JESUS KNOWS YOU

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see” [there’s the same pair from verse 39 that Jesus had said to them]. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” John 1: 45-48 Do you ever feel alone in your circumstances and in how you are feeling in your circumstances?

Do you ever feel that nobody understands what you are going through? Do you ever open up to others and then find yourself felling more alone and misunderstood after sharing? Do you ever feel that there is no help or relief to what is happening to you or what you are feeling inside? I find great comfort and hope that Jesus knows me. I will say that again, JESUS KNOWS ME.

In John's narrative about Jesus encounter with Nataniel we learn that Jesus knows two kinds of things about Nathaniel and everyone. He knows what’s going on inside, and He knows what’s going on outside (Your circumstances that are going on around you). The first thing Jesus says as He meets Nathaniel is, “You are a man without deceit.” That’s the truth about His knowledge about what goes on inside of us. And the second thing Jesus said was, “While you were out of my sight I saw you. You were under a fig tree when Philip found you.” That’s the truth about the outside. Nathaniel is astonished and says in verse 49, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

So Jesus wonderfully knows our condition inside and out. If you are alone and no one knows what is happening to you or inside of you mentally or emotionally and you are in big trouble, Jesus knows it. You will never, ever be in a situation where Jesus is not fully aware of what’s going on in your life and inside of you. I do not care how dark it is, how dangerous it is. He knows! Do you believe that?

Do you feel this precious truth? It is the key to being able to rise above despair, hopelessness, fear, discouragement, loneliness, emptiness, worry, and anxiety. What I have found in life is that there are two key things in what I deal with when it comes to trouble. First, what happens to me. Second, what happens in me in response to my trouble. Frankly, outward trouble is not the worst kind of trouble. It is my response inside to my trouble that can either destroy me or transform me.

So believing this truth tied to two other truths about Jesus is critical for my life and ability to persevere and handle what comes my way. First, Jesus loves you more than you have ever loved anything. Secondly, Jesus is stronger than any force in the world. Therefore, the the fact that He knows your circumstances and He loves you and that He is strong combine to give you amazing peace, rest, and energy in those situations where things have gone very badly. Jesus loves you. Jesus is very strong, and there is nothing about my circumstances that Jesus doesn’t understand.

This is especially sweet if you know that Jesus knows what is going on inside of you. When Philip said to Nathaniel in verse 45 that Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathaniel answered bluntly from his heart (in verse 46), “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Jesus says in verse 47, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Why did Jesus say this to a guy who just said “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I think Jesus is saying, Now here is someone who tells it like it is. What you see is what you get. He’s not two-faced. He doesn’t like Nazareth (He is a prejudiced bigot); that is definitely not good. (Jesus isn’t saying that Nathaniel is sinlessness.) But at least he’s honest about what he feels. Nathaniel is real and authentic. Jesus knew this about Nathaniel’s heart, his particular inner life, before He ever met him.

Jesus understands You! Isn't it wonderful that Jesus knows your inner condition. He knows it better than any of you know it. Better than I know it. In the midst of my divorce and my losses the fact is nobody has ever been me in these circumstances. Everyone has suffered loss, experienced grief and severe trials, for sure. But nobody has ever brought my weaknesses and my sins and my experience to this moment of sorrow or anger or desire and not only has nobody been me in this experience, but nobody can be me, nobody can know this, and when I think of that, it frightens me how alone I am in this particular sorrow or anger or desire. The circumstances may be common to us all, but my experience of them is utterly unique. Nobody has ever been in my skin bringing my personality, my temperament, my sins, my weaknesses, my life and inner history, my emotional makeup at this moment of my own personal sorrow.

This can be a make it or break it moment;I can tell you by my own experience. These are the moments that either sink us into fear, anxiety, inconsolable grief, loneliness, hopelessness, worry, and into deep despair; or moments that cause us to think about Jesus and His knowledge of us, His love for us, and His power towards us, and find comfort, faith, hope, courage, companionship, and love.

In those make it or breakmit moments, I can say to myself, "No, I am not alone in this experience". I hear Jesus say to me “I know it. I know it better than you know it. I’m here. I am with you. I love you. I am for you. I can help you. I will help you. I am in you". When I truly believe this, I find this a huge relief! Jesus knows my heart and my mind and my body and everything about me and in my utterly unique sorrow, that nobody else can share, Jesus totally, fully, completely understands it, loves me in it, and can and will help me in it. Jesus knows all your burdens, all your pain, all your sorrow, all your feelings, all your weakness, all your struggles to not cave in in unbelief and when you have caved in to hopelessness, fear, worry, and despair, unbelief. Her knows all of your failings inside in response to your troubles, and it is wonderful. Why? Because Jesus knows you dear reader! Jesus knows you. Jesus understands you. Jesus knows what is happening to you. Jesus loves you. Jesus can help you, Jesus will help you, and Jesus wants to help you.

Look up to Him and do not fear no matter what is happening to you and no matter how unspiritual or poorly you are responding to what is happening or has happened in your life. JESUS KNOWS YOU, JESUS LOVES YOU, JESUS WILL HELP YOU.

Pastor Bill