Some years ago, I ran across a wonderful story in the setting of a little church in Southeast Asia. An unusual member of the church was an old woman who was given to visions. The pastor was skeptical. Every few weeks, the old woman would report to the pastor, “Jesus came again last night. He stood right beside my bed and spoke with me.”
Unconvinced, the pastor thought he would test the old woman. He hit upon a scheme. He would give the woman a question to ask Jesus, and Jesus would be the only one who would know the answer.
The pastor called on the old woman and said, “Next time you see Jesus, I have a question I want you to ask him.” The pastor knew the perfect question; only Jesus would know the answer. However, as he considered his question, his face changed as sadness and regret filled each line of his expression.
The man took a deep breath, paused, considered, and decided to press on with his plan to send his question to Jesus through the old woman. He continued, “When I was in school, I did an awful thing. It was a terrible sin. I have asked Jesus to forgive me. I have asked Him repeatedly. Sometimes I think the sin is gone, but then it reappears in my mind; the sin comes back to haunt me again. You ask Him about my awful sin. Jesus is the only one who knows all about it.”
Days and weeks passed before the old woman returned to the pastor. She reported, “I saw Jesus again.”
“Did He talk to you?” asked the pastor.
“He did,” returned the old women.
Timidly, the pastor questioned, “Did you talk to Him about me?”
“Yes, I did,” was her confident reply.
“Did you ask Him about when I was in school?”
“I did.”
“Did you ask Him about my sin?”
“I did.”
Now, filled with anxiety, the pastor asked, “Did He tell you my sin?”
“No, He didn’t,” was the unexcited response. The old woman continued, “When I asked him about your sin, Jesus told me he had forgotten all about it. He said you should do the same.”