I had a friend who grew up in Springfield, Missouri and went to high school with Brad Pitt. It’s a huge deal whenever he comes back to visit family. “We know this guy!” people think.
Everybody grows up somewhere, goes to school, plays sports, makes friends – and enemies. For Jesus, after he and his family returned from exile in Egypt, that somewhere was Nazareth. And his townspeople were pretty sure they knew him. Even as his fame grew, and he manifested very different skills than those needed for carpentry, they were pretty sure they knew him.
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
“Joseph’s son” was how they knew him. Joseph’s son was predictable. But this man had another father, and that paternity was now being revealed. When he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus was owning his divine identity, his messianic mission. That identity would not prove so predictable.
How do we feel when the Jesus we thought we knew turns out to have another side or dimension, when he bursts out of the box in which we (or our families or churches) have placed him? Those of us who have grown up as Christians have heard about this guy our whole lives. We know his life story, teachings, miracles. He’s a stained glass window. How can he surprise us when we’re so used to him being around?
My approach is this: go back to the beginning. As many glimpses as I may have caught of Jesus over the years, I know I don’t have a clue. So I pray, “Let me know you, as you know me.” Occasionally I get words in my mind which I feel are him speaking; they reveal a little – and often have a sarcastic edge, as we hear in the gospels. I ask him for inspiration in ministry, and sometimes am flooded with ideas. That shows me a little about who he is. Prayer, the gospels, ministry, worship – these are some of the best ways we have of getting to know Jesus for real. What's your strategy?
This Jesus, who lives in us and through us and around us, is not completely knowable in this life, and yet is much more than a stained glass saint. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened,” he promised (Luke 11:10). As we seek him, we find him - and find he isn’t quite what we expected.
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