Thought for Today
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
Isaiah 41:14 . . . I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Mark 8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Revelation 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.
I often reference the devotional guide These Days. In this morning’s devotional, I read an intriguing phrase, “a powerful vision of the risen Christ.” What is your vision of the risen Christ? Do you ever even think about a vision of the risen Christ?
During Lent, when we read the initial stories about those who first encountered the risen Christ, one of the most striking things is that without exception, they did not recognize Jesus initially. Mary Magdalene, the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, none recognized the risen Christ. Why? What was there about his appearance that blinded their recognition of the one they called Teacher?
Were their eyes blinded by sorrow? Was it the totally unexpected, out-of-context appearance of the one they knew had died on the Cross? Even though Jesus has repeatedly told them what was to come, was the absolutely unimaginable too much for their minds to process?
Some of us are auditory learners; some of us are visual learners. Hopefully, I’m not the only person who benefits from both. I love to read the Bible. I love to hear others read the Bible. I enjoy the beautiful stained-glass windows in some churches. Some years ago, a series of video tapes was produced depicting various books of the Bible. We used them in our Bible Study and they helped us understand life in Biblical times. Hollywood has produced a number of Biblical epic films, some even resembling the book. I have even benefited from watching all of those visual depictions of scripture. Cecil B. DeMille and Charlton Heston helped me understand the magnitude of God’s miracle in parting the sea.
When I was a young boy, our Sunday School books did include pictures of the Biblical characters. Then and now, I have always been troubled by our proclivity for producing pictures of Jesus with physical characteristics resembling western Europeans. The odds of Jesus’ having blue eyes and blonde or brown hair are not great. Today, it is possible to see people in the Middle East with blue eyes or blonde or brown hair, descendants of Crusaders or western travelers. But not 2000+ years ago! What is your vision of the risen Christ? Do you ever even think about a vision of the risen Christ?
Possibly, I am interpreting the author of that devotional too literally. The author did center the devotional around that description by John of Patmos. What does it mean to be “one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest?” Evidently that author visited a church in New York City hosting paintings of Jesus based on the cultural backgrounds of the congregants and goes on to write, “I am genuinely inspired seeing Jesus depicted as an Asian, Latin American, European, Middle Eastern, and African person.”
I believe that to be “one like the Son of Man” means more than our physical characteristics, our ethnicity, gender or any other of the myriad differentiators we assign to separate God’s children. In the Gospel of John, God sent the Son into the world, not into a single country, not to a single race or gender. God sent the Son “3:16 . . . so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Everybody! In Greek πᾶς. The first definition for that Greek word in my lexicon is “all.” In the Bible, all always means all.
Our Christian vision of the risen Christ must be an inclusive vision in order to be a true vision. Certainly, the Incarnation happened in a specific country to one of a specific gender and ethnicity. But that One was sent to save all. We believe Jesus will come again. Who knows when . . . or where . . . or what he will look like then? He has already told us what it means to be a child of God, how we are to love our neighbor as ourself.
Stay safe, watch for Jesus in those all around you, trust God,
Pastor Ray