Unpredictable Jesus

You cannot predict beforehand the results of a respectful conversation. - Harold Heie, A Future for American Evangelicalism

You can never tell where a conversation is going to go with Jesus. If you’re really listening, odds are it’ll go someplace you didn’t expect. He’s always pushing the boundaries, always asking for intimacy, always wanting to find the real you and to help you show it to the world.

Watch where these conversations go with Jesus. Notice how he’s keenly interested in what we want - even though our answers are so often shallow, like the disciples’ answers here). And see how he breaks conventional rules for how to talk with people by diving in deep with Peter.

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). - John 1:35-42

Talk with Jesus about what you are seeing here. Try to be painfully honest. And try to be open to how the conversation might go.