The Encounter with Jesus

               An Encounter with Jesus 

              As a Roman Catholic,  I grew up growing to know Jesus from the catechism to receiving Communion  and to know of his life from the Holy Bible.

         This was the Jesus I came to know through the Church and the Gospel. However there's always the thought in my mind about meeting the real man,  Jesus. The chance to meet the real man , my Lord and Saviour. What would the effect of meeting the King of Kings

What would it feel to be in the presence of the Almighty? How would it be to talk to him. Would we even be worthy to stand in his presence? Could we even match an ounce of his brilliance. How could this encounter with Jesus be. 

    There have been Encounters that people have had with Jesus during the time of his presence on Earth which brought about a enriching transformation in their lives.

  As we begin to turn the pages of history during the life of Christ we come across the time when Jesus journeyed through all corners of the earth preaching about the Kingdom of God.w

       He came across a man possessed by demons,  and this man was known to have very violent fits,  and people around stayed away from him. When Jesus came across this man,  he saw the demons possessing him and immediately exorcised the demons.  The demons called themselves "Legion" as legion in the Greek army meant a group of around 3000-6000 solidiers which means he was possessed by those number of demons. 

Now what happened later is not known but he was delivered from the clutch of evil. He was feed from the burden of the demons and his sins. He became a normal good man and it mattered the most,  and it was the transformation that took place in this encounter. 

  When Jesus entered into the City of Jericho, there was a tax collector Zacchaeus who came to see him. Tax collectors were considered traitors and manipulative people and collected taxes for the Roman Empire. People shunned them away.  

Zacchaeus was a man of short stature, and could not see Jesus from the ground. So he climbed the Sycamore tree. Zacchaeus when he went to meet Jesus must have thought in his mind, depressed - about what God would think of him. He may have done a lot of things in his life that he may not have been proud of, and may have wanted to seek some reprieve for his misdeeds. 

These are things we may not see- But God definitely can. Jesus called Zacchaeus and told him that he would be coming to stay at his place

Zacchaeus was so overjoyed that he told Jesus he would give away half of what he possessed to the poor,  and if he had cheated anyone he would pay him four times the amount.  How's that for an encounter with Jesus !!!

Similarly,  Mary Magdalene in the town of Galilee came to  see Jesus. She washed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her long flowing hair and anointed the feet with an expensive oil. In this case,  the action itself was the transformation of the person and the greatest act of humility I have seen. 

After the washing of his feet,  Jesus told Mary Magdalene " Your Faith has healed you. Go in peace. "

Nicodemus,  the Pharisee also came to visit Jesus. During his interaction with Jesus there was the teaching that he received from Jesus that continues to transform the lives of people today and will do so till the end of time , the rebirth of a human through the spirit,  of being born again.

For Jesus asked Nicodemus "How could an old man be born again ? He can be born again through the spirit. For flesh will give birth to flesh,  and the spirit (Holy) will give birth to the spirit,  and hence in our lives, we are born again. 

Saul of the Old Testament who was the Persecutor of Christians also had an encounter with Jesus in Damascus which is in Syria and was blinded for three days. But was healed after three days and began to speak of Jesus. There must have been something that happened within those three days because he became the Apostle Paul and died in Rome. 

These are the encounters with Jesus that create shock waves wherever they are preached, but there's also the rich man who came to Jesus to seek advice for eternal lifw. Jesus told him to give his possessions to the poor and follow him(Jesus).The rich man went away unhappy. To which Our Lord Jesus Christ has said " It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter the Kingdom of God"