Have You Tasted My Jesus?

A red apple

A Day at Chicago’s Divinity School

At the University of Chicago Divinity School, there’s a yearly event called "Baptist Day."

It’s a day when Baptists from all around come together because, well, the school wants to keep those Baptist donations coming in!

Everyone brings a sack lunch, and they gather outdoors on the grass to eat and chat. After the meal, the school invites one of the greatest theological minds to speak in their lecture hall.

One year, they invited Dr. Paul Tillich—a big name in theology.

The Big Lecture and the Big Challenge

Dr. Tillich spoke for two and a half hours, laying out a convincing argument: Jesus never physically rose from the dead.

He quoted scholar after scholar, book after book, saying the resurrection was just a legend—the whole idea of a risen Jesus and the church based on that was, in his view, just emotional mumbo-jumbo.

Then he opened the floor for questions, and after a long, heavy silence, a little spark came from the back.

The Man with the Apple

An old preacher stood up, calm but firm. He reached into his lunchbag, pulled out an apple, and began eating it—crunch, munch.

“Docta Tillich,” he said between bites, “I got one simple question.”

He kept chewing, “Now, I ain’t read all them big books like you... I don’t know the Bible in the original Greek... I don’t know nothing about those fancy scholars you mentioned.”

Crunch, crunch.

“All I wanna know is this: The apple I just ate—was it bitter or sweet?”

Silence fell on the room.

Dr. Tillich paused, then answered in his best scholar voice, “I cannot answer that, for I have not tasted your apple.”

The Heart of the Matter

The preacher calmly said, “Neither have you tasted my Jesus.”

That line hit everyone in the room.

It’s one thing to talk about Jesus with words and books.

But to really know Jesus—the risen, living Lord—you have to taste Him, feel Him, live with Him.

Have You Tasted Jesus?

So, friend, have you really tasted Jesus? Have you received the risen Christ alive within you?

Or is your faith just words and ideas without that deep, personal knowing?

Psalm 34:8 invites us:

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”

Taste Jesus.

See how good He is for yourself.

This story reminds me that Christian faith isn’t just intellectual. It’s deeply personal.

And there’s a joy and peace that comes from really tasting Jesus—not just talking about Him.

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