“After three years, I
went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen
days” Galatians 1:18.
Paul’s fifteen day visit intrigues me to no end. One of the men was personally called by Jesus
and walked with Him daily for three years.
The other man was rescued by Christ Jesus and spent the next three years
learning from Him. ‘I want you to know…that
the gospel I preached...I did not receive it from any man…rather I received it by
revelation from Jesus Christ’ Galatians 1:11. What is intriguing to me is that they both
learned under the tutelage of Jesus – one in the flesh and the other in the
Spirit. The message was the same and the
impact on each was life altering. What
must their conversations have been over those fifteen days? I would imagine Paul would have wanted to
know the physical man of Jesus. I can
just hear them comparing the different testimonies of how they were
called. Did they discuss their future
ministries and how different those ministries would be?
If it were me, my fifteen days would have been saturated
with questions about the man of Jesus.
What did He laugh at? Tell me the
tender moments between Him and those He healed.
What was experienced the first time He was seen after the
resurrection? My questions would have
gone on and on…
I remember when I started going more deeply with Jesus I looked to my grandmother for answers about Him. She had been following in deep love and fellowship with Him since she was 16. By the time I was walking out my intimacy with Christ she was nearing 98 years old and had some cognitive challenges. Many times since her death my spirit has experienced some sadness regarding the missed opportunities…the additional talks we could have had about God…stories about their shared accomplishments.
Whatever Paul and Peter talked about it was meant to be
private since it is not written in the Holy Writ. But this I know, we all have a story about
our encounters with Jesus even if it hasn’t been revealed to us yet. Our Father desires to know each and every one
of us personally and to experience deep love and fellowship with Him. Whether we have known Him for some time or
whether He appears to us on a road leading in the opposite direction, we will
all have a story to share.
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