Encounters with Jesus

By William T. Chance

Jesus is by far the most influential human to ever walk the earth. He was and still is a polarizing figure, with people either praising or excoriating him. As fully God and fully man Jesus had a unique perspective on life that was usually at odds with the thinking of most people. Therefore, the results of an encounter with Jesus were often unpredictable. In "Encounters with Jesus" the effects of Jesus on the lives of twenty-six people in the New Testament are examined. Each chapter begins with a soliloquy of the persons thoughts prior to and after meeting Jesus. Following the soliloquy there is a discussion of the experience based on relevant New Testament Scriptures. Questions are located at the end of each chapter to aid the reader or class to make appropriate applications to their lives. Encounters with Jesus is a useful book for personal Bible study that is also appropriate for class or small group settings. In each of these situations the readers will discover how Jesus has affected their lives as they come to appreciate a better way of being human.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491781500

William T. Chance

William Chance is retired from careers in surgical research and mental health counseling. He is a life-long Christian, and has written “Restoration Run Amuck” and “Saved by Grace-Lost by Works.” William’s hobbies are writing, antiques and astronomy. William lives in Franklin, Tennessee with Debbie, his wife of forty-eight years.

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Copyright © 2015 William T. Chance.

Cover photograph: Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. Public domain.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Unless noted otherwise, Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Additional Scripture quotes are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-8149-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-8150-0 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 11/18/2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1            Mary

2            Peter

3            Nicodemus

4            On The Road To Emmaus

5            The Rich Young Ruler

6            Zacchaeus

7            Saul Of Tarsus

8            The Pharisees

9            Pontius Pilate

10            The Samaritan Woman

11            Satan

12            John The Baptist

13            Man At The Bethesda Pool

14            The Adulterous Woman

15            The Man Born Blind

16            The Mad Man of Gesera

17            Judas Iscariot

18            The Thief on the Cross

19            Doubting Thomas

20            Herod Antipas

21            Martha

22            Syrophoenician Woman

23            The Centurion

24            The Leper

25            Caiaphas

26            You and Me

Epilogue

INTRODUCTION

During his three years of active ministry, Jesus interacted with people from all stations of life. In the New Testament we read of Jesus attending weddings, mingling with prostitutes, dining with Pharisees and tax collectors, berating self-righteous religious leaders and befriending fishermen as his closest disciples. He also gave healing and solace to lepers, the blind and a woman who had been used by men and cast away by her society. At his trial he appeared before the king of Judea and the Roman governor of the occupied country. In all of these encounters Jesus gave the people he met exactly what they needed and told them what they needed to hear. However the effect of Jesus’ teaching on these individuals was vastly different, with some grasping the spiritual healing he offered, while others were pushed farther away from him and from God.

Encounters with Jesus explores twenty-six of these interactions that Jesus had with people in the first century. Every chapter begins with a soliloquy of what each of these people thought prior to and after encountering Jesus. These soliloquies are based on the person’s reaction as presented in pertinent New Testament Scriptures. In personal study the soliloquy allows the reader to place himself/herself inside the speaker’s situation permitting a more empathetic appreciation of the speaker to be developed. When used in a group study, the theatrical reading of the soliloquy will quickly render the group ready to appreciate the significance of the encounter for the person.

Following the soliloquy, there is a discussion section, which includes a consideration of background and situational variables of the encounter. The discussion section is based on Bible texts, which permit reasonably complete understanding of the encounter. Within the discussion there is ample consideration of why the person acted in a particular manner toward Jesus during and after their encounter with him.

Each chapter of the book concludes with several discussion questions, that may be considered personally or in a group study. Although these questions are designed to promote better understanding of the encounter, they also point towards how the study affected the reader, i.e., how would the reader react in a similar situation. Additional Scriptures are also provided with some of the questions to permit more in depth study.

Encounters with Jesus permits a method for studying Jesus’ teaching that allows for more than just factual presentation of events. By attempting to determine how Jesus’ teaching might have affected a person’s thoughts and behaviors, the encounter is taken to a deeper level and the interaction becomes much more personal. In most of these interactions the love Jesus has for the person he is addressing is clear. The reader of Encounters with Jesus will gain a new appreciation of how much Jesus wants to help us solve our problems today. A result of this study is that the reader will come to better recognize how Jesus works everything for good in each believer’s life.

CHAPTER 1

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:51-52, NIV)

Mary

(Luke 1: 26 – 38, 2: 19; 25-35; 39-51, John 2: 1-5, 19: 25-27)

A son! A beautiful son! Yet, why have I been selected? What special gift do I possess? Me - a young girl - never having known any man. And what trouble this does bring to Joseph. You know, in my country people are stoned for such things. I know - the talk - those things that are said behind our backs. How do you explain to those people what really happened to us? If angels were to appear with messages of rulers and Messiahs, surely it should be to those who are ruling already! We have nothing special to give. Yet, it is true - not just for me, but also for Joseph and my cousin, Elizabeth. The Angel of the Lord said it - You will be with child - he will be called Jesus, the Son of the Most High. So tell me, just how does one raise the Son of God? He is beautiful! He is perfect! Even Simeon at the temple recognized his specialness. Yet, what was that he said about now seeing God’s salvation - a light for the Gentiles - causing the rising and falling of many in Israel? What could all this mean? How could it happen to us? I worry too about that sword that Simeon said would pierce my own soul. What could that be? When might it happen? All of this is just too much for a poor, young woman to understand or handle. Will someone please tell me - HOW DO YOU RAISE THE SON OF GOD?

Discussion

It must have been very confusing and frightening for the young girl, Mary. Imagine, an angel appears in your room and announces that you are going to give birth to the Son of God. Yet, Mary was not blown away by all of this; she had a conversation with Gabriel and questioned him concerning how this could happen, since she was a virgin. After hearing his explanation involving the Holy Spirit Mary said: Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word. Mary’s maturity is amazing, for she was probably 14 or 15 years old when she gave birth to Jesus. Her maturity and faith were further exemplified by her song or prayer she sang during her three-month stay with her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant with John the Baptist. This prayer, named The Magnificat, is similar to Miriam’s song at the occasion of the parting of the Red Sea to permit the Jews to cross when they were being pursued by Pharaoh (Exodus 15: 21). Mary continued to be amazed at the pronouncements of greatness and majesty for her son. On more than one occasion the Bible tells us that Mary cherished these things in her heart.

We have few insights into the life of Mary and Jesus as he grew into manhood. We do read about the family going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in Luke 2: 41-52. Somehow Jesus was not in the caravan returning to Nazareth, which was not discovered by Joseph and Mary until a day into the journey. They returned to Jerusalem to search for him and after three days found him in the temple listening to and questioning the teachers. The Scriptures said that Jesus’ parents were astonished at all this and reprimanded him for this perceived misbehavior. Jesus responded that he was surprised that they were looking for him, since he had to be about his Father’s business. Joseph and Mary did not understand the significance of this statement, and Jesus returned with them to Nazareth. The text reads that Jesus continued to be in subjection to his parents, and Mary treasured all of these things in her heart.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry a very interesting interaction between Mary and Jesus occurred. They were attending a wedding feast in Cana, and the wedding host ran out of wine (John 2: 1-11). In this culture, not having enough wine for all the guests at a wedding was embarrassing and inexcusable. Mary, wanting to help the