An Interview With Jesus

John was in prison and needed to know if Jesus was really the person promised by God as the Messiah. I’m sure that he knew Jesus as hi cousin, but I wonder if he knew him as the Messiah. I’m sure that after baptizing Jesus he had to be convinced that Jesus was truly the One. Perhaps being in jail and hearing stories of things going on outside of the prison had John a little unsettled. So he sent his disciples to interview Jesus directly and bring word back to him. They interviewed Jesus and brought the report back to John which is our text for today in the book of Luke.

But I often wonder what it would have been like if Jesus had been born in modern times. Instead of being interviewed by John’s Disciples what if He had been interviewed by a Muslim or Someone not Christian. Today at the click of a button, we can see things that are happening around the world. Things would be a little different. One good or bad story can make you or break you as a reporter. Whether you are a news anchor or radio or newspaper or magazine or internet reporter. News travels fast and bad news travels faster than good news can keep up with. I can imagine that some rumors had spread around Jerusalem. One bad rumor can mess up your life. They did not have the modern technology that we have today, but word somehow got from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city even country to country.

I can imagine the TV and newspaper reporters covering the scene in and around Jerusalem. I imagine that there was a reporter name Abdullah who worked for the Samaritan Times who was on his way to Jerusalem to interview Jesus. Abdullah was not a Christian but had heard about this man named Jesus turning the Eastern world upside down and his company asked him to go to Jerusalem and find out who this Jesus is. Abdullah had objected to this assignment because he did not believe in the claims of Jesus nor The Christian Faith. He had asked his boss if someone else could take this assignment. He did not prevail and had to make the journey anyway. The journey took him by bus and he even had to ride a camel to complete his journey. But on his way they had to make some stops before getting to Jerusalem and he met a woman and he asked her do you know a man named Jesus? She said yes I know the man. I met Him at a well. He told me everything that I ever did and gave me some water that keeps springing up into my soul. This water that He gave me makes me want to shout halleluiah, and tell everybody about this man Jesus. I once was lost but now I am found. So Abdullah the reporter asked her what else you can tell me. She said if you are going into Jerusalem, I think you ought to talk to Him for yourself. Abdullah said to himself, if I can just get an interview with this Jesus. I believe this is a good story. So He went on and had to make another stop. There he saw a man standing on the corner and he asked Him do you know Jesus? The man said yes, but when I met Him I was blind. In fact I was born blind: you can ask my parents and the whole community. But this Jesus asked me did I want to see and I said yes Lord. And He spat on the ground, made me some eyes and put them in the socket and told me to go and wash myself and now I can see. I once was blind but now I see. Abdullah the reporter said what else can you tell me about this Jesus? The man said, I think you need to talk to Him for yourself He’s in or near Jerusalem. So they traveled on and made another stop before getting to Jerusalem and he met another man. So he asked the man, do you know Jesus? The man said yes, my whole family knows this man and we are his friends. You see, one day I got sick and my family thought for sure that Jesus our friend would heal me. You see He had healed many people before me. But He did not heal me. In fact he let me die but after 4 days, He came to my grave and spoke to me told me to get back in my body. He raised me from the dead and the religious rulers are mad at Him to this day, because everybody is starting to believe on Him. Abdullah said to himself, this is hard to believe. They continued the journey. He and his crew they made it to outside of Jerusalem and a little boy stopped them and offered them some food. Abdullah said little boy if you give us your food, what will you have to eat. The boy said I do not worry about food since I met Jesus. You see, I saw him take my lunch and feed 15000 people with it. Abdullah said that must have been a big lunch. The boy responded it was only a happy meal (2 fish and 5 loaves of bread) and there was food left over. Abdullah stunned at what the boy had said and thinking to himself, surely this little boy is making up things.