90 Years Since Father Moon Encountered Jesus

Father Moon’s life-changing experience with Jesus during easter 1935 was something God had prepared for in a chosen country

Today, it is 90 years since Sun Myung Moon had his life-changing spiritual encounter with Jesus Christ. It happened on 17^th April 1935 – the Wednesday before Maudy Thursday – on a hill called Myodu, not far from his home in Chongju (Jeongju), situated in what today is North Korea. The young Korean had gone there to pray. He describes what happened in his autobiography,

“I was up praying all night without sleeping at all. At dawn that Easter morning, Jesus manifested himself before me. Like a gust of wind, Jesus appeared and said, ‘Because of the sufferings of humankind, God has a broken heart. That is why he asks you to take on a special mission in God‘s work on earth.’

That day I saw the sorrowful face of Jesus clearly and heard his voice distinctly. Seeing Jesus manifest made my body tremble violently, like an aspen leaf. Then and there I was seized with an awe so great that I thought I was going to die, and at the same time carried away by emotions so strong that I thought I was going to explode. Right in front of me, Jesus clearly explained to me what I had to do. In an incredible way, he told me that I should save a humanity that was suffering and in pain, and bring joy to God.” (From Sun Myung Moon‘s autobiography, chapter 2, section 1, translated from the Korean original.)

The young Korean – only 15 at the time – later said that it was there Jesus gave him a divine mission. Jesus told Moon that his own (Jesus’s) work had been left unfinished and that Moon was being called to complete the work of building the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Moon resisted at first, feeling unworthy and overwhelmed by the responsibility. However, after several hours of inner struggle and prayer, he accepted the call.

This event is considered foundational to Father Moon‘s messianic mission and the teachings of the Family Federation. Jesus entrusted him with the task of:

• • Completing the work of salvation that Jesus could not finish due to his crucifixion.
  • Establishing “True Parents” on Earth – an ideal man and woman who would lead humankind back to God by overcoming original sin and creating a lineage free from it.
  • Uniting all religions, races, and nations under one global family rooted in God‘s love.

The Family Federation teaches that Jesus’ crucifixion was not the original plan of God, and that Father Moon’s mission was to fulfill what Jesus intended: a physical, earthly restoration of God‘s Kingdom through restoring families, societies, nations, and the world. The Messiah’s role is not just to save souls, but to create a restored human family that fulfills God’s original ideal.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth – not just spiritually. His death on the cross was a secondary course, not God’s original plan. Jesus’ crucifixion meant that the “marriage of the Lamb” (from Revelation) never happened, and the ideal of True Parents was postponed.

Moon’s vision is seen as the moment when Jesus personally passed the unfinished mission to someone capable of completing it on Earth – Sun Myung Moon. He became the Third Adam – the first being Adam in the Garden of Eden, the second being Jesus.

The Unification Principles present a complex theory of historical parallels and restoration periods, suggesting that history unfolds in predictable cycles based on biblical figures and events. The teachings identify the early 20th century as the providential time for the new Messiah to appear. Korea is positioned as the “Third Israel,” the prepared nation for the Second Coming.

In many ways Sun Myung Moon’s spiritual encounter with Jesus in 1935 was similar to other religious callings. Like Muhammad receiving the Qur’an from the angel Gabriel, or Moses encountering God in the burning bush, Father Moon’s encounter was a direct spiritual confrontation with the divine. Resistance, awe, and eventual submission are classic themes in most prophetic traditions.

Sun Myung Moon was alone on a mountainside, deeply in prayer – just like Jesus in the wilderness, or the Buddha under the Bodhi tree. These “sacred moments of calling” often happen in isolation. Many prophets express doubt or fear at first (e.g., Jeremiah saying “I am only a child”, or Muhammad thinking he was going mad. Moon, too, reportedly resisted, feeling unworthy.

But there also key differences that set Father Moon’s experience with Jesus apart. In most religions, the divine figure or angel delivers a new message or revelation. But in Moon’s case, Jesus, a central figure of another major world religion, appears to personally appoint Sun Myung Moon as his successor. This isn’t just God calling someone new – it’s Jesus saying: “You must finish what I couldn’t.” That’s radically different from, say, Muhammad or Joseph Smith, who each claimed to receive independent revelation, not delegated mission from the founder of another religion.

Unification theology doesn’t frame Father Moon as just a prophet (like Isaiah or Muhammad) but as the Messiah – the Lord of the Second Advent. Most prophets are messengers of the Word. Moon is said to be the embodiment of the Word, like Christ in Christian theology. He is to complete salvation by establishing True Parents, not just preach about it. That puts his role more on par with Jesus himself, not Moses or Elijah.

Traditional prophets typically bring a text, law, or moral teaching: the Torah, the Qur’an, the Sutras. Moon‘s mission is about building a new lineage, physically starting a family free of the original sin inherited from Adam and Eve, a family that is to redeem all humanity. This is a huge departure – it moves from spiritual truth to physical restoration. A prophet teaches; the Messiah marries and multiplies.

Also, most prophetic traditions emerge from a specific people or nation (Hebrews, Arabs, Indians). Father Moon’s message, from the start, had a global, interreligious aim: uniting all faiths, races, and nations into one heavenly family.

This reflects a post-World War II global spirituality, which sets it apart from more regionally focused prophecies of ancient times.

Text: Knut Holdhus

Featured image above: Sun Myung Moon in prayer on Wednesday 17th April 1935, when Jesus appeared to him. Painting by Shigeyoshi Watanabe from 1982. Photo: FFWPU

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