Category Archives: Jesus

Followers of Christ

Good Shepherd

Early christian image of Christ as the Good Shepherd
Fourth Century A.D.
Museo Epigrafico, Rome

[The shepherd] walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. John 10:4

We follow Jesus into quiet, secluded places to pray. We follow Jesus to dine with the poor and the outcasts of society. We follow Jesus to touch those with untouchable illnesses. We follow Jesus to wash the feet of others. We follow Jesus to forgive those who betray us. We follow Jesus to love our enemies. We follow Jesus to do the will of God, however counter-cultural it may seem. We follow Jesus to die to ourselves and rise to new life.

Speaking from the heart

Rembrandt_Christ_with_two_disciples

Christ with two disciples on the road to Emmaus
Workshop of Rembrandt (1606–1669):Corrected by Rembrandt
Pen and brush in brown ink, washed, heightened with white, on paper, circa 1655
Warsaw University Library
via Wikimedia Commons

Then [the two disciples] said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

What language do I speak when I open my heart to others? The language of humility? sincerity? hope? faith?

When others speak to me from their hearts, in what language do I listen? The language of compassion? acceptance? non-judgment? peace?

Today I will practice speaking and listening with love. It’s the language we all share in common.

Honest doubts

Jesus appears to Thomas - John 20:24-29

JESUS MAFA. Jesus appears to Thomas, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” John 20:24

I wonder how convincing the other disciples were about their encounter with Jesus. Thomas may have had good reason to doubt them.

And I wonder how convincing I am as a witness for Jesus. Do I embody the compassion and unconditional love and non-judgment of Jesus? Do I embody the mercy and forgiveness and non-violence of Jesus? Do I embody the service and healing and humility of Jesus?

Honest doubt nudges me to deepen my commitment to practice the God-qualities that comfort and encourage others, and that bring peace to my corner of the world.

Hope in the moment

Two_Disciples_at_the_Tomb_c1906_Henry_Ossawa_Tanner

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937)
Two Disciples at the Tomb, ca.1906
oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago
via Wikimedia Commons

When Simon Peter arrived after [the other disciple], he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. John 20:6-7

I imagine Jesus chuckling as he neatly rolls the cloth that had covered his head and leaves it conspicuously separate from the other burial cloths. He knows his disciples are in for a big surprise. And he knows they will be puzzled, dismayed—and hopeful.

The resurrection of Jesus always points me to hope. Hope in change. Hope in the unknown. Hope in God’s gentle guidance and infinite love.

With compassion

The Three Crosses

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
The Three Crosses, 1653
drypoint and burin on paper (III/IV)
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
via Wikimedia Commons

After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
And they placed over his head the written charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Matthew 27:35-38

If I ever doubt that Jesus understands the suffering I experience, let me contemplate the cross with its reverberations of torturous pain, shaming ridicule, forlorn abandonment, and crushing despair.

The untying

The Raising of Lazarus

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
The Raising of Lazarus, circa 1630-1632
oil on oak panel
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

[Jesus] cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” John 11:43-44

Sometimes I feel emotionally and spiritually dead, but Jesus calls me to come out of the tomb of depression and sends people to untie the bands of sadness, self-hatred, and self-preoccupation so that I may again relish the gifts of life, love, and companionship.

Making God visible

ciego_01

Jesus heals the man blind from birth

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” John 9:1-3

The works of God are love, healing, compassion, forgiveness, non-judgment, acceptance, peace, non-violence, faith, hope, comfort…

How are the works of God made visible through me and my words, actions, behaviors, and attitudes?

 

Jesus asks

sironi_samaritan_woman

Mario Sironi, 1885 – 1961
Christ and the Samaritan Woman, 1947 – 48
Oil on Panel, 56 x 70 cm
Collezione d`Arte Religiosa Moderna, Vatican Museums, Vatican City

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” John 4:7

Jesus wants a drink of
My attention.
My thoughts.
My heart.
My strengths.
My weaknesses.
My talents.
My willingness.
My gratitude.

Jesus is not ashamed or afraid to ask. He trusts me.

In Proportion

Proportion_and_Design_of_Part_of_Raphael's_Tranfiguration

Lecture Diagram 10: Proportion and Design of Part of Raphael’s ‘Transfiguration’. Part of the Turner Bequest to the Tate (1856).
By Joseph Mallord William Turner [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light. Matthew 17:1-2

The spiritual mountain treks Jesus leads me on are always in proportion to my trust in God’s movement, my faith in the Spirit’s guidance, and my willingness to be transformed into a more exact icon of God’s love and goodness.

The mountain is usually high; I am almost always breathless, sometimes whiney, often overwhelmed. And God’s silent voice revealing the glory of Jesus is my reward.

A Desert of Pain

tentaciones26

Tentaciones

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1

Chronic pain is probably the most distracting, tiring, energy-draining, hope-depleting experience I’ve ever had. Last night’s wakefulness kept me struggling to put my focus on God. “Help!” was as complicated as my prayers got.

Whether or not I believe God is with me in the desert of pain, God is there. Whether or not I can feel God in the bleakness of pain, God is there. Whether or not I continue to experience physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain, God is there. In the moment, in the pain, in the prayer.

I told the devil last night, “You ain’t gonna get me yet.”