Introduction:

How do you know that you really know a person? Is it when you have known them for ten years? When you've sat for hours and hours and really heard them empty their heart and mind? What is it to really know a person? You get to really know your children. You can anticipate what they do; you can sense their needs; You really know them. Sometimes you wonder what really does go on in their heads- Yet, what joy there is in that relationship- last week it was my turn to buy the stuff for Tim's lunch. I was walking through a whole Cub Foods, just looking for stuff for Tim. I looked for his favorite pickles. I found a really good kind of sliced turkey. I found the sports drink he likes, and the chips, and picked out some good nectarines- it was fun- can you imagine how much God loves to take care of us? We develop a pretty good intimacy with our kids. As long as you don't ask them about girlfriends.

How about your spouse? After awhile you can finish their sentences, anticipate what they are going to do next; you recognize their moods- then all of a sudden you buy a birthday or Christmas present that you think will be the very most wonderfulest thing that they'll just love... and it is received with the same enthusiasm as...smallpox. Good thing Sam's Club accepts returns, right Brenda? But there is a deep intimacy, based on a lifetime of learning.

How do you really know a person? There are a handful of people in life that you are very, very close to. They may be your family or spouse, maybe a best friend. People with whom you share your deep things. With those people you develop trust, you develop the closest connections you'll experience in life. I am blessed, as an only child, to have a handful of friends with whom I have developed intimacy and accountability. They know every detail of my life, all of my shortcomings, and I know that I can tell them the tiniest detail or the biggest problem. I think I can say that they know me.

Our Gospel text today is about what it means to know somebody. What does it really mean to understand, to be intimate with, to be close to, to communicate with someone?

I) Various Kinds of Knowing

You know Ron Gardenhire? The Twins manager? Sure, we know who he is. We see him on TV, we read about him. That's one kind of knowing.

For the past ten years or so, Tim played on the same team as Ron's son, Toby. We have sat through many games talking to Carol, Ron's wife. We know their kids, we know where they live, we've got their phone number. We've spent a few hours every year with Ron, but he wasn't able to be at as many games, because oddly enough, when he's home in the summer, he's often busy with the Twins. So, do we know Ron Gardenhire? Well, yes, we've met him. We've talked to him. So at that's knowing him at different level. We're somewhat familiar with him.

But do I know Ron Gardenhire? Do I know what he's thinking and feeling about the Twins slump? No. Do I know any intimate details of his life, family or history? No. Can I call him in the middle of the night with a problem? No, I wouldn't do that. Would we invite them to our home? I don't think we know them well enough to do that. No, I don't know Ron Gardenhire to that level. Would I call him to give him advice about the Twins? No, Sid Hartman is doing that!

Our text almost begins with a comedy routine- he's going secretly up to Jerusalem, and we hear the voices of the mindless, fickle, blabbering, gossipy crowd. They're there for excitement, - hear the gossip: At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? [26] Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? Like the beginning of the musical Music Man, everybody's got their two cents' worth, their opining- "Whaddya know? Whaddya know?"

They go on: [27] But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." They "knew" Jesus about as well as I know Sid Hartman. They know his name and reputation. Do they really know where he's from? That question is setting us up for much more on that a bit further along.

II) To Really Know

The key thing here is that the word "know" appears here. They claim to "know" where Jesus is from- they mean Nazareth. But there is much about Jesus that they don't know. But let's stop here for just a minute to talk about this word "know" in John. There are two Greek words which John uses interchangeably, which mean "to know." They both mean to know intimately. They are used over, and over and over again in John. Leaders claim to know things, and are shown to be outrageously ignorant. Because in John one thing is very clear- You can only know God if you trust in him. You can only know Jesus if you trust in him. You can know about him, or even think you know him- but if you don't trust him, you can't really know him.

In the OT, the word "know" is a very intimate word- in fact it's even used in Genesis- "Adam knew his wife and she conceived." - that Hebrew word, yada means deep intimacy, of body, mind and spirit. That's the kind of intimacy Jesus means- the deepest, personal intimacy with another person. And that comes only by trusting.

Oddly enough, they seem to have picked up a superstition- "When the Christ (Messiah) comes, no one will know where he's from." - That's not biblical; but the crowd picked it up- maybe from the National Enquirer or something.

Jesus knows their thoughts. He stands up: [28] Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from? I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, [29] but I know him because I am from him and he sent me." Those first few words are hard to translate correctly- some translations put a question mark after the first phrase, and I think that captures it pretty well. ""Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from?" He's mimicking their murmurings. But more than that, he's showing the level at which they "know" him. Maybe like we'd put "air quotes"- You "know" me- you say you "know" me- He goes on to try to teach them- I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. There's the "Truth" word we talked about last week- the Father is also True- and they don't know him, because they've never trusted in him or served him. Now it gets interesting. Jesus says literally: (John 7:29 evgw. oi=da auvto,n( o[ti parV auvtou/ eivmi kavkei/no,j me avpe,steilen) "I know him, because from him I AM and that one sent me out." As he does so many times, Jesus once again says "I AM"- showing his equality with the Father- the name of God in the Old Testament, YAHWEH, literally is literally, "I AM." Here he's saying, I know the Father, because I AM one with him. I am your God, come to you with skin on.

This drives them over the edge. They understand exactly what he just said. And they're so excited- they want to grab him right then! [30] At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. A while later they did seize him and kill him, but it was not yet that hour.

Not all the crowd tried to kill him. Not all rejected him, in fact: [31] Still, many in the crowd trusted in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?" Some heard his Word, and trusted in him. Some did not reject him, and his Word grasped them, and they came to trust in Jesus. Then they began to know him.

III) God Wants You to Know Him!

So, why, about 2,000 years later are we listening to this story? Because that same Jesus wants you to know him. He wants you to know him as well as you know yourself. Better than you know your spouse or children. That's intimacy.

The bottom line is this. It is possible to know God. That's God's desire for all people- like Timothy 2:4 (God) desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's the kind of God we have - one who wants us to know him, the Truth.

Jesus Christ is real, and he desires to build a relationship that's as real and as personal as any relationship you'll have in this world. This comes to folks as they trust in Christ. As you walk with Jesus, as your prayers are answered, as you see over and over, and over again how much God loves you, he becomes a part of you, deep inside. He desires to build that reality deep inside you. Sometimes it takes awhile, but that's normal Christianity. That's the norm, that the living God produces that deep assurance of salvation. That's a phrase Lutherans a couple generations back used to use a lot- "Assurance of salvation." That means to come to a point that you know that you know that you know that Jesus is real. He's not imaginary. He's not a theological principle. He's not the ancient founder of a religion who taught a bunch of great ideas. He's alive, he's here, and he wants to be as real to you as you are to yourself.

Not to know him like I know Sid Hartman, not to know him like I know Ron Gardenhire; but to know him as you do your spouse, your family and your closest friends. That's God's promise. That's not something you have to earn, or something you have to go sit on top of a mountain to try to capture- it's the living promise of the God of the whole universe who desires that kind of relationship with you. That's his desire. That's his promise. Invitation, Amen