Encounters With Christ

When the Lord Jesus said to Philip, 'He who has seen Me has seen the Father' (John 14:9), He was unveiling the very heart of the Gospel. In the face, words, actions, compassion, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the invisible God makes Himself known. The Father is not hidden behind the Son; He is revealed in Him.This book, 'Encounters: Seeing the Father in Jesus,' is born from that confession.It is a collected work that brings together five previously published volumes, now gathered into one unified theological and spiritual journey. Though each book focuses on a distinct Gospel encounter, together they form a single testimony: every true encounter with Jesus is an encounter with the Father who sent Him. What the Son does, He does from the Father; what the Son reveals, He reveals of the Father; whom the Son saves, the Father has already sought.The Gospel encounters explored in these pages are not chosen at random. They are moments where divine initiative meets human need-where heaven interrupts ordinary life. At the tax booth in Capernaum, at the gate of Nain, by Jacob’s well, beneath the sycamore tree in Jericho, and before the tomb in Bethany, we see the same pattern unfold: the Father reaching out through His Son to seek, to heal, to restore, and to give life.Jesus does not merely call Matthew; the Father chooses him. The widow of Nain does not simply receive compassion; she experiences the Father’s mercy made visible. The Samaritan woman does not only meet a prophet; she encounters the Father who reveals His Messiah to the humble. Zacchaeus is not only forgiven; salvation enters his house by the Father’s will. Lazarus is not only raised; the Father’s glory is manifested in the Son, who calls the dead to life.Throughout these encounters, the Lord Jesus remains perfectly faithful to His own testimony: 'The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing' (John 5:19). Every word spoken, every tear shed, every miracle performed, and every life transformed bears the imprint of the Father’s heart.This work is therefore not primarily a collection of moral lessons or devotional reflections-though it contains both. It is an invitation to see differently: to look at Christ and recognize in Him the face of the Father; to read the Gospels and discern the Father’s voice; to approach Jesus and discover the Father who draws, receives, and sends.The witness of the early Church Fathers, woven throughout these pages, affirms this vision. They remind us that the Father is not known apart from the Son, nor the Son apart from the Father, nor either without the work of the Holy Spirit, who opens the eyes of the heart. To know Christ is not merely to understand Him, but to be drawn into communion with the Father through Him.Ultimately, 'Encounters' is written for the reader who longs to move beyond distant belief into a living relationship. The encounters described here did not end in the first century. The same Father still seeks. The same Son still calls. The same Spirit still gives life. And the same invitation stands before every soul: Come and see.May these pages help the reader to behold Jesus with renewed eyes-and in beholding Him, to know the Father who loves, sends, saves, and gives eternal life.Hegumen Abraam Sleman