Come and See

You can know a lot about someone without actually knowing them.

You might know where they grew up, what they do for a living, what they believe, or even follow everything they post online. Those things can help you learn about someone, but information alone doesn’t create a relationship.

The same question can come up when it comes to Jesus.

Maybe you grew up hearing Bible stories. You know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, died on a cross, and rose again. Maybe you go to church, pray occasionally, or even call yourself a Christian.

Those things aren’t unimportant. In fact, learning what Scripture says about Jesus is essential if we want to know who He really is.

But there is a difference between simply knowing the stories and allowing the Jesus we meet in those stories to shape what we trust, value, and how we live.

So what does it actually mean to know Jesus?

More Than Information

Christianity certainly involves knowing truths about Jesus. Who He is matters.

The Bible presents Jesus as more than a wise teacher or a good example. He is the Son of God who came into the world to reveal God to us and rescue us from sin. Through His death and resurrection, He made reconciliation with God possible.

We learn these things through Scripture.

So the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus isn’t Bible knowledge versus relationship. Scripture is one of the primary ways we come to know Him.

The question is what happens with what we learn.

I might know that Jesus teaches forgiveness. Knowing Him means His forgiveness begins changing how I respond when someone hurts me.

I might know that Jesus tells us not to be consumed by worry. Knowing Him means learning—sometimes slowly and imperfectly—to bring my fears to Him rather than allowing them to control me.

I might know that Jesus loves people others overlook. Knowing Him should gradually affect the way I see and treat those people too.

Knowing Jesus, then, isn’t simply collecting information about Him. It is learning who He is through Scripture and responding to Him with trust and a willingness to follow.

Jesus Invites Us to Follow Him

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly gave people a simple invitation:

“Follow Me.”

The disciples spent time with Him. They listened to His teaching, watched how He treated people, asked questions, misunderstood Him, learned from Him, failed Him, and gradually discovered more about who He really was.

Following Jesus meant more than agreeing that His teaching sounded good. They were learning to trust Him with their lives.

But what does “trust God with your life” mean?

Christian phrases like that can sound meaningful without being very clear.

Trusting God doesn’t mean becoming passive and simply “going with the flow” because God will take care of everything. It also doesn’t mean that every fear or anxious thought we experience must have been given to us by God for some hidden reason.

A simple way to think about trust is learning the difference between what I am responsible for and what I cannot control.

Imagine that I’m applying for a job. I can prepare my résumé, submit the application, prepare for the interview, and make wise decisions. Those things are my responsibility.

But I cannot control whether I am hired.

Trusting God means faithfully doing what I can while entrusting to Him what I cannot control.

And I might still feel anxious while doing that.

Trust is not the same thing as always feeling calm.

Sometimes trusting Jesus simply looks like saying, “I’m afraid. I don’t know what is going to happen. But I’m going to do what I believe is right and trust You with what happens next.”

Knowing Jesus doesn’t mean fear instantly disappears. It means we are learning where to bring that fear.

But How Can We Know Someone We Cannot See?

The first disciples could physically walk beside Jesus, sit with Him, and hear His voice.

We cannot do that in the same way today.

So how do we know Him?

One of the primary ways is through Scripture.

When we read the Bible, especially the Gospels, we aren’t simply reading stories and trying to imitate the main character. We are discovering who Jesus is.

We see what He loves and what grieves Him. We see His compassion toward hurting people and His willingness to confront hypocrisy. We hear what He says about God, sin, forgiveness, faith, love, and eternal life.

Then we begin asking not only:

“What happened in this story?”

but also:

“What does this show me about Jesus?”

“What does this reveal about God?”

“If I believe this is true, how should it change the way I live?”

Reading Scripture becomes more than gathering information. What we learn begins shaping the way we think, trust, choose, and live.

What About Prayer?

We also grow in knowing God through prayer.

Prayer doesn’t require polished words or a certain emotional experience. It is coming honestly before God with our gratitude, fears, questions, confession, disappointment, and needs.

Sometimes prayer might be filled with praise. Sometimes it might simply be:

“God, I need Your help.”

Or:

“God, I’m afraid.”

Or even:

“God, I don’t understand where You are right now.”

And this is important: you may not always feel something when you pray.

You may not hear a voice. You may not experience sudden peace. You may finish praying and feel the same as you did before.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you prayed incorrectly or that God wasn’t listening.

A relationship with God isn’t measured by how strongly we feel His presence in a particular moment. Feelings can be meaningful, but they change. Christian faith ultimately rests on who God has revealed Himself to be, not on whether we experience a particular emotion every time we pray.

Sometimes trust means continuing to come to God even when we don’t feel an immediate response.

Knowing Jesus Changes the Way We Live

The more we know Jesus, the more that relationship should begin affecting us.

As we understand His grace, we learn to extend grace to others. As we understand His forgiveness, we learn to forgive. As we see His humility, holiness, compassion, and love, He begins changing what we value and how we live.

This isn’t about earning His love by becoming good enough.

It’s the other way around.

We don’t obey Jesus so that He will finally love us. We begin to live differently because we have been loved by Him.

And that change doesn’t happen overnight.

There will still be struggles. There will still be questions. There may be days when God seems near and other days when He seems far away. There may even be times when we wonder whether anything is happening at all.

Knowing Jesus is a lifelong relationship in which we continue learning who He is and learning to trust Him.

We Weren’t Meant to Know Him Alone

There’s another part of following Jesus that can easily be overlooked.

Christianity was never intended to be lived entirely by ourselves.

Jesus brings believers into a community—the church. Other Christians can encourage us when our faith is weak, pray with us when life is difficult, help us understand Scripture, correct us when we’re wandering, and remind us of truth when we have trouble remembering it ourselves.

Of course, churches are made up of imperfect people, and relationships within them won’t always be easy.

But knowing Jesus isn’t only about “Jesus and me.”

It is also about learning to follow Him alongside other imperfect people who are learning to do the same.

What If I’m Just Curious About Jesus?

Maybe you’re reading this and wouldn’t call yourself a Christian.

You don’t have to pretend that you believe something you don’t.

And you don’t have to wait for some mysterious spiritual feeling before you begin exploring who Jesus is.

Start with Him.

Read one of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. If you’re new to the Bible, Mark can be a good place to begin because it is shorter and moves quickly through Jesus’ life and ministry.

Instead of simply reading to finish a chapter, pay attention to Jesus. Ask what He says about Himself, how He treats people, what He cares about, why He challenges some people while showing extraordinary compassion toward others, why He died, and why His resurrection matters so much to Christians.

And if you’re willing, talk to God honestly about what you’re discovering—even if you’re unsure whether He is listening.

You might simply say:

“God, I’m not sure what I believe. But if You are there, help me understand who Jesus really is.”

You don’t need to manufacture a feeling or pretend that you heard an answer.

Just begin.

An Invitation, Not Just Information

Knowing Jesus isn’t about mastering Christianity. It isn’t about having every theological question answered, and it isn’t about becoming religious enough for God to accept you.

It begins with discovering who Jesus is and responding to His invitation to trust and follow Him.

Then the relationship grows.

We read His Word because we want to know Him. We pray because we want to come honestly before Him. We worship because we begin to understand who He is. We walk with other believers because we weren’t meant to follow Him alone.

And gradually, what we learn about Jesus begins to affect how we actually live.

In the last blog, we asked:

What are you really looking for?

Maybe the deeper question is:

Who are you looking for?

When people began encountering Jesus in John 1, one of the simplest invitations was:

“Come and see.”

I love those words because they don’t demand that you have everything figured out first. They are simply an invitation to come closer and discover who Jesus is.

And that is the heart behind this blog too.

Whether you’ve followed Jesus for years, you’re struggling with your faith, or you’re simply curious about Him, my hope is that what you find here keeps pointing you back to the same invitation:

Come and see.

Come with your questions.

Come with your doubts.

Come with your struggles and your hopes.

Come and discover who Jesus is.

You don’t have to understand everything before you begin.

The invitation is still the same: come and see.

Take a Moment to Reflect

• Do I mostly know facts about Jesus, or is what I’m learning about Him shaping the way I live?
• When I say I “trust God,” what do I actually mean?
• What am I trying to control right now that may be outside my responsibility?
• Have I assumed that knowing God should always produce a particular feeling?
• What is one small step I could take toward knowing Jesus more deeply?

Read It for Yourself

Read John 1:35–51 and notice how people begin encountering Jesus. Pay special attention to the simple invitation to “come and see.”

Then, if you want to keep going, begin reading through the Gospel of John slowly. As you read, ask:

Who is Jesus?

What is He showing me about God?

If what I’m reading is true, how should I respond?

You don’t have to know everything before you begin.Come and see.