Issue 37 Encountering JesusBlog | Encountering Jesus
Encountering Jesus
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 26.12.23
What was it like for people encountering Jesus in his earthly ministry? Though the Gospels are very brief and condensed compared with modern writing, they give us vivid descriptions of people’s reactions to their encounters with him.
Terrifying
Mark’s Gospel summarises Jesus’ early preaching as ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:15, see also Matthew 4:17). Whilst we might read this as encouraging, taking the term ‘good news’ at face value, it would have sounded much more challenging to Jesus’ listeners. Jesus is claiming that the day of God’s reign over his people, and the whole world, is about to break in – which is good news for some, but truly terrifying for others, the ‘great and terrible day of the Lord’ (Isaiah 2:12, Joel 2:31, Amos 5:18, Zephaniah 1:14, Malachi 4:5). It is therefore no surprise that Jesus talks of ‘the path to destruction’ (Matthew 7:13) and ‘outer darkness’ for those who do not respond to his message (Matthew 8:12).
When his disciples get a glimpse of who Jesus really is, they are terrified. When they see Jesus walking on the water, they ‘cry out in fear’ (Matthew 14:26). When he is ‘transfigured’ and they hear the voice of God, they fall down in terror (Matthew 17:6). The crowds, too, were sometimes ‘afraid’ at the miracles of Jesus (Matthew 9:8). Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, he is not!
