Source: www.freebibleimages.org
In the book of Acts, there’s quite a lengthy story about the trouble that Peter and John get into for preaching the resurrection of Jesus after the healing of a lame man in his name (Acts 3-4). The ructions go all the way to the top, and they end up being hauled before the authorities to account for themselves, where Peter preaches a bold message. And then as the national and religious leaders begin to debate what to do with them, Luke adds a delightful little phrase:
They recognised them as having been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
Of course, it may just be that realising they were Galileans they remembered seeing Peter and John with Jesus. But I like to think it was more. I wonder if they saw something in their boldness, their integrity and eloquence that reminded them of Jesus. Had Peter and John begun to resemble Jesus?
After three years of living with Jesus, it’s highly likely that some of his mannerisms and expressions had begun to rub off on them. Even subconsciously, we emulate key authority figures in our lives. But this could have been so much more. Having received the gift of the Holy Spirit (as Jesus promised them in John’s gospel) they were beginning to undergo inner transformation. They were being reminded about what Jesus had told them (John 14:26). They were doing what he had done, and saying what he had said. They were becoming like him. And it showed.
The great mystery of this is that the Father and the Son have set up home with us (John 14:23). Not merely that they moved into our neighbourhood, or visit our church on a Sunday morning, but that they have settled in. Most of us fail to actively cooperate with them. We treat them like lodgers, who live in a room at the back of the house. We see them occasionally, and sometimes we may have a chat, but effectively they live separately lives while under the same roof.
They want more. They want to be treated as part of the family. They want to belong with us. Jesus says he wants to come in and eat with us (Revelation 3:20). Note that he says this not in an evangelistic way to unbelievers, but as an offer of deeper fellowship to Christians. This is an intimate relationship, living together cheek by jowl, talking things over, doing things together, just like Jesus would have done when he was living with his disciples. And when we cultivate this intimacy, we become more like him.
Do the people you work with see Jesus in you? Not merely the Christians, who might be looking to see him in us, but the non-Christians. The policeman at the roadblock, the customs official, the taxi driver or the shop worker.
If they don’t, it’s probably because we haven’t been with Jesus.
