I have a good friend I have known for many years since coming to know Christ. We have journeyed together and experienced many things. I recently asked him what he would do if someone came to him and reported that I had smacked them, cussed them out, and key-scratched their car because they upset me.  His response was quick and concise.  He said, “I would tell them I don’t believe it even for one second because I know you and know you wouldn’t do such a thing.”  Then he said I would encourage them to avoid spreading such a lie.

His quick response came from a place of knowing me well enough not to believe something contrary to the character he had witnessed in me. He’s spent enough time with me to know that I have no desire to hurt anyone, even when they’ve done me wrong.  He really knows me; he doesn’t just know about me through someone else report.

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He spoke to her and revealed things about her life that led her to believe in Him.  As a result of this encounter with Jesus, she told the people where she lived to come out and meet a man who told her everything about her life and who is the Messiah.

This is what they testified after meeting Jesus for themselves,

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.  42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

The woman’s testimony of Jesus served as an invitation to come and meet Him for themselves. Had they refused and said, “We now know about Him, and that is enough,” they would never have benefited.  They needed to hear Him speak to them in a real way, in a personal way.

During the recent election, there was much information circulating about the two candidates for president.  Listening to information from separate sources carried two very different opinions, as a bias was clearly evident.  I learned a lot in my endeavor to get to know all I could about each candidate in order to make an informed vote.  I had to weed through all the biases to come up with my own thoughts.  But for all I learned, I still could not say with integrity that I really knew either candidate.  I know about them, and in this particular case, it was enough for me to do what I needed to do.  However, I do not personally know either one of them.  If you asked me about them, I could tell you what I learned and became confident about.  But I could not speak like one who was close to them.

I have shared all this to say that religion seems to think that knowing things about Jesus on an informational level is equal to truly knowing Him, and nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus is more than just a historical figure from the pages of Scripture about whom we can learn. He is a person who desires to know us intimately and have a personal relationship with us.

Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask to ensure that we know Him intimately. His ministry is to help us realize our connection and grow in personally knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus up close and personally is far more powerful than just knowing things about Him. The enemy is good at debating and stealing perspectives that are not rooted in personally knowing Jesus.  This is why Scripture testifies of the importance of believing in Him, not about Him, but in Him.

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”