Sundar encounters Jesus

An encounter with God changes the way disciples live with faith and love for all of God’s creation, for an encounter without practical effects is of no significance, as is visible from the life of Sadhu Sundar Singh, who was born on 3rd September 1889. Sundar was born into a religious family whose mother, a very godly woman, wanted her son to become a sadhu and devote his life to knowing God. Sundar felt very lonely when his mother died. When he was fifteen, he issued an ultimatum to God “O-God-if there is a God, show me the right way, and I will become a sadhu; otherwise, I will kill myself.” On 17 December 1904, around half-past four, a great light shone in his little room in Rampur, Punjab state. He thought the house was on fire and opened, the door, but there was no fire. He closed the door and went on praying. Then there dawned upon him an amazing vision; in the centre of a shining cloud, he saw a man’s face, radiant with love. At first, he thought it was some divinity and was about to prostrate in worship. Just then, to his great astonishment, he heard the words. “Utterly at a loss, he was speechless with astonishment. He noticed the scars of Jesus of Nazareth… Then the thought came to him: “Jesus Christ is not dead; He is alive, and this is He Himself.”
He then woke his father, exclaiming, “I am a Christian!” His frustrated father replied, “You’re off your head, my boy… just now; you were going to kill yourself.” Sundar replied, “I have killed myself: the old Sundar is dead: I am a new being.”
Sundar’s life continues to inspire even today. By 1920, he travelled to Europe and shared the gospel of the love of Christ Jesus. He respected the spiritual longings of people. Sadhu Sunder Singh made a challenging comment, “It is not enough to know about Jesus Christ; you must know Him.”