It all started as I was driving my car north along an avenue that leads to my neighborhood where I live. What I do is drive north along the avenue to a particular stop light intersection, turn left, then drive maybe 100 feet to my community's entrance on my right, then I turn down another road which leads directly to my home (in Miramar Florida). So, I was driving home and heard some kind of radio teaching program on the air. To this day I can't seem to find the station or program that I heard that day. It was as if THAT radio program was broadcast from Heaven, just for my ears alone. It was (I'm sure) sent to me as a kind of preparation for my mind, so that I would be able to receive what was about to happen to me. The radio program was about "What Jesus would look like if you met him in person, today." When I got to the intersection stop light, a 4-way stop, the radio program ended and some sort of choir was singing on the radio. It was pretty bad though, so I turned the volume down.
At the light, I was waiting for traffic to finish going through the intersection before I could make my turn, when the light turned red. So as I was sitting there, I saw an SUV drive up to the intersection, they were opposite of me driving South, stop and some guy got out of the passenger side, waved goodbye to the occupants, and they drove off. So there was this guy, wearing a long sleeve white loose fitting shirt, Khaki pants rolled up above his ankles, leather sandals, and he had what appeared to be a really large hand-made leather satchel with a really large flap on the front and probably a 5-inch wide strap that went over his shoulder. Ok, so what. Well, he walked up to the street corner, and started waving at everyone waiting at the intersection. And to my astonishment, everyone he waved to waved right back at him. Some people even blew their horns at him to attract his attention just so he would wave at them and they could wave back. And he was mouthing something to them, I couldn't hear what it was - sounds of horns blowing took care of that - and he would point to them and then wave at them.
The first impression I had in my mind was "Is this guy running for office or what?". And then curiosity got the better of me and I decided that I would make my turn, and pull off the road and call him over so I could talk to him, maybe find out who he is, etc. And that's exactly what I did. After I pulled off the road, he began walking toward my car, and it seemed as if he was about to walk passed me. So I rolled down my passenger window (which hasn't worked since this happened. weird huh?), and called him over. "HEY. COME HERE." He walked over to my door and leaned over into the window and asked me
"Can you drive me down to the next street corner?" First I thought "What a strange request. I mean, you can SEE the street corner. You could easily walk there in 15 minutes"
So I said "Sure. Why not. Hop in."
So he opened my car door, and got in. Now at this point I have to clarify that I drive a 1991 car that has a very unique safety feature - it has automatic shoulder belts. One end of the belt is attached to a gizmo that slides along the opening of the doorway via a motor. When you open the door, it slides forward allowing you to exit or enter the car. When the door closes, the belt slides along the doorway to go behind your seat in the proper position (for a shoulder belt). Then you have to use a manual lap belt to complete buckling into the car. My new passenger had no clue (or did he) about the seat belts. So after he closed the door, and the shoulder belt moved into place, I had to explain to him about the lap belt. He looked all around for it and couldn't find it. So, I had to lean over his lap, getting very close to his face, to reach down between the seat and the door to get the belt out for him. AND THAT"S WHEN I GOT A VERY CLOSE-UP VIEW ... of a series of small multiple bump like scars in a band-like formation on his forehead that went completely around his head.
You might wanna pause here to reflect a minute. I sure did.
My new "friend" had dark skin, like a middle-eastern East-Indian. He had dark brown hair. Actually, from a distance, it looked dark brown, but closer up it looked Auburn. And sitting right next to me, I could see that his hair was a mixture of many different colors: black, brown, blond, red, and a few white strands. It was colored per strand. There is NO WAY any hair salon could have colored his hair that way. He also had some sort of hair product in his hair, as it was very shiny, almost glistening. His hair was cut short, it was curly, it was Caucasian hair, and I could easily see the tiny bump-like scars going completely around his head.
My next thought repeated in my head over and over: CROWN OF THORNS. Oh my God, this couldn't be. Not here, in my car. And he had no facial hair either. No beard? yep.
So I thought that maybe I could get him to just start talking, and maybe he would just tell me who he really is. So I asked him his name. And you know what he said to me?
"You can't pronounce it." Huh? What kind of answer is that? So I responded: "Try me. Give me a chance." So he told me what his name was. And you know what? He was right. I couldn't pronounce it. Then I thought in my mind "Isn't there a scripture in the Bible that say Jesus has a name that only He knows?" Where did THAT come from? It just sort of popped in there. So I continued my game plan to try to get him to start talking. I invited him to change the station of the stereo to music he might like. So as he reached up with his left hand to change the station, his loose fitting sleeve was pulled back... revealing a large bump-like scar on the back of his wrist. I overheard him say under his breath "Uh-oh." So I grabbed his left hand with my right and used my left to pull back his sleeve more so I could get a really good look at the scar. He had identical scars on both the palm sides and back sides of both wrists. They were about the size of a nickle, maybe a bit larger, and raised up about 1/4".
It was then my heart started beating real fast. I thought, if this dude IS Jesus, he's got to have similar scaring on the top of his feet. So I bent over to where his feet were, and he bent over to look at what I was looking at, then he looked back at me, then back down at his feet. It was one of those Keystone cops scenes. I'm sure he was probably wondering just what I was looking for. I could see he had similar scars under the handmade leather sandal straps on the top of both feet. Then I thought "I'm in serious trouble. I'm holding the Lord against his will." So I just simply opened my hands to allow him to withdraw his hands from mine. And he folded them in his lap. A minute passed, cause I was trying to think of something to say.
I said "Those are very interesting scars you have there." Guess what he did. He smiled. A great big smile, from ear to ear. He's got the whitest teeth I've ever seen. They looked as if they had never been used.
So he said "Can we just get going?" I said "Sure. Why not." So I put the car in gear, pulled onto the roadway, and started driving to the next street corner. We got stuck behind a slow driver, some lady, who kept staring at my passenger. She would not take her eyes off of him. So I yelled out probably the most stupid thing I could have said then:
"Don't just stare at Him. Do Something." I then made a passing maneuver to get around her, and the whole time He kept his eyes on her and vice versa. Why I said this I just don't know.
So we finally got to the next street corner, I pulled off the road, he undid his seat belt, and got out. As he was walking away he said:
"Dave. Thanks for the ride." And I responded with the next stupidest thing I could have ever said to the Lord. "Good luck, and I hope you find what your looking for." He waived back at me, and walked up to the street corner, and stuck out his thumb, as if he was hitch-hiking. I put my car in gear, made a U-turn, and began driving back home. I thought that I should keep a close eye on him in my rear-view mirror. But I had to look down at on-coming traffic for a few seconds, then looked back up at my mirror. And... and... and...
He was simply... GONE. As if he vanished into thin air. There was no bush to hide behind, there was nothing there. He couldn't have been picked up that quickly. He simply vanished.
And the weirdest thing of all was that... I never told him my name. He knew my name.
I didn't get to see his side, or his back. I wished I could have. "It is written, By His stripes, we are healed."
Who was that stranger in my car? I believe... he was Jesus. What else can I say? Except that I hope this testimony is a blessing upon you.
That's it.
So, yes I know what HE really looks like, and could pick him out of a police line-up. I grabbed his hand. He grabbed mine. I know some of his nature - how he moves, walks, talks, sits. If I ever saw him again, I would drop everything and go running for Him as fast as I can. I would want to have a much longer conversation with Him. I would want to apologize for the way I acted. I would tell him "Thank You, for what you did for all of us, on the cross." I would want to see his side, and back, and run my finger over his scars on his back, and mouth the words "By His stripes we are healed." I would want to break bread with Him, and share my food with Him. Every single day I think about what happened, and I just can't seem to put my mind on anything else. I don't really know what to do with this, except to share it with as many people as I can.
Some Extra Thoughts:
Do I believe I met Jesus face-to-face in the flesh?
Yes I do.
Where's the proof this was Jesus?
He had crucifixion-like scars all over his body.
Did He impart to you any special message or special "word"?
No, But I believe I can pick Him out of a police line-up. In other words, I know how He looks, what He looks looks like, how He acts, how He moves, how tall He is, how muscular He is, the clothes He wore, how the skin on His hands feel, the length of His hands, what His voice sounds like.
Do you feel you need to give Jesus a lift to tell him something that you can say in prayer?
No I don't need to give Jesus a lift to tell him something that you & I & everybody else can say in prayer, BUT when you tell someone "I Love You" on the phone, wouldn't it mean more (to you) if you said it to them IN PERSON
If Christ appeared to you, and he did NOT impart to you a clear message or any message at all, should you totally disregard meeting Him? In other words, If you went for a walk around your neighborhood, and you unexpectedly bumped into one of your neighbors without having any purpose doing so, should you totally disregard bumping into them at all? Just because you're out & about doesn't mean you need to have a reason for being there.
Also, since a few men were terrified in meeting Christ, does that mean that if I'm not terrified in meeting Him, that the meeting was any less real?
Recently, I came across a video I found on YouTube. It presents a segment on Discovery TV called "Who was Jesus?: The Face of Jesus". Click on the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiScnNtSHJA) to see this remarkable video. The face presented is almost exactly who I met in my car. His hair was shorter, and curly, and his skin was darker - like an East Indian. But the rest is almost Him.
