“He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did
not RECOGNIZE Him [did not KNOW Him]. “He came to that which belonged to Him
[to His own - His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not
RECEIVE Him and did not WELCOME Him. “But to as many as did RECEIVE and
WELCOME Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children
of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, rely on) His name.” (Jn. 1:10,
Amp)
When Jesus Christ lived in the flesh, here on planet earth, He came in a form that most did not expect.
They hoped He would come as a mighty, military power to overtake the Roman Empire. They thought
He would be head and shoulders above the rest.
But Jesus disappointed every human expectation. He was "a tender plant" and a “root out of a
dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2). He had no form or comeliness. He did not come in royal, kingly pomp.
People didn’t turn to see His great beauty. Instead, He was despised and rejected by men. Men hid their
faces from Him. He was not appreciate or esteemed. His worth was UNRECOGNIZABLE (Isaiah 53:3).
“…AMONG YOU there stands One Whom you do not RECOGNIZE and with Whom you
are not ACQUAINTED and of Whom you KNOW nothing” (Jn. 1:26, Amp)
Jesus, Who was always lead by His Spirit, took on several unorthodox appearances to His disciples.
Many times, when He appeared to them in a form they were not accustomed to, they were terrified
(Matt 14:26, AMP).
In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus walked toward His disciples on the water and the disciples thought that He
was “a spirit” (a “phantasm” (Strong’s # 5326); “a ghost” (AMP and NLT); “a phantom” (Mon)). As a
result of this terrifying sight, they (Mt 4:26) “screamed in terror” (NLT) and “were
troubled…cried out for fear” (KJV); “they were frightened” (NAS), “greatly alarmed”
(Weymouth) and “shrieked for fear” (Moffatt).
In Mark 6:45-52 they supposed "it" (Jesus) was “an apparition” (Alf) and “raised a [deep,
throaty] shriek of terror” (AMP); “they were full of dismay” (Knox). When Jesus finally
calmed the storm, the disciples “were scared out of their wits” (Phi).
Can you imagine what these manly fisherman saw to cause such a reaction? They were used to being on
the sea in the middle of the night and seeing all kinds of strange things before, when their minds played
tricks on them due to sleep deprivation, exhaustion and resulting hallucinations.
In Luke 24:13-35 Jesus appeared to two of His followers in a form that kept them from recognizing
Him. Eventually, their eyes were opened and they identified Him. However, when this happened, He
disappeared. Later on in Luke 24:36-37 as they were discussing their previous experience with Jesus,
Jesus, Himself, suddenly appeared and stood before them. As a result:
“The whole group was terribly frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost” (NLT)
“They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit” (KJV)
“They were startled” (AMP)
They were “Startled, and in the utmost alarm” (Weymouth)
They were “Panic stricken” (Goodspeed)
“They shrank back in terror” (Phi)
They thought that they had seen “an apparition” (Knox).
A PRESENT APPLICATION
Today, Christ is appearing throughout the world in an UNRECOGNIZABLE fashion, bot within and
outside of "church." He is not fitting our mold. He is not conforming to our "wineskins" and mind-sets.
We should not be surprised when He shows up and does things in our midst that we’ve never
encountered before. When He defies science and the laws of our universe, we should not withdraw
from Him.
Jesus cannot be limited in any way, shape or dimension and neither should we limit His servants.
We must learn to discern, by and after the Spirit, what is of Him and what is not. If we don’t, we'll end
up rejecting what He is doing and those He is using. We must allow the Lord to change the way we see
things and be willing to let Him use whomever He pleases to adjust our paradigms. If we keep our eyes
on the flesh or those things that are on the surface, we will miss God.
Let us never judge a book by its cover.
John, the Baptist, discerned Who the Christ was by watching the Spirit. When the Spirit, as a dove,
descended and remained on Jesus, he knew He was the Christ. The Dove dwelt on Him, never to
depart. This was the proof, for John, that the Man, Christ Jesus, was the Christ.
So what does this mean for us? We must learn to know no man after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom.
8:5; 2 Cor. 5:17). So ask yourself - Where does the Dove DESCEND and REMAIN? (John 1:32-34).
Follow John's example. Follow the Dove.
The disciples, who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, did not visually or physically discern
that it was Jesus Who was walking with them. They were kept from seeing Him. However, there is one
sign that they discerned:
THERE HEARTS WERE GREATLY MOVED and BURNED WITHIN THEM as they walked with Him
(Luke 24:32).
This also is a lesson: If you are truly with Jesus, walking with Him, your heart will burn. If what you see
is the Lord, in disguise, than your heart will burn. It will move.
An OLD WINESKIN mindset will never perceive the New Wine. We must let the Holy Spirit do a
shifting within our hearts. Only those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will pick up on what the
Spirit is saying and do in this hour.
Jesus is showing up in new ways in this New Day. He may do things that are weird, strange and alien to
what we think is Him. Like the disciples, we may even see things that look demonic or frightening. We
may have God-encounters that seem un-god-like or un-christ-like, according to our estimations, but we
must judge every tree by its fruit - not by the bark, leaves, root system or any other part of the tree. Do
not judge a book by it’s cover, but its contents. The spiritual movements of old must not be used as a
grid for what follows. God is not Who we THINK He is; He is Who He SAYS He is.
Only TOTAL dependence on the Dove will do.
When John the Baptist came on the scene, the religious crowds and leaders did not know or recognize
that He was the Elijah to come. Then, to make matters worse, they failed to know and recognize the
Son of God Himself, the One Whose way was prepared by John (Matthew 17:12). Today, the religious
crowds, which make up 95% of the "church," are still oblivious to Jesus and they certainly don't
recognize Him when He shows up in "the least" or "the foolish" or "the weak."
This may seem like an unorthodox message but it's VITAL to our being relevant in and to the Kingdom
of God. This is meant to help us learn to see Him, as He really is, beyond what we may think or feel. Our
conceptions of Jesus are about to be unraveled because He is coming as Who He IS and He is so much
bigger than the postage stamp we settle on all too often.
“…He should be made manifest and be revealed to Israel [be brought out where we can
SEE HIM]…” (Jn. 1:31, Amp)
In the season that the Lord impressed this message on me, He also inspired me to write a poem called
“Is That You Lord?” Here's that poem...
[Taken from Mark 6:45-52]
I’ve see my Lord before;
He’s had many shapes and sizes.
It’s not just folklore,
For He carries many surprises.
He never ceases to amaze me,
Because He’ll be who He’ll be,
As a collage of forms
Or even deep, dark storms.
His ways seem so strange,
but His heart will never change.
Before I think I’ve figured Him out,
He changes His form and makes me shout.
Lately, He’s been changing faces,
Even taking me to unorthodox places.
Years ago He was a child,
Coming across so quaint and mild.
Yesterday He was a young man,
furthering the Divine Will and Plan.
But today He’s morphing and transforming,
Becoming a new morning.
Mounting up into realms unseen,
Making a people absolutely clean.
What we did yesterday will no longer do;
He’s calling us higher into a new attitude.
This is a new day, a new age, a new place;
A day where grace has a new face.
We’re in the boat and He’s on the water;
Will we be a true son or a scared little daughter.
He may look strange,
To a people who don’t like change,
But who will walk with Him
And stop singing the traditional hymn.
He may look scary
And things will get a bit hairy,
But which of you
Will do what He tells you?
Everything in Him is changing NOW
And tarring down our sacred cows.
He’s walking on water,
No more on land;
He’s calling us out
To be ONE NEW MAN.
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