I thought I would ask a very silly question. What does it mean to know Jesus? It's the kings new clothes question no one dare ask for fear of seeming a fool. Is it a relationship mediated through the bible or the church or sacraments. Is it a one way relationship where I pray but never hear? Or is knowing Jesus just a metaphor for being a Christian and believing certain things? Does knowing Jesus involve an existential je ne sais quoi element or do know him intellectually? Is it head or heart, bible or spirit. Evangelicals talk about knowing Jesus but they probably mean many different thing by this phrase.
GlenPost author
Hi Brian, not a silly question at all. I guess "knowing... in the biblical sense" has always been more than "knowing facts about." "Knowing good and evil" wasn't about having cognitive awareness of good and evil, but taking good and evil to ourselves. "Adam knew Eve" was certainly about more than factual knowledge. And "the LORD knew Israel" is more than an intellectual truth. All those kinds of "knowing" involve relationships of belonging.
Same with "knowing Jesus." In John 10 He says "I know my sheep and my sheep know me *just as* the Father knows me and I know the Father" (v14-15). That, to me, speaks of a personal knowledge of Jesus that includes love and commitment. It's the kind of knowledge that says "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." (Song of Songs 6:3)
Certainly church community is the context of knowing Christ and the sacraments are a form of the Word by which Christ comes to us. But primarily the Spirit brings us Christ in the Word. In the sermon I speak about paying attention to the word "until the morning star rises in your hearts" (v19). The morning star is a title for Christ (Rev 22). So there is something "existential", if you like. But it doesn't come by trying to whip up an existential experience, it comes by putting yourself in the path of the Word.
I thought I would ask a very silly question. What does it mean to know Jesus? It's the kings new clothes question no one dare ask for fear of seeming a fool. Is it a relationship mediated through the bible or the church or sacraments. Is it a one way relationship where I pray but never hear? Or is knowing Jesus just a metaphor for being a Christian and believing certain things? Does knowing Jesus involve an existential je ne sais quoi element or do know him intellectually? Is it head or heart, bible or spirit. Evangelicals talk about knowing Jesus but they probably mean many different thing by this phrase.
Hi Brian, not a silly question at all. I guess "knowing... in the biblical sense" has always been more than "knowing facts about." "Knowing good and evil" wasn't about having cognitive awareness of good and evil, but taking good and evil to ourselves. "Adam knew Eve" was certainly about more than factual knowledge. And "the LORD knew Israel" is more than an intellectual truth. All those kinds of "knowing" involve relationships of belonging.
Same with "knowing Jesus." In John 10 He says "I know my sheep and my sheep know me *just as* the Father knows me and I know the Father" (v14-15). That, to me, speaks of a personal knowledge of Jesus that includes love and commitment. It's the kind of knowledge that says "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." (Song of Songs 6:3)
Certainly church community is the context of knowing Christ and the sacraments are a form of the Word by which Christ comes to us. But primarily the Spirit brings us Christ in the Word. In the sermon I speak about paying attention to the word "until the morning star rises in your hearts" (v19). The morning star is a title for Christ (Rev 22). So there is something "existential", if you like. But it doesn't come by trying to whip up an existential experience, it comes by putting yourself in the path of the Word.