Impressionable?

I’ve heard that everyone we meet makes an impression on us. It might be very small or huge, short or long term, but one-on-one encounters shape our lives. This seems true because . . .

In John’s Gospel are narratives about people brought into contact with Jesus and the changes that followed. In every case, they are never the same. Either they believe and follow Him or the turn away in unbelief. This draws my attention to the power of Jesus’ personality and words and makes me think about the people that have had a powerful influence on my life.

My parents are obviously near the top of the list as are several friends, even people I’ve heard at conferences, particularly writers who said things that stuck with me. However, like the people John wrote about, Jesus has had the greatest influence. As the Bible says, the more I gaze at Him and read about His life, the more He transforms my life.

Jesus made an big impression on a man named Andrew who wound up bringing others to Him. The first was his brother Simon:

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). (John 1:40–42)

The next was a young boy:

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” (John 6:5–9)

He may have mentioned the boy’s lunch with hesitation, but that small offering wound up being a huge feast as Jesus used it to feed a multitude.

Later Andrew brought some visitors in Jerusalem to Jesus:

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. (John 12:20–22)

Andrew met Jesus and was transformed. Because of him, others were also greatly influenced. The most obvious was his brother whose life was changed and who became a powerful leader in the early church. However, the little boy who gave up his lunch was changed too. I cannot imagine how he reacted to seeing how his small offering fed over five thousand people. In today’s world, many missions and service groups tell of the importance of the smallest donation. Jesus has proved that He can multiply just a little to serve many!

As for the Greek visitors, Andrew showed two things. One was the value of knowing the Old Testament and obeying its ideals:

“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. (1 Kings 8:41–43)

This is from a prayer of Solomon as the temple was dedicated. It is prophetic in nature and may have been Andrew’s basis for doing what the Greeks asked showing them hospitality. These gentiles were not on the best of terms with the Jews yet the world was changed because the Gospel included all people.

The other was Andrew’s wisdom in team-work. Philip told him about these Greeks and the two of them went to see Jesus, taking this opportunity to Him rather than spurning them as others might have done.

Andrew’s life was changed. As Simon Peter’s brother, he’d likely been a fisherman but became a disciple who had influence on his brother and others. He was willing to meet needs without many resources of his own and help people find Jesus, people he didn’t have any relationship with.

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Jesus, I’m not Andrew, but there are lessons to be learned from observing his life and having the same heart toward You and toward those in need as he did. As I ponder this, I know You also expect me to live by the changes You have made in my life. I want to be as sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to the needs around me as Andrew was, and always as willing to bring others to You, offering even the smallest of resources that You might use to bless them, and willing to direct anyone to You, even people I might otherwise consider outsiders.

An encounter with Jesus changes lives

A woman born in a country that is anti-Christian told us a remarkable story. She was a child when one morning her father came downstairs with a changed face. “We all knew something happened to him. He was different. He told us that while he was alone in his room, he met Jesus Christ and his life was transformed. For awhile we tried to prove him wrong, but because the change was so remarkable and wonderful, eventually all the family became Christians.”

John’s Gospel has many examples of people brought into contact with Jesus. After this, they are never the same again. Either they believed and followed Him, or they turned away in unbelief. Here are some examples:

Simon Peter met Jesus and very soon was given a new name. In that culture, a new name signified a change in character. He was Simon (meaning unstable) and became Cephas or Peter (meaning a stone). Much later and after a strong message that causes some of Jesus’ followers to walk away, Jesus asked Peter if he wanted to go also.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69)

Peter was often self-confident and even denied knowing Jesus, but eventually he was given a leadership position and was instrumental in building and leading the Body of Christ. He was a changed man.

Nicodemus was thoroughly trained in Old Testament truths but had not experienced the new birth and did not realize Jesus was the Messiah. When he came to the Lord one night, Jesus explained the good news to him and that he needed to be born again through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. This religious leader believed Jesus and his life was changed. He later defended Jesus and showed his devotion to Him after the crucifixion. (John 3)

At another point during His ministry, Jesus met an unnamed Samaritan woman at a well. He talked to her, something a Jewish man would never do. In that encounter, He gently exposed her sin and told her who He was.

Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:27–29)

Her testimony to the people in her town gave evidence to the change in her life. They had rejected her because of her sinful lifestyle but when she invited them to meet Jesus, they came:

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39–42)

Many more stories are told of Jesus changing lives. I think of where I was when I met Jesus. Divorced, trying to find a new man, poor and trying to raise two children, self-confident on the surface thinking I could do it all but scared and lonely on the inside and fearful of rejection and abandonment. I had two quarter sections of land and no ability to farm it, skills but no job, and deep feelings of inadequacy along with that outward show of self-confidence.

Meeting Jesus changed everything. Some of it was sudden. Suddenly I liked people. Suddenly I was happy on the inside and no long felt alone. Years of walking with Him reversed the negatives as I became confident in Him instead of myself. In the beginning, I might have said, “Can this be the Christ?” but now I am certain because I have heard for myself that this indeed is the Savior of the world.

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Jesus, I’m grateful to You for the transformation, turning this ugly caterpillar into a far different creature, but most of all for being with me in every way and loving me totally, even when I make mistakes. You are all I have ever needed. Thank You for putting my name in Your appointment book and meeting with me when I would not reject You because right then, I needed You the most. Also, thanks for this reminder that talking one-on-one with people is a great way to introduce them to You, the Author of eternal life.