But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.  He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”  (John 12:23-25.)

 

   When Jesus asked the Father to glorify his name, the voice of God from heaven said, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”  (12:28.)  Jesus told the Greeks that the voice from heaven did not come for his sake, but for your sakes.  (12:30.)  The Greeks, no doubt, received more than they were expecting that day they sought out Jesus.  They heard the voice of God from heaven honoring his Son for their sakes!

 

   Since these Greeks came up to worship during the Passover, we are probably safe in saying that these were Greek speaking Jews.  For many years at this time, the Jews had embraced the Greek culture and began to give Greek names to their children.

 

   One thing that we learn from all these encounters with Jesus is that did not respect one ethnic group over another.  He spoke to the Samaritan woman, which Jews would have avoided.  When Greeks are named in opposition to Jews, most likely Gentiles are meant.  When Jesus met the Syro-Phoenecian woman and healed her daughter, he commended her great faith to his disciples.

 

Some Jews Rejected Jesus as Messiah

 

   John began his gospel account by saying, “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.”  (John 1:11-13.)

 

   Among those who rejected Jesus were the sect of Jews known as the Pharisees, who were perhaps the most bitter against him because they trusted in their own righteousness and rejected the need for a Savior.  (Luke 18:9.)  John specifically names the Pharisees among those who led the charges against Jesus and demanded his crucifixion.

 

   “Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.”  (John 18:3.)

 

   The Sadducees had a different set of problems.  They were the materialists among the Jews who rejected the reality of spirits, angels and the resurrection.  The Pharisees believed in all these.  (Acts 23:8-9.)  But the Sadducees were in charge of the temple.  They had great power in Jerusalem in matters related to the temple.  Jesus drove out the money exchangers from the temple.  This infuriated the Sadducees.  The Sadducees were the priestly group.  At first, they allowed the Pharisees to tangle with Jesus, but when Jesus confronted their wealth and operation of the temple, they sought his death as well.

 

Saul of Tarsus

 

   How do people respond to Jesus Christ?  It depends upon their heart and what they seek for in life.  Saul of Tarsus was a trained Jew in the sect of the Pharisees.  Yet he did his work against Christians as an agent of the chief priests, who were Sadducees.  Saul was a person with great intellect and tremendous zeal.  He exceeded his own teachers in their zeal opposing Christianity.  Yet, we learn later what kind of heart his man really had.  He was misled by his teachers in opposing Jesus Christ.  He had an opportunity to met Jesus even after his death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven.  Saul was on the road to Damascus to apprehend Christians when Jesus appeared to him.

 

   “A light from heaven shined round about him.  He fell to the earth and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?  He said, Who art thou, Lord?  And the lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.  It is hard for thee to prick against the pricks.  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?  And the Lord said, Arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”  (Acts 9:3-6.)

 

   The one who so fervently opposed Jesus now believed and told his story of conversion over the Roman Empire.  (See Acts 22 before the counsel in Jerusalem and Acts 26 before Agrippa at Caesarea.)  You find out what kind of heart a person has when he meets Jesus.  What will you do with him?

 

All of Us

 

   What has the meeting with Jesus meant to you?  How have you responded to him?  Do you believe in Him?  Has he changed your life?

 

Archie Bunker Meets Jesus

 

ARCHIE BUNKER MEETS JESUS

James 2: 1-17

 Archie (played by Carroll O’Connor) was  narrow-minded, bigoted, opinionated and quite ignorant.  Archie stereotyped everyone – no one was immune.  Race, religion, sex or politics provided the means by which Archie organized his world. 

What would have transpired if Archie Bunker had ever met Jesus?  What if Jesus had paid a visit to Archie’s home and talked with him and Edith?  What would Jesus have said to Archie?  Let’s listen in –

ARCHIE IS SITTING IN HIS CHAIR AND A KNOCK COMES AT THE DOOR

Archie:  Just hold onto your horses I’m coming. OPENS THE DOOR.  Who are you – one of Meathead’s loser pinko friends?

Jesus:  I’m Jesus and I’ve come to see you.

Archie: Yeah and I’m John the Baptist – Sayonara.

Edith:  Archie, who is it?

Archie: Some longhaired friend of Meathead’s wearing sandals and a robe.  He says his name is Jesus.  I ran him off.  Lightning or something could strike you with a guy like that around.

Edith: Oh, Archie, you shouldn’t do that. EDITH GOES TO THE DOOR, OPENS IT, AND SEES THAT Jesus IS STILL THERE.  May I help you?

Jesus: Yes, my name is Jesus and I’ve come to visit Archie Bunker. 

Edith: Are you the real Jesus?  We get a lot of strange people around here if you know what I mean.

Jesus: Yes, I’m the real Jesus – born in Nazareth to Mary.

Archie: How do we know you’re the real Jesus?

Jesus: HOLDS UP HIS HANDS.  Do you know anyone else who has spike scars through their wrists?

Edith: O my God!

Jesus: You might say that.

Archie: Well, Mr. Jesus – come right in.  Do I call you Mr. Jesus or Mr. Christ?  What brings you to our neighborhood?

Jesus: Call me Jesus.  Maybe later you’ll call me Lord.  I’ve come to see you because my Father and I were talking about you the other day and we noticed that you need a lot of work.  We haven’t seen you at church much lately and when we do you really don’t seem to be enjoying yourself.

Archie: Well, I try to go every week and do go most Sundays—

Jesus: Really – that’s not what our record in heaven shows –

Archie: Oh yeah – I guess you do know what goes on, well – you know how it is; A guy’s got to work for a living and most Sundays I’m too tired to move.  Besides, that preacher is really boring and he keeps talking about all that “love your neighbor pinko-commie stuff.”

Edith: Archie!

Jesus:  That’s alright – at least he’s honest. Are you aware that I said you should love your neighbor as yourself?

Archie: I’ll bet you didn’t have neighbors like I’ve got – spics, & spades, them money grubbing Jews and lazy blacks!  You didn’t have no Jeffersons next door.

Jesus:  Archie, I am a Jew.

Archie: Oh…well…that’s different.  Youse being the Son of God and all – that makes you different.  You weren’t really a Jew.

Jesus: Really, now!  How does that make me different?  I believe the Bible teaches that I was fully human, just like you!

Archie: How should I know?  I just know that people today are different than people back then.

Jesus:  And how would you know?  Where you around back then?

Archie: Well, no – but you know what I mean.  You didn’t have no welfare state, or people mooching off others.  Everybody worked for their own food.  Even Meatheads.

Edith: Archie!

Jesus: Archie, if you mean that ours was basically an agrarian society where everyone had a family garden out of which they ate – then you are right.  You live in an industrialized world that is vastly different from mine.  However, if you were there you would know that people are the same – there are good and bad people in every generation and society.

Archie: You mean you had Eyetalians and blacks and all sorts of races?

Jesus: That’s right.  Why the Romans – whom you call Italians – they ruled our country when I was alive.  We did not even have our own government.  People from Africa came up to trade with us – and there were other nations all around us as well as different nationalities living in our country.

Archie: How did all you people get along? 

Jesus:  Well, we did not always get along.  There was a lot of trouble in our country – my people hated our cousins the Samaritans.  We called them “half-breeds” because they had intermarried with non-Jews.  I never did like that – and tried to teach people that God did not like that either.  Of course, it almost got me killed that Sunday in Nazareth.  They wanted to stone me but I managed to escape.  But enough of that—let me ask you a question.

Archie: Sure, go right ahead.

Jesus: Why do you treat other people the way you do?  Why do you rant and rave about other races and people with whom you disagree?  Why do you call your son-in-law “Meathead?”

Archie: That’s easy.  He’s a Meathead.  Thinks all there is to life is to go to school and let someone else pick up the check.  As for all those others – well, they’re just wrong, flat wrong.  I’ve worked hard all my life for what I have and I don’t want anyone else taking it away from me. 

Jesus: Have you ever realized that they are God’s children just as much as are you?  Have you ever thought that God loves them just as much as God loves you?  Did you know that when God looks at someone God does not see a Jew, a black, a Mexican, or a WASP?  Did you know that when God looks at someone God sees a human being, made in God’s image, whom God loves with all the love that God has?

Archie:  He does? You mean to tell me that God sees us all the same – no difference?  White or black, male or female, rich or poor – God sees us all the same?

Jesus: That’s right.  God is not impressed by our skin color, by our family tree, or by our bank account.  God is impressed by our love – by how much we care for and help one another.

Archie: I helped a little old lady in her apartment the other day.  She rode in my cab but was having a hard time getting up the stairs.

Jesus: She tipped you twenty dollars too, did she not?

Archie: Well, yeah – I forgot about that.

Jesus: Archie, who do you really love?  Who would you die for?

Archie: Well, let’s see.  There’s Edith….

Edith: Archie!

Archie: Don’t’ get so mushy on me.  And there’s Gloria.  My parents are dead and I’m the only one left.  I guess those are the only people I would really die for – but I did serve in WWII, you know.  Not like some Meatheads who wouldn’t fight for our country.

Jesus: Archie, you really are lonely, aren’t you?  Other than your immediate family you’ve cut yourself off from all friends and neighbors.  What about the Jeffersons next door?  He’s a businessman and doing quite well.  Didn’t you and him get locked in a basement together for a weekend?  Didn’t he save your life one time?

Archie: Gee, you guys know everything!  He’s a nice guy and everything – but….

Jesus: He’s not like you, is he Archie?

Archie: No, he’s not.

Jesus: Archie, your problem is that you only want to be around people like you – who think like you, act like you, and look like you.  Archie, you’ve set yourself up as your own image of God.  I’ve got news for you – God is not like you, Archie.

Archie: Whaddaya mean?

Jesus: When I came to your door you did not believe me when I introduced myself.  Why? You thought that Jesus could not possibly look like me – because I did not look like you.  The danger with this is that we start to treat others on the basis of whether or not they are like us and when we do so we are setting ourselves up to be God. 

Archie: Tell me more.

Jesus: Archie, I lived in one of the most prejudicial and discriminatory societies that ever existed.  One of the main reasons I was crucified is that I told people that God loved everyone – that we were all God’s children – and the Jews, my people, did not want to believe this.  My church even started out this way but God used a man named Paul to change her.  Even my brother had to learn that God loved everyone – and that all were to be equal in the church regardless of race, color, sex, or money. Paul even said it in Galatians when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” 

Edith: The minister preached on that verse one Sunday but Archie got mad and will not go back.

Archie: Stifle yourself, Edith!

Jesus:  I know – remember who I am?  That’s the reason I have come today.  Archie, you’re only hurting yourself.  You are basically a good man who loves his family and tries to do what is right.  You’re just hurting yourself and your family when you hate others.  You are building walls instead of bridges – walls that will take years to pull down.  Archie, you don’t’ have many years left…

Archie: I don’t?  How long?

Jesus: Well, I wouldn’t buy any green bananas!  Seriously, I cannot tell you that, but I can tell you that you have today.  Archie, love people today – for who they are and not for who you want them to be.  You just love them Archie – God and I will take care of the rest.

Archie: I’ll try…it’s not easy – going against my nature and all.

Jesus: It goes against your human nature – but not against the Spirit that lives in you through me.  Archie, when you gave your life to me years ago you received my Spirit living in you.  Rely on the Spirit and not your human nature – you’ll do much better. 

Edith: Oh, I’m so happy I could cry.

Archie: Stifle, Edith!

Jesus: Archie….

Archie: I’m sorry, Edith. 

Jesus:  I had best be going…I have enjoyed our visit. 

Edith:  Would you like a piece of pie and a cup of coffee?

Jesus: No thanks – I don’t each much anymore.  Last meal I had was some fish by the Sea of Galilee.  Had to convince my disciples that it was really me and I was not a ghost.

ARCHIE, JESUS, AND EDITH GET UP AND WALK TO THE DOOR.  THEY HUG JESUS AND HE GOES OUT THE DOOR.

Archie:  That was incredible.  Tell me I’m not dreaming.

Edith:  Archie, that was incredible and no, you’re not dreaming.  That was really Jesus.

Archie:  Hmm…he was shorter than I thought and not quite as heavy.  Oh darn, I forgot to ask him one thing.  Jesus…Jesus.

ARCHIE OPENS THE DOOR BUT JESUS IS GONE.

Edith:  What did you want with him, Archie?

Archie: Well, as long as he was here – I was going to buy a lottery ticket tomorrow and wanted him to give me the winning number.

Edith:  Archie!

by Robert U. Ferguson, Jr.