How Do You See Jesus?

 

I’m a very shy and introverted person by nature. I’m better when I’m among people that I know well. Many people have told me that their first impression of me is a negative one because they think I’m unfriendly. At least some of them like me better once they’ve gotten to know me!

 

We all tend to form opinions about people when we meet them for the first time. It’s just part of human nature. Often our first impression completely changes once we’ve gotten to know them.

 

When I was little, the first impression I had of Jesus was a sort-of-superman with a halo around his head, who went about teaching people and doing all sorts of miracles. Those impressions changed as I got older. I saw Jesus travelling through the land, teaching in very measured tones, being very laid-back and holy, not letting anything bother him, loving those around him in a very spiritual way. That vision carried over to how I related to him.

 

I was reading Luke’s Gospel the other day and it made me stop and think about how I saw Jesus. I realized that the Gospels don’t portray him at all like my vision of him and that I had been ignoring the emotional side of his humanity. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb and he wept over Jerusalem. He was angry at the way people were turning his Father’s house into a marketplace. He had great compassion, healing large numbers of people who were sick, bringing back loved ones from the dead, and feeding the hungry multitudes. He agonized in the garden over his coming suffering. Although the Gospels don’t ever say that Jesus laughed, it seems clear to me that he had a sense of humor, if for no other reason than he was fully human. He told the people to take a plank out of their eye before removing the speck out of their neighbor’s eye. I personally found it humorous that Jesus made Peter catch a fish and take a coin out of its mouth in order to pay the temple tax. Jesus enjoyed life. He said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ “ (Luke 7:34).

 

The point of all this is that it made me think of Jesus differently. His love and compassion for me aren’t ethereal but deeply personal on a human level. He takes joy in my victories and is disappointed in my failures. He understands my emotions and how they affect me. I can bring my emotions to him as well as my thoughts and plans.

 

I’m also reminded that God gave me emotions as part of my being. Jesus teaches me how to deal with them in a positive way, not by trying to repress what is natural but by responding constructively in agreement with my Christian beliefs and values.

 

Close your eyes and think about the person who loves you the most and how they greet you. Know that the love of Jesus is greater still and He waits to greet you today when you speak with him and, someday in the future, to welcome you home with joy.