Gotcha! Gotcha!”

I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop but, as I was seated, waiting for a church service to start, I heard two ladies behind me chatting, and one responded to the other, “Gotcha.” The conversation was mundane, but, because of my fascination with the dynamics of language, my attention riveted on that one word—Gotcha. One lady shared the place where she had eaten lunch. The other asked, “The one at Neosho?” “No,” the other responded, “The one at Joplin.” The first then said, “Gotcha.” I was struck by the usage because that phrase has contemporarily become so ubiquitous. It is now frequently used to say, as she meant it, “I understand.” “I see.” Yet, Gotcha has so many other usages: Someone has tripped or stumbled. Another catches him and prevents his fall and exclaims, “Gotcha.” A reporter tries to trip up an interviewee with a trick question that will solicit an incriminating or compromising response. It is said the reporter is playing Gotcha. Someone revenge pranks. When the prank has successfully been executed, the prankster declares victory over his victim with a “Gotcha.” Probably, the most basic meaning of the exclamation is, "I have got you," and is used to surprise or frighten someone you have caught, or to show that you have an advantage over him. Thus, Gotcha means to capture. I mean no disrespect by putting slang in the mouth of Holy God, but I began to imagine God saying, Gotcha. When God lunged out of the darkness and grabbed and grappled with the lonely Jacob on the bank of Jabbok, changed his name, and threw his hip permanently out of socket with a touch so that he never walked the same, I can hear Him exclaiming, “Gotcha.” When Zacchaeus, unnoticed by the crowd milling below, was a hidden spectator high in the foliage of the sycamore tree, and Jesus looked up, called him down, invited Himself for dinner, and changed his life, Jesus was saying, “Gotcha.” Saul with letters of authorization was headed towards Damascus to persecute believers when a divine light shone from heaven, and Jesus spoke to him saving him and calling him, changing him from a persecutor to a preacher of the Gospel, it was as if Jesus declared, “Gotcha.” Matthew’s career as tax collector was set and secure. He was making a killing skimming and extorting. But, Jesus walked by and said, “Gotcha.” Oh, how many others. The lady of questionable reputation came to the well at a time when she would not be confronted by tongue-waggers and accusers. But, Jesus was sitting there. Gotcha. Oh, and the fleeing Jonah. As the whale swallows, you can almost hear God say, Gotcha! On and on we could go. Not just Biblical characters. History is replete with testimonies. Here’s just one: Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player. On a day off, taking a walk through Chicago, he encountered a team from Pacific Garden Mission sharing the Gospel. God, said, Gotcha. Billy Sunday no longer played ball. He preached. Oh, the grace of God. We pursue God only to discover that He has been pursuing us. We reach out to God only to discover He has reached for us. Paul put it this way: “…I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” (Php 3:12). Simply put, he said, “I want to get ahold of what got a hold of me.” God has encircled me in His arms and cried, “Gotcha!” Oh, that I might be able to get ahold of God so I might also declare, “Gotcha.” If you haven’t, the most wonderful thing you could hear God say to you is, “Gotcha.” Then you can say, “Gotcha.”

Gotcha! Gotcha!”

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