John answered them, saying, I baptize with water; but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not. John 1:26 KJV
John the Baptist is saying this to the temple leaders that were sent to try to understand who HE was. What does he do, he immediately re-directs their thoughts to who they should be asking about, and also reminds them in a not so subtle way that ” ye know not.” They didn’t know him! Of all the people who should have absolutely known God was among them, it should’ve been them. This paints a very important picture. Not only did they not know he was among them, they simply did not KNOW him. The very people who ceremonially practiced religion and tradition, and taught the law, did not know our Lord enough to recognize He who created all, when he was among them. That’s a very sad place to be, very difficult place to be.
In our walk with him, it’s important we recognize this: that he is with us and we do know him. Have we been there? I venture to say that many of us have been in a position to re-direct others, both believer and not, to him, as sometimes it is easy for all of us to forget he is always among us. And the most important thing we need do as believers is to plant the seed of the Word whenever we can, so that all know him or know him even better.
In Jeremiah, when describing the new covenant, (the time of Christ our Lord), to the people of Israel, God says this: “For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the LORD” for he goes on to say “I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more” Jeremiah 31:34b KJV
Jesus wants us to know him, and to be in his presence, always. His desire is to grant eternal life to all who know him. The whole purpose of the tearing of the veil, at the time he gave up his body and delivered his soul into the hands of his father, was to break down barriers that could impede our ability to know him. We should strive to follow this example and be sure we do this in every day life. To identify those things in our life which will become barriers to prayer and our walk with him need to be torn down.
He was quick to point out to his apostles , when they asked about the way to where he was going and about seeing the father, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” John 14:7 KJV Even THEY, walked with him for quite a while, and still didn’t see the truth about him or know the Father.
So knowing the Lord, is very important and we can never truly know him enough. Consider the alternative, words no one who is saved will ever hear, and no words anyone will want to hear at the time of his coming “Depart from me, I did not know you” (Matthew 7:23)
We believers want to be sure that as few people as possible ever hear that from the Lord!
About eternal life Jesus says again salvation rests on knowing him: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ , whom thou has sent” John 17:3 KJV
Why is this so important to Christ our Lord that we know him? A hint may reside in the book of John:
Father I want those you have given me, to be with me where I am, to see my glory, the same glory you gave me because you loved me before the foundation of the world John 17:24 NIV
To accomplish this, his will, we need to know him intimately. We can never know him enough.
Special thanks for this submission by guest blogger – Barnabas