Once upon a time in the Bible, Jesus sought to know what the people he
taught thought of Him. He proceeded to enquire from His disciples. Some equated
Him to John the Baptist, some said Elijah, and others also mentioned Jeremiah.
John’s bluntness, I believe was the reason for his mention, Elijah
because of the ‘humongous’ miracles and the Jeremiah because of his
‘compassion’ [he was nicknamed the ‘Weeping Prophet’].
When Jesus now asked them what they (disciples) personally thought,
Simon Peter downloaded ‘divine intelligence’ from above and declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living
God”! (Matt. 16:16)
Although this knowledge was handed down to Peter, I believe it was made
possible because of his personal encounter Jesus. When Jesus asked posed the
question to them, each began to reminisce what He had done for them throughout
their relationship. Peter recalled how Jesus met him crestfallen after toiling
all night on the high sea without any catch to show for it. He remembered how in his
lethargy and frustration, but at His word, he let down his net and hurray!,
what seemed to have been a moody night turned out to be the beginning of his
surreal association with Jesus.
It was while thinking about this and a thousand-and-one other wonderful
things that God ‘connected the dots’ in his mind, and dropped what will
eventually be the ‘Rock on which Jesus built His Church’ into his mind.
Brethren, I honestly believe each and every one of us must have a
personal encounter or relationship with Jesus in order to answer this question.
Let me pose this rhetorical question and try to answer it..ironical, isn't it? But I will venture nonetheless; How will you be able to tell someone about me when we
haven’t acquainted? Is it possible to say something noteworthy about me?
Admittedly, it is, except that your declaration will be based on another’s
opinion which may [or may not] be true.
Lots of people thronged the family house of Komla Dumor, Joy FM and the
Accra Press Centre to sign the books of condolence which had been opened at these
locations when the senior BBC journalist died of a cardiac arrest in his London
home. I heard the morning [and mid-morning] show host[ess] of Joy FM read the
tributes of his ‘loved ones’ who had come to the radio station to sign the book
of condolence opened there, and I could only wonder how many of these people
actually ‘knew’ him for who he really was apart from what Joy FM and
subsequently BBC had made him to be. In his funeral brochure, a few of these
tributes were captured there, and anyone who cared to read them could easily
separate the proverbial ‘wheat from the chaff’. Wheat here represents those who
really knew him, and chaff…well…..
The former gave detailed description of their association with him,
whiles the ‘not so brown’ gave one, or two-liners as ‘tributes’.
My point is simply this; you need to ‘know’ someone for who he/she
really is and not just on a ‘face-value’ level in order to tell others when
called upon to do so.
Many of us know Jesus for what He has done for us; that well-paying job
He gave us, that lucrative deal He helped us close, that malignant tumor He
removed from the thyroid and many other wonderfully humongous things He does
for us each day. These are fantastic! But hear this: He is more than that! The Good Book calls Him the Bread
of Life, the Good Shepherd, the Comforter, the Saviour, ‘the-One-that-takest-away-the-sins-of-the-world’,
Emmanuel etc…but above all, the ‘Son of The Living God’! Know Him for you!
Who do you say He is?
