Revealing The ‘Concealed’ Jesus
As a child, I heard so much about Jesus. We sang about
Him in the kindergarten classes. I was taught about the
Saviour born in the manger, who walked the length and
breadth of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria doing good, healing
the sick, cleansing the leper, delivering those that were
possessed of demons, feeding thousands of people. I was told
that when you come unto Him with your sorrows and tears, He
would just wipe them away. No one ever came to Him and left
the same. Everybody benefited in one way or the other from
the Ministry and Life of the Saviour Jesus Christ. He even
loves little children and would normally carry them on His
lap and bless them. All these I heard at children’s Sunday
school and devotions. I then became anxious to see this
Jesus face to face. I wanted Him to touch me. All the people
I met, no one resembled the affectionate Jesus I had been
told of; not one, in the whole vicinity. None cared as much
as Jesus.
Then came that fateful day, when on the street of Aba in
Abia State, Nigeria, near the rail, came I, a little boy, at
the age of 6, hawking some bananas as instructed by my
Aunty. “Banana, banana” I chanted along the way. Suddenly
like a flood, a bus driver knocked me down and my bananas
were crushed and mashed. How much I wept when I remembered
the whipping that awaited me at home. Yet none around cared,
none bothered to ask. They busied themselves with their
businesses and even complained that I was disturbing their
peace. I remembered the Jesus of my kindergarten and
desperately wished He were there to console me and throw His
arms around me. I sat there wailing.
Oh, how glad I was when a man walked straight to me and
asked about the matter. I showed him my crushed bananas and
the punishment that awaited me at home. The man bent down,
placed his hand on my shoulder, and asked how much it all
cost? I told him. He pulled out from his pocket, five
hundred Naira (approx. $4.00) and bade me go in peace. Joy
filled my heart. Oh, at last I had met Jesus! Who else could
be so good? I joyfully asked the man: “Sir, are you Jesus;
the Jesus of my kindergarten class? He simply smiled and
said ‘No’ but I am his ambassador, I’m a child of God. I
thanked him profusely for letting me see Jesus through his
life, in that singular demonstration of the love of Christ.
Now, I am an adult. Today, 4th August 2003, along Sani
Abacha Road in G.R.A, Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria,
an opportunity was presented unto me to reveal Jesus to a
little child whom I met crying over a missing sum of money
from her petty trading. I looked at her, thinking of how to
manifest the love of Christ to her. Unfortunately, the
traffic moved on so quickly and I hurried off. ‘Oh la-la’, I
regret my inability to help the child meet a type-of-Jesus.
I wanted to act like Christ for that weeping child. Another
excuse and many excuses we always give.
What many of such opportunities we’ve been missing to
‘showcase’ the Lord Jesus to a needy neighbour, colleague,
relation, brother, sister, et al. Do we realize that you and
I are ‘the Jesus’ the world can see today? To make Him real
is BEYOND what we say in our Fellowships and Churches, but
is SEEN in what we DO in His stead (in His place) for one
another and the love we show to those in need. We can, like
Jesus, heal, help, feed, lift off a burden and wipe
somebody’s tears away TODAY; that’s really the way to reveal
Christ. Christ and love (Agape) go together. The song: ‘Let
the beauty of Jesus be seen (on) in me, of His wondrous
compassion and purity …’ should be more of our prayer than
song. The Lord Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).
May the Lord help us to return to the old Apostolic
love-way. Amen.
“…You are the Epistle of Christ …written not with ink, but
with the Spirit of God” 2nd Cor. 3:3
Sis. Oluchi Nwankwo, an Evangelist, Teacher and Preacher of
the Word of God, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Nigeria. She is an Associate Training Secretary of NIFES, on
part time among Nigerian Christian students in tertiary
institutions. E-mail:
Oluchi.S.Nwankwo@spdc.shell.com