Is He Personal To You?

Meditations for Ragamuffins

These meditations are inspired by the writings of Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, and many other books.

June 19, 2023

Is He Personal To You? 

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2 (NRSV). 

For a long time, Paul’s introductory statement to First Corinthians troubled me. It seems like such a crass way to announce the bedrock of his teaching and preaching in Corinth. The unnamed woman in Luke 7 helped me grasp the depth and intimacy of Paul’s statement.

In Luke 7, Jesus concludes his meal at Simon the Pharisee’s house with his announcement, “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love” (Luke 7:47a). This woman’s love and adoration for Jesus was her expression of gratitude for his forgiving touch. Can you imagine how this personal relationship with Jesus gripped her heart as she watched him hanging from the cross? For her, the one hanging on the cross is the one who loved her and forgave her.

Paul’s personal experience of Jesus was similar. Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus. There Saul was held accountable for persecuting Jesus, but Jesus wasn’t judging Saul and kicking him to the curb. Jesus gave Saul a new name, and Paul was consecrated and commissioned as the Apostle to the Gentiles. For Paul, the one who was crucified is the one who loved him, forgave him, and commissioned him.

My Takeaway: I have learned to claim Paul’s words to the Corinthians as an expression of my own devotion to Jesus: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NRSV). For me, the one who was crucified is the one who made me what I am by his grace. His grace is personal to me. As he was to the woman at Jesus’ feet in Simon’s house, and to Paul, the one who was crucified is very personal to me.

Is he personal to you?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.