Recently preaching through the book of Acts, I came across the account of Saul and his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Wow! What an event that must have been! Saul met Jesus. In the middle of a dusty road, dead set on carrying out his own agenda, he actually met Jesus.

Have you ever thought, “I want to do that“? Have you ever silently speculated, “If only I could meet Jesus like that…my life would be different. My faith would be greater. I would do better.” Have you ever jealously reasoned, “Of course Paul was bold; he met Jesus! How could he not be?”

Maybe believers today are at a disadvantage. Maybe we are missing something because we haven’t marvelously met Jesus like Zacchaeus or Bartimaeus or Paul.

Missing Jesus!

Actually, that’s not the case at all!

You see, Jesus has just as marvelously revealed Himself to us. He has just as miraculously made Himself known. And, He has done it clearly and graciously in His Word.

I can almost hear you roll your eyes. “Yeah, but it’s not the same.”

You’re right; it’s not. It’s better. Jesus, Himself said, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29). Be sure, we are those Jesus calls blessed.

How can that be? How can this be better?

Stay with me — this is awesome! Jesus is alive. He is not an historical figure from the past, long since in His grave. Jesus is not a life that came and went, not a set of facts to know. No, He is alive! And, because He is alive, He is knowable. No less knowable than the day He told Zacchaeus to come down. No less knowable than the day He called out, “Saul, Saul…” He is alive and, therefore, He is able to be known.

So, how do we know Him? Keep following.

Not only is He alive, but His Word is alive as well. It is supernatural — the living Word. The Bible’s own testimony is that “the word of God is living and active…” (Hebrews 4:12). And, Jesus, the living Savior, has chosen to show Himself to us through His own living Word. Get that: How do we meet Jesus? We meet Him powerfully, miraculously, and marvelously through His Word. We can know Jesus!

Still not convinced? Then, think about this:

In the living Word,

• We are witness to His miraculous birth. At the fulness of time, our Savior is born. We join shepherds, angels, and wisemen, to welcome His coming (Matthew 1, Luke 2).
• We are privy to His dedication at the temple — waited for by some, missed by most. “For my eyes have seen Your salvation…” (Luke 2).
• We watch as He teaches with amazing depth, sitting amid the teachers at the age of twelve (Luke 2).
• We see His baptism. The “Lamb of God,” the One in whom the Father is “well pleased” fulfills all righteousness (John 1, Luke 3).
• We stand amazed with the other guests as water turns into wine at a wedding feast (John 2).
• We hear His declaration first-hand: He is the Messiah, the One who fulfills Old Testament prophecy (Luke 4).
• We receive His sermon to would-be disciples perched on a mount. We, with the others in the crowd, also notice He speaks “as one with authority” (Matthew 5-7).
• We feel the kindness of a gracious Lord as He sits calmly with a Samaritan sinner at a well outside of town. We recognize we are no different, lost apart from His grace (John 4).
• We see His tears fall over the heartbreak of the death of a dear friend (John 11).
• We are part of the crowd that yells, “Hosanna!” as He enters Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb. And, we are part of the crowd that yells, “Crucify Him!” responsible for the Lamb’s death (Luke 19, Luke 23).
• We sit around a table with Him and hear as He teaches of His body given for us and the new covenant in His blood (Luke 22).
• We see the astonishing love and trust in the greatest act of self-sacrificial submission ever carried out as we lean in to hear a prayer in the garden: “yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22).
• We watch as He is blindfolded, mocked, and beaten, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” (Luke 22).
• We listen as a hammer clanging nails rings out through the hills and olive groves. We watch as blood flows from His body to the foot of the cross. We take in the word “tetelestai” — paid in full — as He bows His head. We know He is dead as a spear punctures His side (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19).
• We see as the sun comes up, the tomb is empty, and He is alive! We can even hear the angels declare, “He is not here, for He has risen” (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20).
• We hear Him give us our commission, and then, we watch Him ascend on a cloud to glory — mission accomplished! (Matthew 28, Acts 1)

Don’t Miss Jesus!

Do you see Him? Have you met Him? We can know Jesus! In fact, He calls us to. Yet, at the same time, we can miss Jesus. How sad to lament over not seeing what Saul did and miss what Christ has revealed to us. How tragic to want something greater, all to the neglect of the greatest encounter of all — our Savior revealed through His own living Word. From Genesis through Revelation, He’s “explained…the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).

“Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” – John 20:29

We are those He calls blessed.