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Does Jesus Know You?

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“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24

 The Son rises.

God impressed those words upon my heart a few days ago as my family participated in our church’s Easter sunrise service. I had closed my eyes in worship, and while we sang, I began to feel the heat of warm rays reaching my legs as the sun crested over the treetops. And God whispered into my spirit, “the Son rises.”

He does, you know. The Day of the Lord draws nearer with each setting sun. My heart rejoices with anticipation for His approaching glory. But concern quickly follows my joy. Concern for the lost—particularly the lost within the church.

Yes, dear one. You read that correctly. Many who sit in our pews are lost. And my Father has burdened my heart for them. Which is why our recent celebration of our Savior’s resurrection seemed a perfect opportunity to write this plea.

Are you sure that Jesus knows you, beloved?

Even as I write the question, I know many will recoil from it. In a generation raised on the certainty of a magic prayer, the question seems unthinkable. Who am I to cause someone to doubt their salvation?

And yet, nowhere in scripture can I find the assurance of magic words. Instead, I find plea after plea to live by faith according the Word of God, and “…to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).”

So, I write in obedience to 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

We can say that we know Jesus, beloved. But scripture teaches that what will save us on the day of judgment is whether Jesus declares that He knows us.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23

Precious one, when Jesus walked upon this earth, He issued a warning. Nestled between teachings about bearing good fruit and building on the rock of His Word, He declared that when He returns, many will cry out in baffled surprise when He refuses them.

Indignantly, they will plead their case. They called Him Lord. They served Him, even doing mighty works in His name. Of course they belonged to Him! Yet Jesus will declare, “I never knew you; depart from me…”

He issues a similar warning in the parable of the ten virgins.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” Matthew 25:1-4

Notice that all ten believed they were betrothed to the bridegroom. All ten fully expected admittance into the wedding feast. But five of them had no oil in their lamps. Lamps without oil produce no light. Five did not examine themselves and failed to meet the test.

After a delay, the call rang out.

“’Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’” Verses 6-9

You may be tempted to judge the wise virgins’ unwillingness to share their oil. But the truth is, our salvation can’t provide someone else entry into the kingdom. Everyone must receive their oil from the Bridegroom Himself. Only He can give the Holy Spirit through an authentic encounter that results in repentant faith.

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The five virgins without oil discovered they acted too late. The bridegroom arrived while they were trying to figure out how to get oil.

“… and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” Verses 10-12

Jesus’ words in the parable echo those from Matthew 7:23. I never knew you. His next words offer a mirror with which we can examine ourselves. “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Our works in Jesus’ name mean nothing if our hearts remain bound to the lawless one. Judas offers proof of that. He preached and performed miracles in Jesus’ name, yet he never repented of the evil in his heart. Greed made him a thief and a liar, willing to sell his friend for 30 pieces of silver. Though he walked beside true disciples, lack of repentance kept him from becoming one.

So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:28

We cannot follow Jesus and embrace the ways of the world. You must choose, beloved. Jesus or the world. His Word doesn’t allow for both.

“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:14

Repent, dear one. Leave the world and cling to Jesus. Invite Him to govern your heart, and He will count you among them.

Rising to Life

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Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” John 11:25

I had a good cry with Jesus this morning. A prayer journal I’ve been working through brought me to the streets of Jerusalem to witness His trial and execution. The scene did not evoke peace or comfort. The crowd grew ugly, crying out for blood.

The guards gladly gave it, pounding Jesus with fists and lashes, their mocking lips curled in treacherous smiles as they hailed Him “King of the Jews” and repeatedly beat a crown of thorns into His head. They spit on Him and mocked Him, then made Him carry His own cross, stumbling half dead through the streets to Golgotha. There, they hammered nails into His wrists and ankles, hanging Him between two thieves on splintered beams of wood.

I can barely stand the thought of it. My heart breaks for my Lord and friend when I think of what He suffered. I cannot imagine the searing rejection He felt, the pain He endured. If anyone ever had reason to rage against injustice, it was Jesus. He was innocent, undeserving; yet He suffered unspeakable pain. And at the hands of those He professed to love, many who only the week before had worshiped Him.

Yes, if ever anyone had reason to hold a grudge, it was Jesus. But He didn’t. Instead, He hung gasping for breath, ignored their insults, and uttered the impossible.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Unbelievable. The torture wasn’t even over. No one had apologized. In fact, they were still hurling insults at Him. His circumstances hadn’t changed. The people had not repented. Yet Jesus chose—in the midst of His pain—to release forgiveness.

It makes no sense to us. In fact, it’s almost unthinkable. It goes against every thread of instinct woven into our human nature. But that’s the point, actually. Our human nature rings synonymous with our fallen nature, and left unchecked it will destroy us.

Dear one, the part of you that rails against how unfair your circumstances seem—that screams you deserve better and schemes for retribution—that part of you has spent its life enslaved to sin and will always incite you to respond in ways that bring about death.

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. Romans 7:5

Beloved, no good ever comes from following our “natural” instincts, because what feels natural to us comes from our life-long bondage to sin. Whenever we allow our old nature to guide our actions, death of some kind eventually results. Every time. And when we hold a grudge, it won’t be the one we harbor anger toward that experiences that death. No, our bitterness brings death to our own souls.

If you think about it, you’ll probably find you know that to be true. You’ve likely tasted the poison of bitterness and felt its effects.

Have you ever had an “enemy” so preoccupy your thoughts that you can hardly think about anything else? Anger overshadows every other emotion until it’s hard to imagine being capable of another feeling. Unrest steals your peace; anxiety consumes your joy. The very mention of your offender sets your heart racing and your blood boiling. Ugly thoughts linger. And most of the time, you just feel miserable.

Do you see it, dear one? Death. Is this what we fight to protect by refusing to forgive?

The perfect Son of God made a different choice as He hung from His cross. Why? Because Jesus, unbound by our destructive sin nature, knew that forgiveness was the only way to keep Himself free.

Jesus didn’t only offer forgiveness as a grand act of mercy toward humanity. Jesus had to forgive, dear one. Accepting that sin into His heart would’ve thwarted everything He had come to accomplish.

Think about it. What made Jesus able to conquer death and rise from the grave? He defeated sin and its resulting death by remaining the perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb. If Jesus had allowed bitterness to take root in His heart, even He would’ve missed experiencing the glory of resurrection.

Forgiveness had to take place, beloved, or Jesus would have remained in the grave. Bitterness would have kept our Savior from rising to life.

The same rings true for you, dear one. The power to rise from the dead lies within your own heart. You can trust your old nature and hold onto the resentment you have every right to carry. Or, like Jesus, you can choose to believe that resurrection life lies on the other side of forgiveness.

You may even experience the same miracle Jesus did. He didn’t just rise to glory; the grace that forgiveness unleashed brought about a direct change in His circumstances.

Just look at the thief that hung beside Him. He began that torturous day among Jesus’ accusers.  Matthew 27:44 records, “In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

Amazingly, one of the thieves suddenly switched sides after Jesus’ famous, pardoning words. Luke 23:39-41 records the abrupt change.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Jesus’ forgiveness released the power of grace to transform that thief’s hardened heart. In a powerful moment, Jesus’ opposition became His friend; His enemy became His ally. Transformation occurred because the faith expressed through forgiveness released God to move. And both Jesus and His accuser rose to new life.

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

Beloved, your faith expressed through obedience opens the door to release God’s grace. Why not give forgiveness a try? You may just see your enemy become your ally.

“Everything is possible for one who believes.”  Mark 9:23