Lesson 4: Father Meeting Jesus

Aim

• To know the background to Father’s encounter with Jesus

• To know what happened when Jesus appeared to Father

Key Words

• Sangsa-ri, – Father’s birthplace

• Messiah – the chosen one who comes as the true Adam, to build the kingdom of Heaven

• Revelation – words given by God to man

Materials

• Sangsa-ri

• Jesus appears to Sun Myung Moon
   

Lesson Outline

1. Background to Father’s encounter with Jesus

2. Jesus appears to Father

3. Father’s own words

4. Worksheet

5. Review lesson aims

6. Prayer

1) Background to Father’s encounter with Jesus

Show a picture of the area surrounding Father’s village and his meeting with Jesus.

When he was 10 years old the whole family became Christians. He loved going to Church on Sundays in the nearest town of Jeong-Ju. He even became a Sunday School teacher when he was a
teenager. Because he was a Christian he understood that God wants people to be happy and love each other. At the same time he saw how people suffered because they were poor, and were treated
badly by the Japanese. At that time poor people in Korea didn’t have the right medicine. Sometimes babies didn’t live long. Two of Father’s sisters died before he was born. When he prayed, he often wondered how a loving God can let people suffer so much.

When Father was 15 years old he always got up early to pray before he went to school, even though no one told him to do it, He was very serious about praying. He didn’t pray for new clothes or fancy foods or even a bigger bowl of rice. Instead, Father prayed for the suffering Koreans. He prayed that he could understand all about God, all about Jesus, and all about the world.

2) Jesus appears to Father One Easter morning

He awoke before the sun came up. He put on his clothes and climbed a nearby mountain. Then he began his morning prayer. 
“I pray that I can be very wise so I can help other people,” he prayed over and over. “I pray that I can have the greatest faith in all the world. I pray that I can have the most love, even more love than Jesus.”

After a long time, something happened that made this the most important Easter of all. Suddenly, standing there before him was a man! He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. “Hello,” said this man, “Do you recognize me? I am your friend, Jesus.”

Father was shocked. He couldn’t speak. “Can this be true?” he thought. “Is this actually happening, or am I dreaming?” Jesus looked real enough, but Father wanted to be sure. Then he was able to understand that it really was Jesus, because suddenly, like a movie before his eyes, Father started seeing all the things that had happened in Jesus’ life. He saw how Jesus was born in a stable, how he preached on a mountainside, how he healed the sick and how he died on the cross. Everything! Then Jesus said to him, “I came to earth almost 2,000 years ago to save the world from Satan. I was the Messiah. I wanted to make this world into a beautiful and loving place where everyone could be happy. But they killed me before I could finish my work. Now, another person must be the Messiah and finish my work for me. I will help that person. I have come to you today, Sun Myung Moon, to tell you that God has chosen you to be this very special person.”

Father at first said no. It was too much to ask. How could he, a 15 year old boy, take on such a mission? Jesus asked him again, but again he said no. But when he realized there was nobody else
who could do this, he finally said yes. He asked Jesus many questions. What questions would you ask if Jesus appeared to you? 

Father asked these kind of questions:

• Who am I and where do I come from?

• What is the purpose of life?

• What happens when we die?

• Does God really exist?

• If God is almighty why does he let people suffer?

After this first meeting Father talked many times with Jesus. He realized that God has been suffering ever since Adam and Eve turned away from God. He was the first person to really understand that God had been suffering because of what Satan had done.

3) Father’s own words
This is what Father said himself about his experience:
“ When I was sixteen [by Korean way or counting], I had an extraordinary experience. It was Easter morning, and I was praying deeply, in tears. Jesus appeared. He taught me many things and
gave me a revelation. Jesus explained that God was suffering in pain and sorrow because of humanity. He asked me to play a special role on earth for the sake of God’s will.“

“It is hard to explain this experience to you. In short, the spirit world unfolded in front of me all of a sudden, and I could communicate freely with the saints and sages in the spirit world. In North
Korea, in the calm mountains, I talked directly with Jesus many times. The revelations I received at that time are the essence and core of the Principle.”

4) Worksheet
Complete the worksheet by writing the text and coloring the picture

On Easter morning in 1935 Jesus appeared to him on a mountainside near his village. Jesus asked him to continue his mission to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

5) Review aims of lesson
To know the background to Father’s encounter with Jesus

• When he was 10, Father’s family became Christians

• He became a Sunday school teacher

• He saw a lot of suffering
  – He couldn’t understand how a loving God could let people suffer

• When he was 15 Father became very serious

• He prayed every day for the suffering Koreans

• He wanted to really understand about God

• He prayed for wisdom, faith and love

To know what happened when Jesus appeared to Father

• On Easter morning 1935 Jesus appeared to him

• Jesus asked Father to take on his mission and finish what he started, to build the kingdom of heaven on earth

• He asked Jesus many questions

• Father refused twice, then said yes, because he realized there was no one else who could do this

• He learned that God is not always happy, but has been suffering because of Satan

6) End with a prayer

---