These last few months, the forum of thought has been confused and muddied by a buffet of contradictory ideas. I am specifically referring to ideas that explore realities beyond the earthly sphere, well beyond the span of 70 or 80 years that our bodies are animated by Breath. If our destination matters, then our journeys and their guiding philosophies matter just as much. Now, more than at any time in recent history, it matters who Jesus is and what He is still saying today.
To those whose minds are set on the things of earth, Jesus is shiny. Their Jesus is dressed in the latest runway fashion, owns a fleet of luxury vehicles, and circles the globe dining at exclusive restaurants and sleeping in presidential suites. This Jesus writes blank cheques to every request, especially to the ones that expand their barns and raise their profiles. The disciples of this Jesus casually trip over each other to the peak of excess, blasting their facade of gold as the seal of His blessing.
To others, Jesus is all soft and bending when poked with trespasses and apostate wanderings. Like an overindulging parent, He rarely disciplines the straying child under the pretense of love. They follow from afar, clothed in the swaddling cloths of a warped grace creed, stunted infants rarely drinking the pure milk of the Word.
To others, Jesus is all silence. He never has an opinion, or counsel, or command. Only their lifestyle is allowed to bear witness for such as tacitly observe this Jesus. This Jesus readily follows, whether it be cultural trends or political dogmas. He easily conforms to the "idea of the day", shifting His form as needed to dethrone yesterday's truths with today's delusions.
But to those who are "born of God", loved and chosen before the foundation of the world, "rooted and built up in Him", Jesus is none of these things. These have seen and tasted by personal experience Jesus "full of grace and truth". Yes, Jesus is love - love uninterrupted, stretching into eternity. But love divorced from truth is a farse, the foundation for a grand delusion. What parent can stay silent when their child is about to touch a burning stove? What doctor can deny a patient's diagnosis in the name of being nice? And yet that's what some expect of Jesus... Silence, unconditional validation, even surrender.
While walking the dusty streets of Galilee or Capernaum, Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil". He had no place to lay His head, relying on the kindness of the mortals whose days He fashioned and whose substance He formed. He had no food to soothe His hunger, stripping blades of wheat as He walked through dusty fields, healing the blind and raising the dead on the way. When confronted with the sinners of the day, He denied condemnation and offered salvation. In Him, men and women are made new, and hearts hardened by sin now beat with the rhythms of hope and new beginnings.
Jesus called His disciples to radical love. Love that is not overcome by evil, but overcomes evil with good. Love that dies to self, to the world, to inordinate affections. Love that "suffers long and is kind", love that is not envious, love devoid of pride. Love that gives voice to those who cannot speak for themselves, love that advocates for the destitute (Prov. 31:8). Jesus called His followers to an upside-down economy of transactions where the leaders serve, the meek rule, the persecuted rejoice. He established His kingdom not by crushing opponents, but by enthroning Himself in the hearts of those who receive and believe in His Name. To the least of these, Jesus is Friend, Savior, and soon-coming King.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" John 1:12, 13