It’s the long weekend, a weekend crammed with sport, beach, sun and the great Aussie way of life.
We have been down into town early this morning, because we wanted to see who was around to talk to about Jesus. We found a few in the short time we had.
I’m always intrigued by how people are fascinated by this person, Jesus. Tell them to come to church, or let them know you’re a Christian and most people will run a mile. But, start talking about Jesus and much of humanity is interested. Muslims, aetheists, Jews and people who otherwise wouldn’t give you a second glance, suddenly become interested with the name. He is recognised in every religion, though not always as the Son of God.
Why? What is that draws us to him? Was he just a figure in history, a mere man who went around doing good or there is much more to the story. I am fascinated by this person of Jesus, actually I am passionate about him. The older I get, the more reverend I become about him, and yet he brings complete freedom to the party (see 1 Corinthians 9). Jesus demands total allegiance, complete obedience, and yet brings a freedom to life that the world knows nothing of. How can that be?
He is the most quoted person in history, he covers the best selling book from beginning to end, he is almost a universal swear word, and more wars have been started because of him than almost anybody else. Yet of the little people know, they like; in the pages of Scripture, we see a man of gentleness, compassion and kindness, yet one who never flinched in the face of the proud or arrogant. He might be seen to have lived the life many would like to live, strangely detached from life, and yet so able to address and be amongst every person imaginable. Nobody who met him remain untouched, yet it is with sadness today, that the very movement he founded has nullified him to just another “decent human being.”
Dorothy Sayers has this to say, “the people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore – on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left to later generations to muffle the shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have efficiently pared back the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him ‘meek and mild’ and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies”
Who then, is this Jesus of Nazareth, this carpenter? Why does he make such a demand on our life and what right has he to do so? What does he say to his followers, to the world? Why are so many so fascinated about a simple carpenter in the Bible, whom the Romans crucified – yet 2000 years later, still has a stake in the lives of so many across the globe.
Let us look at Jesus over the coming weeks through the eyes of the “one whom Jesus loved” the Gospel of John. We may digress at times, not from Jesus, but from the book. As John says, at the end of his own book. “Jesus did many other things. if every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” John 21:25
I pray that you would have a blessed weekend, wherever you are, and whatever you do. May you know his presence, his very fragrance throughout your life at this time. May he be so real to you as you sit still before him. This Jesus of Nazareth.
Leave a Reply