Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
I borrowed this title from a book I read several months ago by N.T. Wright titled, Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why it Matters. In the book, Wright, a respected bible scholar, explores two of the most asked and often most troubling questions: “Who is Jesus, and what does it mean to follow him?” It is a worthy read.
Like many of us, I have pursued the answer to those questions and still have not fully answered them. There is simplicity in knowing and following Jesus, but Jesus Himself is not so simple. In many ways, He is shrouded in mystery. Judson Cornwall wrote, “His gentle Spirit only camouflaged His revolutionary ways.” It is the unusual combination of simplicity and mystery that draws us to Him, yet at times, causes us to question and doubt Him.
There is one thing about Jesus that is consistent; He cannot be ignored. Whenever His Presence shows up, it will cause a stir. Whole cities were stirred when He showed up. Some will reject Him and some will love His appearing. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 11 reveals much about our responses to Jesus in different seasons and circumstances of life.
It begins with someone close to Jesus, John the Baptist (Matt. 11:2-6). He began to doubt and question whom Jesus was when he was not delivered from prison. Sounds like some of us when we go through trying times, suffering and loss. Many times we become disappointed in the Lord, question His integrity and goodness.
Next it was the people Jesus loved, but they did not recognize Him for whom He really was (Matt. 11:16-19). He compared them to children that don’t want to play no matter what the game is. They don’t like the sad game nor do they like the glad game. No matter how you approach them they don’t want to play. They’ll criticize the wedding and they’ll criticize the funeral. Nothing satisfies them. They will always find fault. When we do not have a right view of Him it is impossible to have a consistently right view about anything He is doing. The right view of everything depends on a right view of the Lord Himself.
Finally, it was the cities where Jesus did His greatest works (Matt. 11:20-24). It says they did not change their way of thinking and consequently, the way they lived. The miracles and mighty works were meant to cause them to live differently, but they didn’t and He did not appreciate it. This sounds like people that have experienced His love, power and outpourings of the Spirit, but they just went back to the way they had always been after the excitement tapered off.
It is easy to misinterpret Jesus and His works around us. How can we recognize this mysterious Person with His sometimes camouflaged ways? I think it starts with revelation. John the Baptist said, “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit” (John 1:22). It takes God to recognize God. We need the spirit of wisdom and revelation to recognize Him and His ways (Eph. 1:17-18).
Fortunately Jesus does not leave us in the dark, but reveals how to receive revelation. He tells us to become nobodies, like little babies. Don’t try protect or even have a reputation. Don’t act like you are wise. All He ask for is simple humility and dependence upon Him (Matt. 11:25-30).
Many Blessings, BW