If You Want to Know God, Look at Jesus
So often we think of God being different than Jesus and that is not the truth
God in the Flesh
If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Not the ideas people project onto God. Not the fear-based systems built in His name. Not the assumptions drawn from culture, politics, or tradition. Jesus said,
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; John 14:9.
That’s not metaphor, that’s not poetry, that’s straight-up clarity. If we want to know how God thinks, feels, acts, and relates to human beings, we look at how Jesus moved, spoke, healed, forgave, confronted, and embraced. God is like Jesus, period.
Jesus and the Outcast: The Woman at the Well
In John 4, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well. This interaction shouldn't have happened by every social rule of the day. She was a woman. She was a Samaritan. She was a moral failure. She was an outsider in every sense. Jesus didn't just tolerate her. He pursued her. He initiated conversation. He offered her living water before she even confessed her need. God is not the one wagging a finger at your sin before offering a seat at the table. He’s the one pulling up a chair before you even knew you were thirsty. That's the heart of the Father.
Jesus and the Religious: Nicodemus and the Pharisees
Jesus wasn't afraid of religious people, but wasn't impressed by them either. Nicodemus came at night, hiding his curiosity in the shadows. Jesus met him with honesty: "You must be born again." He didn't stroke egos or celebrate credentials. He pointed to transformation. And to the Pharisees who used God for power, Jesus pulled no punches: "You brood of vipers."
That’s God, too. God doesn’t play games with spiritual masks. He’s not swayed by position, but He does love honest seekers, even when they come at night.
Jesus and the Failure: Peter
Peter blew it. Denied Christ three times. Said he'd die for Jesus, then folded under pressure. What does God do with that? Jesus made breakfast for him. Restored him. Gave him a job. "Feed my sheep." That’s what God does with failure. He doesn’t erase the past but redeems it. He doesn’t lecture. He re-invites.
Jesus and the Unclean: The Leper, the Bleeding Woman
Lepers were to be avoided. Touched, and you’d be contaminated. The woman with the issue of blood had lived for over a decade in shame. Jesus didn’t flinch. He touched the untouchable. Called the woman "daughter." That’s what God does with impurity: He moves toward it. Not to condemn, but to restore. This is not soft sentiment. This is holy defiance against a culture of exclusion.
Jesus and the Oppressed: Zacchaeus and the Marginalized
Zacchaeus was rich but despised, a collaborator with Rome. Jesus saw him in a tree and said, "Come down. I'm going to your house today." God walks right into your mess, your compromise, your lonely dinners, and says, "Let's eat." God doesn't wait for you to clean up. Jesus didn’t even ask him to repent before inviting himself in. But the invitation changed everything.
Jesus and the Demonized: The Gerasene Demoniac
This guy was living in a graveyard, naked, possessed, terrifying the neighborhood. Jesus crossed the sea just for him. Delivered him. Sent him back as a witness. That’s how God treats the most broken: He gets in the boat and comes for them.
Jesus and the Children
They tried to push the kids away. Jesus said, "Let them come." He welcomed, blessed, and lifted. God delights in the small. He isn’t too busy, too important, or too holy to kneel down and smile.
Jesus and the Dying: The Thief on the Cross
One line of faith from a dying criminal: "Remember me." Jesus: "Today, you'll be with me in paradise." That’s grace. That’s God. No time left to prove himself. No track record to point to. Just believe. And God says, "You’re in."
Jesus and the Grieving: Mary and Martha
In John 11, Jesus didn’t just raise Lazarus. First, He wept. Before the miracle came the empathy. Before the display of power came the shared tears. Jesus entered their grief, not with a rush to fix, but with presence. That’s how God is. He joins us in sorrow before He rescues us from it.
What Jesus Did Shows What God Thinks
Jesus never turned away the sincere. He never tolerated arrogance in religious disguise. He touched, healed, called, lifted. He wept. He got angry. He laughed. He felt. And in all that, He showed us what the Father is like. You want to know how God feels about the poor? Look at Jesus feeding 5,000. Want to know how God feels about the broken? Look at Jesus healing the paralyzed man lowered through a roof. Want to know how God responds to your confusion? Look at the road to Emmaus. He walks with you in the questions.
God Is Not Like We Thought
Religion often flips the script. It makes God the angry judge and Jesus the nice lawyer. But that’s not the Gospel. Jesus is not bending God’s arm to forgive us. Jesus is God, forgiving us. There’s no daylight between the two. Every miracle, every moment of mercy, every act of justice—was God Himself, visible and near.
Grace Over Rules: The Way God Operates
Grace is not God going soft. Grace is God being Himself. He doesn't run on rules but on relationships. That’s why Jesus broke Sabbath traditions to heal the sick, touched lepers, dined with crooks, and forgave prostitutes. He lived as if people mattered more than laws—because to God, they do.
Rules can modify behavior. Grace transforms hearts. And it starts with how we see God. If we think God is waiting to catch us slipping, we hide. If we know He’s running toward us like the father of the prodigal son, we come home.
Practical Implications: Knowing God Through Jesus Today
If Jesus shows us God, then our theology isn’t complete until it aligns with Jesus. Ask these questions in every situation:
What did Jesus do in a situation like this?
Who would Jesus talk to if He walked into my life right now?
What does Jesus’ tone, touch, and timing teach me about how God deals with people?
We do it gently when we deal with the hurting because Jesus did. When we confront hypocrisy, we do it boldly because Jesus did. When we are tempted to judge, we remember Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dirt.
The invitation is to admire Jesus and adopt His view of God—one of mercy, nearness, and truth.
Conclusion: If You Want to Know God, Watch Jesus
Jesus isn’t just a window into God. He is God walking among us. Not distant. Not theoretical. But touchable, knowable, and relatable. When He touched a leper, that was God doing it. When He said, "Father, forgive them," from the cross, that was God saying it. When He cried with Mary, shouted in the temple, and lifted Peter’s chin—all of that is divine action.
So what does God think of you?
Look at Jesus. He came for you before you asked. He stayed when you failed. He forgave before you earned it. He called you by name.
If you want to know God, know Jesus.