Acts 6: Obstacles to Meeting Jesus, Part 2

I did not want to leave you with a misimpression if you have read Part 1; so I thought it best to push on a bit.

We are sometimes hamstrung by our language, and here is a good example. By referring to “obstacles to meeting Jesus” you may have been inclined to place the emphasis on “meeting,” which suggests a subsequent knowing either immediately, or shortly, or some time thereafter.

As is common in our everyday experience, we speak of meeting someone and then getting to know them as two very distinct experiences, each with different requirements. Meeting someone does not require nearly as much as getting to know someone. And we can always choose to get to know them or not, and we can choose to be known or not.

That is not what this is, when the Someone to meet is Jesus. You do not get to say, I was saved 30 years ago. Period. End of story. If that is the sum total of your testimony, I would suggest you did not meet Him way back then at all, and further encourage you to quickly get down to the very life-reorienting business of knowing Him.

My emphasis in employing the phrase, “obstacles to meeting Jesus,” in Part 1 was on Jesus, and the point I was trying to make was this: He has not placed any hurdles in our way to a saving faith in Him. His arms are open wide (He allowed his hands to affixed on the cross to prove the point). His heart is open wide (His side was pierced through).

So let’s return to Acts 6:7 for the biblical way of meeting Jesus — “The word of God continued to spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.” Two words should leap out to you at once: “disciples” and “obedient.” These many have met the Lord, but the language Luke uses to describe that is very different from ours, but nevertheless integral to understanding what it means to meet Jesus.

Remember, He said in Luke 14:17 “Come. Everything is now ready.” Do you recall what the invitation was to? A great banquet.

There is room at His table; and It is important to see it is the family table, and He has prepared a place setting for you, by a remarkable showing of His love for you.

You would demean the Lord, and His great love for you if you did not become obedient to the faith (If you love me, keep my commandments) or if you did not learn from Him in the same manner as the Peter, James, and the others (Follow me). Christ joins the meeting and the knowing, and so should we.

Doing so underscores the point that we are the obstacle—not predisposed to obey the faith and not inclined to follow Him. But as for Him, He says, Come for everything has been prepared. He sends His servants out to call the crippled, the blind, and the lame from the highways and byways of life to the grand banquet. Come, taste and see that the Lord is good.