Bonus Episode #12—Ten Minutes with Jesus—or Three Million Rand

A trending social media question has recently done the rounds: If you are a committed Christian, would you choose ten minutes with Jesus in person, or three million rand?

At first glance, the “spiritual” answer seems obvious. Surely any genuine believer will choose Christ over cash. But when we slow down and think carefully about what Scripture teaches, the question exposes something deeper about how we understand revelation, the Holy Spirit, and what we already possess in Christ.

Christians often distinguish between general revelation and special revelation. General revelation comes to all people through creation and conscience. Special revelation is God’s redemptive self-disclosure through Scripture and ultimately through Christ.

The incarnation of Christ is the supreme revelation of God. As the Son made flesh, Jesus is the fullest expression of the Father. The disciples walked with him, heard his voice, and saw his glory.

And yet, even that was not enough for them.

In the upper room, Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8). Despite years of walking with Christ, witnessing miracles, and hearing His teaching, Philip still longed for something more.

Jesus responded, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? … Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” (John 14:9–10).

Even the apostles, who had far more than ten minutes with Jesus, struggled with unbelief and misunderstanding. Seeing Christ in the flesh did not automatically produce unshakeable faith.

The suggestion that ten minutes with Jesus would permanently transform our Christian walk assumes something dangerous—that what we currently have is insufficient. If we think, “If only I could see him physically, I would be stronger, more faithful, more devoted,” we risk cheapening what Christ has already given us.

Jesus Himself said that his departure would bring something better. He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit—not as a lesser substitute, but as his own Spirit dwelling within believers.

Paul writes, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Through the Spirit, Christ truly indwells his people.

Moreover, we possess something the earliest churches did not: the complete canon of Scripture. The church in Corinth did not have Romans. The Colossians did not yet have Revelation. Many believers in the apostolic era did not hold the full New Testament in their hands.

Consider the comfort of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Imagine living without access to that verse. We are extraordinarily privileged to have the fullness of God’s written revelation.

So who is better off—those who briefly saw Christ in the flesh, or believers today who have both the completed Scriptures and the indwelling Spirit?

The deeper issue behind the question is this: Do we believe that we truly meet with God now?

Hebrews reminds us, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus … let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:19, 22). We are not waiting for a future audience. Through Christ, we already “enter the holy places.” In prayer, in Scripture, and in gathered worship, we draw near to the living God.

When the church gathers, something profound happens. Christ promises, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). Through the preaching of the word, the praying of the word, and the singing of the word, we meet with him. If we imagine that ten minutes of physical proximity would surpass all of that, we may reveal how lightly we esteem the Spirit’s present ministry.

Even if such ten minutes were granted, would they truly sustain us? Peter saw Christ transfigured—yet later denied him. Thomas insisted on sight before belief. Philip stood in the presence of God incarnate and still asked for more. Why should we assume we would fare better?

More likely, ten minutes would only create a desire for another ten. The heart that believes present grace is insufficient will not be satisfied by a fleeting experience. The question, then, becomes not merely about money versus Jesus, but about sufficiency. Do we believe that Christ, by His Spirit, through his word, is enough?

So, which would you choose? Ironically, recognising the sufficiency of Christ frees us from false guilt in the hypothetical. If you are a faithful member of a healthy church, devoted to Christ, then you already have communion with him that far exceeds ten minutes.

You can meet with him daily. You can pray at any hour. You can open his word and hear his voice. You can gather with his people and encounter his presence. And if someone genuinely offered you three million rand? You could receive it with gratitude, steward it wisely, pay your debts, support gospel work, and still spend far more than ten minutes with Jesus every day.

Because the living Christ has not withheld himself from his people. Through his Spirit and his completed word, he has given us himself.