Simon Peter answered, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68

Yesterday morning a pastor from the valley spoke and ministered at our church. He began by asking the question, “What would you do if Jesus was in the room? How would it affect your prayers? Your worship? Would there be a radical difference in your approach to Him? Would you even recognize Him?” He then asked everyone to close their eyes and be still.

A few seconds later someone began to speak. Curious, I opened my eyes to see what was going on. A young man dressed in the garments of a first century Jewish rabbi came onto the stage. He began this way: “I am the true vine and the Father is the vinedresser.” As he continued, he walked among the congregation speaking the entire text of John 15. It was an amazing feat. Many people thought it was a recording, not a live reenactment. I was mesmerized.

The presence of the young man who was probably about Jesus’ age, wearing clothing such as Jesus might have worn, speaking Jesus’ words with a decidedly Jewish intonation and accent, moving amid a crowd, graphically portrayed what the pastor was trying to teach. Jesus is always in the room. This is what happens. Personally it was very moving, powerful and thought provoking, an inescapable, “in your face” teaching moment. More than anything else, that slightly accented voice speaking as if Jesus…, touched me. I could imagine myself in a Galilee crowd by the sea or on a mountain listening to Jesus’ voice, absorbing His words. The power of the Word spoken as Jesus would have spoken it was tangible. I heard it differently.

It is not how a pastor or teacher normally preaches or teaches whereby they choose particular sections of John 15, for example, to make points and thus, teach about John 15. Yesterday was John 15. It was Jesus’ entire, unbroken revelation about the Father and Himself coming from His heart to those blessed enough to hear Him and be drawn to Him. It is the entire lesson. He made no interpretation; he did not embellish a single thought; he did not say more or less than what was needed. Every word was infused with the Holy Spirit. It was living water.

For the first time I really understand the power of the Gospel as it was given to the early Christians. If 2000 years later I feel rattled by Christ’s words spoken by an actor/minister, how much greater was Jesus’ direct impact on the disciples who heard him every single day? How blessedly anointed and bathed they were in the Word by the Word and so affected that they could not keep it to themselves, like the Samaritan woman at the well who conversed with Jesus and ran off to tell her village she’d found Messiah.

I’d be very interested to know how other people responded. Was the dramatization effective more than momentarily? Did it make a lasting impression and convict hearts about prayer and worship? Did we leave desiring only to fall at the feet of the Lord and drown in His voice? Or was this just another church service spiced with a little l drama? Afterwards, did we seek out Jesus speaking John 15? Or take a nap after lunch at Pueblo Lindo?

Yeah, me too.