Wow! It has been nearly a full year since I last posted here. It has been a busy year, but a good one nonetheless. I really need to post here more often.
Anyway, I had a thought last night that I'd like to share here, so I'm going to. Perhaps it is more of a question than anything else. Would we recognise Jesus if we saw Him? Would we have any idea who He really was, or would we just think that He was a part of the crowd?
When we read about Jesus in Scripture, we see that Jesus was one of the people; He was a common man with a common background. He was raised as a carpenter. He travelled on foot, and did not have a steady home.
And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Luke 9:58)
Because He travelled on foot through a dusty climate, He likely wouldn't have been the cleanest of all people. Add that to the fact that He hung out with the scum and villainy of society, and we have someone that most of the "respectable" folks would avoid like the plague.
Imagine that you were approached by someone who was obviously homeless, likely dirty, someone who spent his time speaking to thieves, the diseased, and prostitutes. How would you feel? Nervous? Uncomfortable?
That's the thing about when Jesus was walking this earth; He went to the lost so that they could be found. He went to the unbelievers so that they might believe. He went to the sick so that they could be made well. He went to those who had nothing, those who were no one, those who were outcasts so that He could show them love, understanding, and offer them a home. He went to the spiritually dead so that they could be given eternal life.
With that in mind, we know that Jesus went to those places and spoke to those people that were the dredges of humanity. Chances are, if we were to see Jesus today, He would be in a crowd of everyday, ordinary, lost people. Jesus would be outside the mall, at the arena, on the side of the road, at Tim's.
Now, I would hope that we would recognise Him for who He is. I would hope that we would see the difference in how He behaved and how He spoke. I would hope that we would be spiritually awake enough to recognise our Saviour when we saw Him. I wonder if we would though.
When we look at the Disciples, some of them recognised Jesus as Messiah. Others had to be told, "Come follow Me." Still others in the New Testament times refused to accept Jesus as Messiah because He didn't fit in with their preconceived notions of who Messiah would be.
Which group would we fall under? Would we recognise Jesus instantly? Would He have to tell us, or prove Himself to us with signs and wonders? Would we just scoff and refuse to believe because He didn't set up His kingdom on earth? Would we be familiar enough with Jesus through His Word that we would know instinctively who He was?
Like I asked in the beginning, would we recognise Jesus if we saw Him? Even more sobering of a thought, but if we didn't notice Jesus and He was in the crowd, would He be pleased with us? Would He be pleased with the way we treat others? Would He be pleased with the way that we spoke, the way that we acted, the places that we went? If Jesus was in the crowd around us, what would He think of us?
Yet, keep in mind that He does see us wherever we are. The Lord knows who we really are, and what we do. Realise for even a day that the Lord sees you. Spend a day acting as though Jesus is in the crowd with you. I believe it will change your outlook.
Maybe this has been a bit of a ramble, but the question needs to be asked. Would we recognise Jesus, and whether we did or not, would He be pleased with us? Something to think about.
God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment