What would it even mean to “know enough” about Jesus? “Enough” for what?
To truly know about Jesus is to know Jesus, and to know Jesus is to be known by Jesus, and to be known by Jesus is to be transformed.
Condoleezza Rice is a brilliant woman. She’s eloquent in French and Russian, and plays piano so well that Yo-Yo Ma enjoys her accompaniment. With a doctorate from the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies, her skillful mind analyzes the complex chess game of international politics.
Someone like Condoleezza Rice might be smart enough to know “enough” about Jesus. She writes:
So much has been written about our Lord that one is tempted to ask if there is anything more to say. As the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, I have been a follower of Christ since birth.
Yet even Secretary of State Rice finds surprises when thinking about Jesus. After an intriguing sermon, she recalls,
I turned to my cousin (also a Presbyterian minister’s daughter) and said, “I never thought of it that way.” Thankfully, our Lord’s story continues to be revealed by inspired teachers who tell it in language that brings it to life for our modern, troubled times.
Even a professor of theology who can read in Hebrew and Greek will find that he always has more to learn - which means, Jesus will find more and new ways to transform him.
If knowing about Jesus is to be transformed by Jesus, then the fact that we always have more to learn about Jesus means that there are always aspects of us which Jesus is transforming.
Indeed, nobody could “know enough” about Jesus, because Jesus is still at work. Jesus is active in our present, but He’s also got plans unfolding in our future. We can’t even know what they are yet.
The data about Jesus and His actions are still only partly known; much has yet to be revealed, as Rice phrases it, about
the impact that Jesus has had on human history, on the human condition, and on our understanding of the obligations of one human being to another.
So, keep your eyes - and your mind - open. Jesus is at work, now and in the future. Watch Him direct events, in both the micro and macro, as His effects on the world manifest themselves.
