JESUS KNOWS YOU

“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” John 2:24b-25

Do you ever feel that nobody understands you? Do you ever feel the loneliness of being around people who think that they know you but you know that they really don't? Do you ever feel misunderstood by others? Judged by others? Ignored by others? Do you ever feel reduced by others in their perceptions of who you are? Do you ever feel that people do not know the person that you are now and only relate to you as the person that you once were? Are you in the middle of some trial or have you suffered a personal loss and you feel that nobody understands what you feel or a re going through?

I find great comfort in my life meditating on the attributes of Jesus. In Jesus there is one person who you can relate to who knows everything about you inside and out. It is truly remarkable! All of our relationships are based upon ignorance. When I think about all of my relationships and acquaintances I realize that there are some people I don’t know at all and others I have known for many years. There are those who I have come to know deeply and intimately and others I hardly know at all. In your best relationships, the fact is that you don’t know 10,000 things that could be known about them and they do not know 10,000 things about you. Massive levels of not knowing form our relationships!

But there is one relationship in the universe that is not like that; yours with Jesus. Do you recall Peter’s three answers to Jesus’ question after the resurrection, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked him three times, probably because Peter had denied Jesus three times. Peter said the first time, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said the second time, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said the third time, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:15–17). There is always one person who knows your heart perfectly. Knows it better than you do. Jesus Christ. Jesus does not just know about my circumstances or environments or relationships on the outside, He knows about the inside.

There is an old African American spiritual that goes like this,“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. Nobody knows but Jesus...” There are two senses in which you can mean that. One is: Nobody has experienced my circumstances. That’s not true. Every one of us have gone through difficulties, suffered loss, or experienced the consequences of bad decisions. But the other is that nobody has ever been me in these circumstances. Nobody has ever brought your weaknesses,sins, and experience to your moments of difficulty, loss, sorrow, brokenness, failure, or pain. the fact is that nobody has been you in this experience,nobody can be you, and nobody can know this. When I think of that, it frightens me how alone I am in this particular trial,loss,pain,or sorrow. The circumstances may be as old as the world, but your experience of them is utterly unique. Nobody has ever been in your skin bringing your personality, temperament,feelings, sins, weaknesses, family and personal history, and your emotional constitution to this moment of personal loss and sorrow. How comforting it is to know that when you think about the knowledge of Jesus, you can tell yourself, "I am not alone in this experience; Jesus knows."

At those moments I can hear Jesus say to me “I know it. I know it better than you know it. I’m there. I am with you." I find this a huge relief to my soul! He knows all of my burdens and it is wonderful. Jesus knows my heart and my mind and my body and everything about me and there comes a sense of relief that in this utterly unique brokenness, pain, and sorrow, that nobody else can share or understand, Jesus perfectly, totally, fully, and completely understands.

It also means that there are no complete secrets in your life. You may have succeeded in hiding something all your life from everyone on this earth, but you have not hidden it from Jesus. The person who matters most knows most. The person whose judgment about you is all important knows all. Let that sink in. You are totally known. Totally. There is not the slightest part of your heart unknown to Jesus, at this hour, and every hour. Therefore, there is always at least one person you must relate to who knows everything about you. You may be able to look at others in the face and know that they do not know certain things about you. This shapes your relationship, but there is one who when you look him in the face sees totally through you. If you relate to Him at all, you relate as one utterly laid bare, and utterly known. Yet, in that perfect knowledge Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus is full of empathetic compassion for you. Jesus is full of mercy towards you and He is infinitely wealthy with grace to help you in your moment that nobody knows or understands.

What an amazing relationship! There is one, and only one, who actually and totally knows you. Nobody else even comes close. Your spouse’s knowledge of you, or your best friend’s knowledge of you, compares to Jesus’ knowledge of you like first-grade math to quantum mechanics. You are fully known by one person, Jesus Christ. Therefore, you always have a person who loves you, knowing absolutely everything about you. Is it no wonder that God's knowledge of David led him to cry in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” God knows you and in that knowledge knows your pain, your weaknesses and sins, and can help you, make you clean,and in that wonderful knowledge bring healing to my soul.

Jesus is the one you can always go to for help in knowing who you are and He will not reject you in that knowledge but in spite of that knowledge says that He "forgives you", "loves you", is "for you", and invites us in that knowledge to "come to me" "cast your cares upon me" and Jesus who knows you is both willing and able to give you the help that you need.

So remember my friend, you are not alone. You are perfectly known and understood. You are loved! Let that be a great source of comfort to your lonely soul. Let it be the bread that you feed on and the water that you drink each day.

Pastor Bill