Jesus Take Two

We started with Jesus' birth...now we look at Jesus' life.  As the One who shared the costs and joys of being human.  Jesus experienced moments of deep joy.  You can read about his baptism and him hearing God say, "This is my beloved."  Talk about a holy moment!  Or you can read about healing someone whose life is forever changes.  Or you can read about his transformation on a mountain.  There were many moments when the holy happened in Jesus' life.

There is pain and suffering and struggle too.  Of course, there is the cross.  But even before that, the gospels tell us that Jesus was often misunderstood by his friends.  He would eventually be betrayed by a friend, denied by another, and deserted by the others.  With friends like that, who needs enemies! 

Jesus life was full.  We have, at best, three years of Jesus' life recorded in the gospels.  The rest of the story is missing and untold.  We know Jesus was an itinerant preacher with a particular fondness for telling parables.  We know Jesus was probably not wealthy, closer to working poor.  We know that Jesus spoke out against the empire and the powers that be...which is what got him hung on a cross.  Rome was not exactly known for taking constructive feedback well! 

We know that Jesus had moments of laughter, grief, insight, frustration...and every other human emotion.  This full life matters because Jesus is not just saying abstractly that he came to show us life abundant.  This wasn't some idea, it was a practice that he sought to show by what he said and did.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the notion of ethics and morals of Jesus' life that we miss the holy disruption of God entering earth in the form of Jesus and God's willingness to face the most human part of life (death...which will be the topic of the next post).  This doesn't have to be a multiple choice game.  We can take all three pieces and start to explore the mystery of why and what God might have been up to in Jesus' life...and in ours as well.

As that mystery dances in your life in these days, I pray that there is more than a trace of God's grace and love for you in these moments.

Grace and peace and blessings ~