Often times when I think of Jesus I see him only as super human. I never picture him laughing because he was super human. Images of Jesus like the one above are everywhere… including my thoughts. Have dinner with the Jesus in the above picture would be intimidating to me. Theres so much glowyness about him it would seem normal. And where did we get the idea that jesus always drank from gold cups. I never picture him enjoying an activity like wake boarding or fishing. Even when the term walking with Jesus is thrown out I think of a Jesus walking on the beach with someone… and there is a sunset in the background… and for whatever reason to humming birds are lifting Jesus’s white robe. Its kinda creepy when I think about it. My mind just doesn’t naturally revert to Jesus going out and playing tennis with me and having a good time. And even if Jesus did play tennis with me I would think that Jesus would win because he is perfect… I wouldn’t be able to get upset or angry that I was losing because if I did, Jesus would sit me down and give me a sermon on controlling my temper. In the end I would apologize and Jesus would smile at me with his perfectly white teeth and send me off with a slap on the butt saying “good game.” I’m exaggerating but I think this is how I think of Jesus in certain situations.
I was humbled today when asked to quote a bible verse in the breakfast line. Giving the typical “my name is Danny and I can’t take anything seriously” kind of answer I quoted ” Jesus wept. After the said six other people had said the same verse they asked me if I knew why Jesus wept. To say the least I didn’t really know, so I looked it up later. The verse comes from John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Jesus comes to Mary and Martha and a bunch of other grieving people who are heartbroken, unbelieving, and without hope for Lazarus…and he cries with them. He doesn’t cry at the fact that Lazarus is dead like everyone else was, because he mentions earlier that death has no weight in the scheme of eternity. But He cries because he sees his friends and their family and friends and He feels their pain and grief, and it hurts him. He knew how hard is was for people to lose someone that they are close to. He was deeply connected to these people. After Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead the next time we see Lazarus he is reclining at a table sharing a meal with Jesus. I wonder what it would be like to eat a meal with Jesus. It would probably be a lot more relaxed and causal than my mind tries to make it out to be. Sometimes I forget that Jesus was fully human. I forget that he suffered defeat… the worst kind of defeat where you are doing the world a good thing. I forget that he was loved by so many people for more than the fact that he could pull off some pretty sweet miracles. I forget that he had very real connections with the people he lived around. Often times I forget that Jesus not only experience pain and sorrow… but he also shares in my pain and sorrow.
