When journalist Rita Cosby was a child, she noticed scars across her father’s body, and she asked about them. She quickly learned not to ask questions like that. Parts of her father’s life were off–limits. Years later when her mother passed away, Rita found a tattered tan suitcase in the closet with memorabilia from her dad’s early life, including a Polish Resistance armband, rusted tags bearing a prisoner number, and an identity card for a POW named Ryszard Kossobudzki.

Using her training as an investigative journalist, Rita learned as much as she could. Then she decided to approach her father for the full story. “I wanted our relationship to be better,” she said. “I had decided to make an attempt at a deeper bond, to somehow break through his tough shell, hoping to find a soft center.”

One day she appeared at the door of her dad’s small house in Virginia, and he greeted her warmly. After chatting a few moments, he said, “Okay, what do you want to know?”¹

Recognizing the Quiet Hero

Little by little, Rita learned the remarkable story of how her dad became a Polish resistance fighter when he was little more than a boy. What he experienced and endured was beyond anything she could have guessed. She finally understood his physical and emotional scars. Her heart went out to him and she helped him find healing, even accompanying him back to Poland where, in his old age, he was honored as a national hero.

The two formed the father–daughter bond Rita had long desired. “By assembling the pieces of this puzzle, I have forged a new and precious bond with my dad, deeper than either of us ever could have imagined. I’ve learned that sometimes the quiet hero is someone we may have known all our lives, but never really knew at all.”²

It’s something like that with Jesus Christ. Even if you’ve known Him all your life, there’s still much to learn. There are clues in the Bible to explore. There are conversations that will deepen our bond with Him. We’ll never understand all He endured for us or the depth of the scars He bore. And we’ll never uncover the deepest mysteries of His infinite wisdom, power, love, and grace. But by knowing Him better, we’ll have the kind of relationship with Him we crave.

Digging Beyond the Familiar

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that his ambition was “that I may know Him.” Since Paul already knew Christ as Savior, we can only assume he meant he wanted to know Christ better.

The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition renders this verse: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly].”

Some of us who grew up hearing about how Jesus healed the sick and stilled the storm and died and rose again… well, we may unconsciously think we’ve heard just about all there is about Jesus.

But Jesus is infinite! There’s always something new to learn. The more we study Him, the more insights we gain, and the closer to Him we grow.

How, then, can we “progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him”?

Knowing Who Jesus Is

We come to know Him by studying His life and learning about Him, especially His death and resurrection. Pastor Dan Lloyd said he grew up believing that attending church, participating in the sacraments, and trying to live a morally pure life would help get him to heaven. When Dan was a senior in high school, Billy Graham held an evangelistic campaign in Seattle’s brand–new Kingdome. Dan decided to attend. He enjoyed the music and listened to Dr. Graham’s message.

When the invitation was given, he told his sister he was going down to see what the view was like from the AstroTurf. As he stood on the field, a young man named Roc Bottomley approached him and started a conversation. Roc asked Dan about his eternal salvation, and Dan told him he was all right with God because he was a church member.

Roc replied, “If going to church makes you a Christian, why did Jesus die on the cross?”

Dan had no answer, and Roc proceeded to share the facts and significance of the death of Jesus. When Roc asked Dan if he wanted to pray, Dan began reading a prayer from a tract Roc had given him: “Dear God, I know that I am a sinner…”