Ok, seriously! Jesus would have been so flipping cool to hang out with! (As a human, I mean. Obviously, eternity with Him will be more than awesome..) C'mon! It's no wonder the disciples followed him around everywhere! He's got it all going on! In heaven, it's gonna be all praise and whatnot and he'll be King with no power to oppose him, but on earth, he had all kinds of stuff and crazy people to deal with.
He's God. He's Jesus. And sometimes I think we get into the mindset of "Jesus. Oh, he was perfect and was always squeaky clean with a golden glow around him. His voice was soft and gentle and he was always kind like a pansy." NO! Jesus was a rock-your-world kinda guy. Seriously- his compassion is through the roof! Story time:
He's shoving his way through a crowd. Luke 8:42 actually describes the crowd as "crushing." It's hot, it's sweaty and loud and dirty people are all touching you. (Like the mosh pit at Cornerstone only they didn't have all the wonderful modern hygiene contraptions we do, like deodorant or shampoo.) And some woman, probably half crawling on the ground reaches out and grabs his cloak. How easy, in this situation would it be for him to think, "Someone just touched me and I know they were healed. I felt the power leave me, even though I didn't tell her she could touch me and be healed. But it's too dang claustrophobic up in here to stop and talk. I'll find her later or just yell out as I'm leaving or something."
Instead, he stops- this mob has no idea what just happened, so they're clueless as to what the heck is going on, still yelling and breathing hot air and sweating and pushing as they watch him- Jesus stops and asks, "Who touched me?" (As if he didn't know- he's God.) This poor woman comes trembling forward, probably so conflicted between joy of her healing and fear of being called out, and Jesus says to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." WHAT THE HECK?! Ummm... LOVE!
So, yeah, there's an extremely patient, calm, probably tender voiced and sweet smiling side of Jesus. Then he gets to deal with all the annoying religious leaders whose pride level is about as high as Jesus' compassion. Time after time, the Pharisees approach him with all their haughtiness and have all these accusations that they conjured up to trap him. Ok, so it's annoying enough when someone insults your intelligence, but when they just keep coming back again and again with more and more crap-I dunno about you, but there's only so much I can take!
Well, Jesus doesn't snap. He doesn't go all Zeus and smite them with lightning bolts or Bruce Almighty and exact revenge on them by controlling what they say in funny voices, but he doesn't just roll over and die. Not once does he pull out the gay voice and say, "Jesus loves you" or pop a hip and say, "Talk to the hand."
Sorry, but Jesus just WAS NOT (and IS NOT) the blonde haired, blue eyed guy that speaks in some strange, airy monotone where the only emotion portrayed is serenity. He talked some serious smack to those high and mighty guys. Tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, in-your-face come backs.
(He wasn't kidding when he wrote in Proverbs 3:34 "He mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.)
Don't get me wrong, he probably didn't get the whole finger snappin' guuurl attitude going on, but watch how Mark 11:27-33 plays out: Jesus and the disciples are strolling along, minding their own, praising God in the temple courts, when a bunch of scholarly scrubbed teachers and old guys come sauntering over. He already know these guys are not here to ask him how his journey into Jerusalem was. He's gotta be going, "Oh great. Do I really gotta deal with these guys right now?" You know, the sigh of annoyance, accompanied by the rolling of the eyes. But he keeps his cool when they ask, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you the authority to do this?" Uh, GOD! DUH! How dense can ya be?
I can see him now, ready for whatever they've got. If he were sitting, he'd shake his head at the ground, maybe lean forward and wipe his palms on his knees as he looks back up and replies, " I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things." Here it comes, the counter attack: "John's baptism- was it from heaven or from men? Tell me!" he demands. I'm sure he waits patiently as they all huddled together. The religious leaders and elders who are supposed to know so much about God, don't know the answer.
"We don't know," an air of confidence hardly masking their shame of ignorance. Jesus leans back and smirks. "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
BAM!!! At this point their lips are shut and they are turning to walk away- until they figure out something else to bug him with.
Jesus is always perfect, always God, always Holy. But he has different responses and emotions, just like you and me (well, we were created after him...) Just like any person, it takes time to get to know them- to recognize their voice, memorize all those little quirks and ticks they have, to come to a point when words are no longer necessary to understand their emotions, to know what makes them sad or happy. I know Jesus and I know his biography pretty will, but as I spend more time with him praying and reading his Love Letter to me, I am truly getting to know Jesus. I'm falling more and more hopelessly in love with this man, this God, who is desperately, jealously, and passionately in love with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment