What was Jesus like? What terms or characteristics capture His essence? My journey through the four gospels has ushered in a fresh perspective and a growing appreciation for the breadth of character and skill.
Yes, Jesus is holy, just, forgiving, powerful, loving, compassionate, faithful, true, majestic, righteous, but He is and was amazingly creative.
Would “creative” have been part of your description of Jesus? How about your description of God? Yet Genesis 1:1 describes a creative process that launched the history of mankind.
Jesus’ ministry on earth was laced with creativity. Inspiration bred application in appropriate, unique and thoughtful ways. This model of living captivates and empowers, while at the same time it shatters a routine, systematic and uniform engagement with our culture. Jesus never used a checklist for ministry.
To an old man He invited the concept of being born again.
To a dry and thirsty soul He offered living water.
To a crowd that was hungry for truth He became the bread of life.
For a dark and depraved generation He illuminated.
For bland religion He offered salt.
To the slave, freedom.
To the outcast, connection.
To the leper, touch. His own, against neglected and despised skin.
To the condemned, grace.
To the disposed, justice.
For the sinner He offered salvation.
For the self-absorbed and greedy, He offered precise and profound judgment.
To the wanderer, a shepherd.
To the fatherless He gave a legacy, an inheritance, a genealogy.
For the orphan, an embrace, a lap, a place of honor.
Boilerplate answers didn’t apply. Stock solutions were flipped over at the entrance to the synagogue. Jesus invited us to live by the Spirit, to live in the Spirit, to live with the Spirit in concert with His Word.
To a four-year-old girl named Zion that I sat next to on a flight, He is a listening ear. To a “twenty something” seatmate that was dressed from head to toe in black, He is a conversation, an intruder through an artificial barrier.
Always and forever the good news, with context. He is the I Am. Forever the same. Unchanging. But He is, in the moment, always aware, always God with us. Emmanuel.
I’m learning. I’m listening. I’m falling more deeply in love with Jesus.
{ 0 comments… add one now }