Encountering Grace

You are just as guilty as I am.

We have both indulged in this.

People watching.

It’s hard not to sometimes right? People are...interesting.

I’d like to invite you on a little people-watching trip through these next few pages. The best part is these people won’t notice us.

I saw a quote on Twitter that said, “Smart people learn from experience. Smarter people learn from others' experiences.” This is why I want us to people-watch together. We have an opportunity to be smarter people and learn from two different people’s experiences of encountering Jesus. 

Their stories fascinate me. Here are two people who couldn’t have more opposite reactions to Jesus if they had tried. Hearing two different people had two different reactions to Jesus probably isn’t much of a surprise. That is exactly where the fascinating part comes into play. Jesus is remarkably similar in how he interacts with both people. Somehow, these two people had polar opposite reactions.

That is why I want you to join me on this people watching trip. We are going to pull these two encounters apart, bit by bit, in search of the difference. As we do, we are going to encounter realities about human nature and Jesus. My desire for you isn’t that you would merely learn something, but that you would walk away with a deeper understanding of Jesus and his grace. 

There’s a verse in Isaiah that talks about people seeing, but not perceiving. It’s why my emphasis is on understanding better. Ultimately, I hope you will see that when it comes to Jesus, there is more than meets the eye. 

The first character we meet is the Rich Young Ruler. You can read his encounter with Jesus in Mark 10:17-22. Read it first if you can, and then we can start people-watching. If not, here’s my take on how that encounter went down.