Sometimes our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gets portrayed in “2-D”. For all the beautiful paintings and artwork that has been created to depict Jesus, they all fail to measure up somehow. The only possible exception, at least for me and my father, is one painting we both admire as our favorite likeness of him, as we picture him to be. It is our typical, “Westernized” rendition – he has long, flowing brownish hair and a beard. But it is the expression that gets me – it is pure love. It is understanding. It is purity. Empathy. Caring at the deepest level.

But to know the “real deal”, the man himself, your need to peel back the layers, the veneer of the oil painting. Get into his personality, the raw emotions of the Gospels. He cries. He laughs. He gets frustrated. He gets tired. He needs his space. We have so much sophistication in our pictures and images, and yet will still have a two-dimensional Jesus. I totally get that we should hold onto a deep reverence, the mystery of God. But this is not Jesus. Here I go again with the movies, but if you have not seen “The Shack”, you should. It shows Jesus as I believe he truly is. Not was. A historical figure, to be sure, but so much more for us. The truest friend. The example of the most beautiful kind of relationship there can ever be. In terms of understanding, yes – we are meant to hold onto the mystery, the “not yet” nature of God. Then there is Jesus – the knowing and feeling of God’s love for us, demonstrated on the cross. We learn from him how to be humble, gentle as a dove but wise and alert as a serpent. His words.
Please, do not hang your faith in Jesus on a single quality or characteristic. He is so much more. He is 3-D. He is the real deal, the fullest expression of humanity and love. Read the Gospels, the account of his life, not to glean information or making your own list of “WWJD”. Read just to get a deep look into his personality. The human side. God’s perfected vision of who and whose we are. His love for us, which is unconditional.
Pastor Art