Discovering the Real Jesus in Monroe

Linda and I are taking a few days of vacation together at a B&B near Oscoda, located right on the shores of Lake Huron. Yesterday we sat on the beach for several hours, talking together and reading.

Linda is being especially struck by the verses about Jesus in Colossians 1:15-20, so much so that she is memorizing them. They say:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Last Sunday morning I gave message #93 in my church in my “Real Jesus” series. I spoke out of Matthew 14:35-36:

“When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him  and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.”

They “recognized” Jesus. What that means, at this point in the Jesus story, is that: 1) He had been in that area before healing people, and the people recognized Him when He returned; and 2) the people believed that Jesus wanted to help them by, in this case, physically healing them. Jesus views people with compassion, as “sheep without a shepherd.” And, he likes to heal people. The people intuited that these things were true of Him. But the people, though “recognizing” Jesus, do not really know who He is.

Let me explain. A few years ago I met a man who has become a bit of a friend to me. We met at a conference and began to talk, and then to e-mail each other. I had not seen him in two years when we got reacquainted at the same conference a few weeks ago. I remembered some things about him and asked, “You’re an engineer, aren’t you? What kind of engineering do you do?” He said, “I like to invent things.” And, he works for Qualcomm.

I thought I’d look up Qualcomm on the internet. There I discovered that this friend of mine, whom I recognized, was in fact the co-founder of Qualcomm and a legendary inventor, holding over 50 U.S. patents. My friend invented CDMA digital cell phone technology. And, a few years ago he received a tech award that has also been given to Steve Wozniak (Apple), Ross Perot (EDS), Ray Tomlinson  (Inventor of e-mail - 1971), and Tim Berners-Lee  (Inventor of the World Wide Web – [no, it’s not Al Gore]). My friend “likes to invent things?” What an understatement. I did not really know who I was sitting with! (What I really appreciate is that he is a humble man who does not flaunt his personal achievements but thanks God and loves Jesus.)  

In the four Gospels we see a gradual unfolding of the identity of Jesus. This causes tensions to rise, troubles to escalate, fascination to grow, and people begin to ask “Who is this man?” In the letters of Paul we have an ever-increasing illumination of just “who this man” really is. That’s the Colossians passage, for example. And in the book of Revelation this just explodes when John writes, in Revelation 1:12-18:
 

“I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!”

That’s the Jesus who years ago pulled me out of a life of drugs. That’s the Jesus Linda is blown away by. That’s the Jesus I tell people about in my church, and the Jesus who regularly shows up in our midst to display His greatness. Even to heal.  

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 8:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.