IS JESUS REAL TO ME?

A few months ago I spent ten days trekking through the fifth gospel — The Holy Land, Israel. People refer to the Holy Land as the fifth gospel because when you are there, in the midst of all of the history, geography, tradition, and religion, the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John come alive in new ways, ways that just reading the text cannot bring you. Jesus was made more real to me in Israel, and as a result, Jesus is more real to me today than ever before in my life.

I believe Wesley's question, "Is Jesus real to me?" may be the most important of all. As we reflect on this question, we see that it gets at the point of our Christian pursuit of holiness and witness. Jesus is real to us when Jesus is tangible to others through our words, actions, disciplines, and practices. Jesus is made real to us, and to others around us, when our trust relationship with Jesus is incomparably more important than just knowing facts and rules in a religion about Jesus.

Acts chapter 8 tells the beautiful story of an Ethiopian eunuch who is returning from the Temple, from worshiping God. The eunuch is reading one of the scrolls of Isaiah. The Holy Spirit moves and directs Philip to the eunuch on a road in the Judean wilderness to help the eunuch understand what he is reading. When asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" the eunuch's response is, "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" Philip was sent to help the eunuch make sense of what he was reading. Acts 8:35 tells us that Philip explains to the eunuch that the passage of Isaiah he is reading relates to the good news about Jesus.

The Ethiopian had pilgrimaged to Jerusalem to experience a religion that was outside of his personal heritage. As a eunuch, he wasn't even supposed to be present in the Temple. His new understanding, thanks to Philip's attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, did not limit his participation to believing the Jewish laws or a distant God. Instead, Philip helps the eunuch understand that Jesus is a person, not a proposition. Jesus was made real through the story of God in Isaiah, Philip's obedient witness, and through the eunuch's newfound belief in an accessible, real Jesus.

In asking this question, Wesley wants Christians to make sure that we are not simply partaking in a religion, but that we are experiencing a relationship with Jesus. For Jesus to be real to us there must be more than a mere nod of the head, so to speak. There must also be a trail of tangible evidence that we leave everywhere we go that helps people find what we have — a genuine, sustainable relationship with Jesus, the Christ.

On the western side of the Sea of Galilee, a few miles north of Tiberias, there is a mountain called Mount Arbel. From Mount Arbel, you can see the entire Sea of Galilee region. It was there that Jesus and the Gospel stories became real to me in a way I had never experienced before. From Mount Arbel you can visualize how Jesus' ministry would have been carried out, on foot and by boat. You see Capernaum to the northeast and envision how possible it would have been for the stories of Jesus to be real. From a child hearing the stories of Jesus in Sunday school to an adult hearing the stories of Jesus taught in seminary, I had always believed in Jesus, but not to the depth I now believe. The fifth gospel experience I have had by visiting Israel has changed the way I view many of the stories of Jesus' teaching, miracles, and prayers. When the lens through which we see the world changes, Jesus is made more real.

Jesus becomes more real to us each day when we participate in the process of becoming more deeply committed Christians through the practices of discipleship. Scripture reading, study, prayer, mission work, fasting, moments of solitude, submission to the mission of God's will for our life, and joining authentic community all change the lens through which we view the world. As we view the world in new ways, we can continue in our pursuit of holiness and witness by allowing Jesus to be made real to us. Is Jesus real to you?

Discipleship, and the path the church uses to help people become deeply committed Christians, isn't about outward piety. Rather, discipleship in the way of Jesus is about experiencing a person. By trusting in Jesus, and as a result of that relationship, living out all that Jesus modeled for us is the goal of the Christian life. If the goal of the Christian life is to be as Christ is, then Christ must be real to us.

Reflection Questions

1. When has Jesus seemed the most real to you in your life? The least real? What were those circumstances?

2. How can you make Jesus seem more real to you now? What discipleship practices can you put into place in your life to become a more deeply committed Christian?

3. Who has been the Philip in your life, helping you to understand the good news about Jesus? Are you fulfilling that role in someone else's life?

Personal Application Ideas

1. Review the ways in which you are experiencing spiritual growth. Is it time to add additional dimensions to your journey to help deepen your faith and make Christ more real to you? Choose one practice that you don't typically engage in, such as fasting, or serving in the inner city. Investigate your options and incorporate this practice more regularly into your spiritual life.

2. Make a pilgrimage to a holy place or a place of Christian significance. If the Holy Land isn't a feasible option for you, brainstorm a destination that might be. Perhaps it's a beautiful local cathedral, where the stained glass tells Christ's story in a breathtaking way. Or perhaps the birthplace of people who dedicated themselves to living as Christ lived would be interesting. Use your imagination!

Prayer

Everlasting God,
Who is your beloved Son,
Who is the King of the whole world;
Who wills to restore all things to be made...