I thought I knew you...

I’ve entitled this message, I thought I knew you. 
The phrase, “Just when you think you know someone…” is typically followed by what? Here are a few quotes that may answer this for us…

• Inside every person you know, there’s a person you don’t know. 
  
• You think you know someone, but mostly you just know what you want to know. 
  
• You think you know someone, but what you really know is only what they choose to show you. 
  

Card Game…Merry Dissmas. 

• This is a game that reveals how well you know others, and what you may come to find out about yourself from others. 
  

• A rotating Diss-Master pulls a random card, reads the question out loud, and then everyone playing writes down a person’s name that comes to mind. The Diss-Master collects all the answers, then gets to choose the best one. 
  
• One of the cards read, “Who needs help just attaching a PDF to an email? This person is the most clueless when it comes to technology.”
  
• To my surprise, everyone guessed me. My family, those closest to me, know me too well. 
  

Allow me to describe for us a few I thought I knew you moments in relation to the Last Supper…

Consider the Disciples at the Last Supper…They thought they knew each other. 

• Imagine if you will with me that Jesus pulls the card, and reads it out loud. The question is, “Which of the 12 disciples will end up betraying Me?”  Who’s name do you think the disciples would have written down? 
  
  • John 13:18-30 (CSB) Verse 22 The disciples started looking at one another--uncertain which one he was speaking about. 
    
  • Luke 22:23 (CSB) actually says, “So they began to argue among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do it.”
    

• After spending much time together, you would have thought that the Disciples knew each other very well. Yet, they were unable to give an answer. Not one of them said, “I bet it’s Judas.”
  

Consider Peter at the Last Supper…He thought he knew himself. 

• Again, imagine if you will with me that Jesus pulls the card, and reads it out loud. The question is, “Which of the 12 disciples will deny Me three times?”  Who’s name do you think the disciples would have written down? 
  
  • Peter? Luke 22:31-34, 54-62 (CSB) Verse 33 “Lord,” he told him, “I’m ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
    

• Matthew 26:35 (CSB) “Even if I have to die with you,” Peter told him, “I will never deny you,” and all the disciples said the same thing.
  

• Peter thought he knew himself. Do you think Peter would have written his own name down? Did he think he could ever get to a point of denying Christ before others? Peter emphatically stated that “I will NEVER.” 
  

I love good commercials…the genuinely funny one’s are my favorite.
Here’s an Allstate commercial where two friends are tailgating before the big game.
Link to the Allstate Commercial

That leads us into our final thought to consider…


Consider Christ…He knew His Disciples.

• In John 13:18-30 (CSB) He says at the Last Supper…18 “I’m not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. 
  
  • He knew all the answers to those questions. 
    
    • He knew Judas and that he would betray Him. John 13:21, 26.
      
    • He knew Peter and that he would deny Him. Luke 22:31, 57-58, and 60.
      
    • He knows All mankind…like the Allstate agents’ claim, He knows who you really are and what you really need.
      
      • He knew that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior.
        
      • John 3:16 (CSB) For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
        

My grandpa, my mom’s dad, just passed away recently. He was a godly man, but when we’d visit him he wouldn’t go to church with us. I asked him why. He said he’s heard it all already, that there wasn’t anything more to learn. In his mind, he thought he already knew all about himself and all about Jesus. 
Time of reflection…What about you?

• Just when you think you know others, just when you think you know yourself, just when you think you know Christ…you can’t deny that you need to know each greater, especially the One Who lovingly gave His life for you.
  
  • Will you hear these words from Christ?
    
    • John 7:22-23 (CSV) On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
      

• Is your zeal for Him according to knowledge?
  
  • Romans 10:1-2 (CSB) Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
    
    • If you don’t KNOW Him, then will you give your life to Him today?
      
    • If you don’t KNOW Him, then will you commit your life to getting to know Him and His people in a greater way?
      
• Remember what Christ told Peter at the Last Supper?
  
  • Luke 22 (CSB) 31 “Simon, Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
    
    • How can and did Peter accomplish that? 
      
      • First of all, Christ welcomed him back in love and told him to go feed His sheep (John 21).
        
    • What did it look like when Peter turned back…when he strengthened his brothers…what did he feed Christ’s sheep with?
      
      • 2 Peter 3:18 (CSB) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
        
    • What did Christ, Himself, pray in John 17:3 (CSB)? This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent --    Jesus Christ.
      

I pray that you’ll come to experience what it truly means to be in a relationship with the One who knows who you really are and what you really need.
Truth is…He knows you. The question is…do you know Him? You may think you know Him, but what steps are you taking to really get to know Him in a greater, more intimate way?